Vanilla beans in primary?

[Marius]

I'm planning to brew a Vanilla Stout this weekend, and I don't use a secondary so I thought about putting 2 vanilla beans in primary after 5 or 6 days and leave it for three weeks.

Do you think it will be a risk of contamination? or maybe...

Would it be better to boil the 2 vanilla beans for the last ten minutes with the wort and let them go to primary?

Thanks and greetings from The Basque Country

 

[scinerd3000]

if your going to do it that way wait atleast a week...i would wait longer (maybe 2), then add the vanilla bean. Slice them open and scrape the seeds. If fermentation is still happening you may lose some of the flavor. Im doing a vanilla porter and i plan on adding some at flameout as well as secondary to adjust the vanilla flavor to my liking.

 

[Marius]

Thanks Scinerd,

Your comment sounds logic. I'll wait till fermentation is complete or at least it gets softer (more or less 7 days), put the beans inside, and live it two more weeks.

You said that I should scrape the seeds but.... Should I throw them away or put them in the fermenter too?

Any clue about the posible contamination?

 

[jaba]

Thanks Scinerd,

Your comment sounds logic. I'll wait till fermentation is complete or at least it gets softer (more or less 7 days), put the beans inside, and live it two more weeks.

You said that I should scrape the seeds but.... Should I throw them away or put them in the fermenter too?

Any clue about the posible contamination?

Some people soak their beans in whiskey or vodka after chopping them up, then dump the whole works into the fermenter. Some people don't. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting an infection from vanilla beans.

 

[Marius]

Yuuujjjuuu!!!

Mu doubts solved in less than one day!!!!

Maybe i should ask here things like... Where do we came from? Where are we going? ...

Ok, then I'll crack them, soak them in a glass of Bourbon or Vodka, put them inside my primary after a week and live it in the fermenter for two more weeks. It will stay two more weeks in the bottles and one last week in the fridge so... in seven weeks I will post here the results.

Thans to both of you.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Thanks Scinerd,

Your comment sounds logic. I'll wait till fermentation is complete or at least it gets softer (more or less 7 days), put the beans inside, and live it two more weeks.

You said that I should scrape the seeds but.... Should I throw them away or put them in the fermenter too?

Any clue about the posible contamination?

Yes put the beans and the seeds into the fermenter, the reason you cut'em open and scrape the seeds is to get all of the flavor out.

Ironically, I was watching an episode of "Good Eats" w/ Alton Brown last night and he went over the Vanilla Bean in a segment.

So again yes use all the seeds and the bean itself in the fermenter to get as much flavor as possible from the Vanilla.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Careful on just leaving them in for two weeks. I would start tasting it after about 4 days. If you like a lot of vanilla, two weeks might be fine, but I find that vanilla can waaaay overpower if left for too long.

 

[ChshreCat]

In my stout, I put the bean in secondary for a week. As for sanitation, I just sprayed the bean with starsan before I split it. Didn't have any problems and the beer came out great.

 

[voegeli51]

Would it be better to use vanilla beans or just use some vanilla extract? I am brewing an oatmeal stout and am planning on putting some in the secondary. Also how much should i put in if I just want a little taste of vanilla, beans or extract?

 

[ChshreCat]

Mine was actually a double choclate oatmeal stout, so I didn't really want to taste the vanilla, just give it something in the background to back up the chocolate. One bean in secondary for one week was just perfect for me. Can't really taste the vanilla, but it's there keeping the chocolate from being overly bitter by itself. If you want a taste, I'd probably go to two beans in secondary and then taste it now and then to see when you want to bottle it.

 

[scinerd3000]

use bean vs extract. The bean will have a cleaner vanilla flavor unless you can get your hands on a paste. Those are good also. True madagascar vanilla extract will also work but is very expensive and not something you can find at your local supermarket usually. The seed is where most of the vanillin is which is the flavor your tasting. You will deffinitly want to taste during the process though if for no other reason than to have a timeline to learn from in your head.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

use bean vs extract. The bean will have a cleaner vanilla flavor unless you can get your hands on a paste. Those are good also. True madagascar vanilla extract will also work but is very expensive and not something you can find at your local supermarket usually. The seed is where most of the vanillin is which is the flavor your tasting. You will deffinitly want to taste during the process though if for no other reason than to have a timeline to learn from in your head.

Also FWIW, Madagascar Vanilla bean is most common, but Mexican vanilla beans are more flavorful.

 

[Marius]

OK, I't seems that 2 beans for two weeks in primary could be too much.

So I'll put only one bean, taste the beer after a week and depending on the result decide if I put another more bean. I'll soak them in a shot of CHIVAS (a bottle of whisky I have at home and I'll never drink) for ten minutes and then both to the fermenter.

I just hope that the flavour the shot of Chivas can give to the beer does not exceed the flavour the vanilla beans can give.

Thanks to all,

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

IMHO, I don't even think it is necessary to soak your beans in an alcohol, other than your beer of course. Remember the beer you have, especially if it is around 5% ABV, should hinder any infection that may try to take hold.

 

[Hurphy]

Sorry for the necro-post but I have to ask this question: how are you guys getting ANY flavor with one or two beans? I have been brewing for around 4 years and have used vanilla beans, cut and scraped, 5-10 at a time and get almost zero flavor after secondary of over a month. This just blows my mind.