Vanilla Beans

[dmcmillen]

Getting ready to brew a Vanilla Porter. Will soak the split & chopped beans in bourbon for 2-3 weeks before racking on top of in secondary. Question is whether to include the caviar (paste) that is scraped from the beans after splitting. I see people doing this both ways. I know you include the paste when making a tincture (extract). Curious what others have done.

 

[PGEduardo]

Are you aging the porter? If not, why secondary? I think that vanilla fades, so you might want to add it towards the end, but just my guess. Also, I'm not sure you need that long to make a tincture?

If it were me, I'd soak the bean (with paste) in bourbon for a few days and dump it directly into primary, leave that for a week max, then cold crash for 24hrs and keg it up!

I always include the paste, even with very light ales - it seems to drop out perfectly. I've never done it without though...

 

[dmcmillen]

Most recipes for making vanilla extract that I have seen recommend 6 mos to year to get maximum extraction. See http://www.vanillareview.com/make-vanilla-extract/. As far as for beer I have seen recommendations of soaking anywhere from 2 - 5 beans from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Some people add to primary some to secondary. Everybody has their way. I have always added to secondary. Don't see why you can't add to primary after krausen and leave in primary a bit longer if you're not aqing.

My question was primarily about the paste but I'm interested in what other people have had success with. fyi, talking about a 5.5 gal batch.

 

[PGEduardo]

Interesting. For my recent cream ale - I simply split 2 whole beans, swished around with vodka to disinfect and dumped into primary for 3 days before racking to a keg.

At two weeks now the vanilla is barely not overpowering. I wonder how that flavor changes after months of extraction, and with/without the paste.

 

[tfbrews]

I have had great luck with Vanilla Beans.

Just order off Amazon from Beanilla; Pick your flavor (madagascar, mexico, indonesia).

For a stronger beer like a porter use 4. I just used 3 in my cream ale.

Split open and scrape the innards, chop them up, sanitize however you like, I prefer a quick spray down with a starsan mixture, and then dump them.

I would check every 2-3 days until the desired amount of vanilla is in the beer.

If you truly want to add bourbon as well may I suggest soaking 2oz of oak chips in bourbon and adding them that way?