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Vanilla Questions

cbarnett

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I have been thinking of using vanilla beans in a beer, but I am unsure just how much, or how to prep the beans. I was thinking of adding them to my Black IPA in the secondary, but without any experience with using them I did not want to try it. I have a great Pumpkin Porter recipe that I was thinking of using it for a Vanilla Porter later this year. Any ideas? :-\
 
bumping this as i'm interested.  don't have any input now but will chime in once i get back to my books.
 
I have read some treat them as wood chips
( when I added wood chips once) - soak them in bit of vodka then add the works to the secondary.
 
The couple of times that I used vanilla beans, I cut them into approximately 2 inch sections and the halved the sections.  They were then soaked in just enough (the first time) vodka or (the second time) bourbon to cover the beans.  I allowed them to soak for 4 to 5 days before adding to my fermentor as it was nearing its final gravity.  I used 3 beans in a 10 litre batch with the bourbon for a porter and 2 beans in the vodka for a stout.

The initial vanilla flavor was pretty strong initially (2-3 weeks after bottling), but diminished fairly quickly.  It seemed to be at its prime between 5 to 9 weeks.
 
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