Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer None More Black Vanilla Stout

I wouldn't be overly concerned with sanitation of the extract since you're making it by soaking the vanilla beans in alcohol. Just sanitize the jar first if you're worried.

I brewed a batch of this and soaked three vanilla beans in 2 oz. of Bernheim wheat whisky which has a sweetness to it.
I bottled it and am having a hard time letting it mature. I tried the first bottle 3 weeks after bottling and it was amazing. I've been back for 3 more already.
It has a chocolaty sweetness with very nice vanilla notes that are there but not overpowering. I'm getting ready to do a double batch of this over the weekend. I'm going to bottle 1/2 and try kegging it and letting it age for a few months...

So I haven't been on the board in while (busy with work, coaching, etc) but I am very surprised to see how many hits this beer has. I am going to attempt to remake the beer over X-Mas Break using some of the aforementioned adaptations. Sadly it won't be all grain, maybe I will have the supplies this summer.

I just did this one this weekend as my first brew. I am sure I made a few mistakes along the way, not the least being that I added too much water at the end and brought the SG down to about 1.042. Anything that can be done at this stage to help it?

kmenard said:

I just did this one this weekend as my first brew. I am sure I made a few mistakes along the way, not the least being that I added too much water at the end and brought the SG down to about 1.042. Anything that can be done at this stage to help it?

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Don't mess with it.... you will have more beer...darn! LOL! A little less alcohol, but I never mind that. It'll be fine, just roll with it!

Brewing my third batch of this one today. Previously I've done the extract version. Today we are doing AG to compare. I'm sure it will be yummy.

I am at 1.012 SG...is it time to bottle?

Check your gravity in a couple days. If it's the same as today go ahead and bottle.

Just cracked my first smoked vanilla bourbon stout. I think I should have added more priming sugar, but will know better in a few days. Nice and smooth, tasty...really digging it!

I.brewed this one tonight! It's my third brew ever and first dark. Pretty fun brew, needed a few lifeline calls to my dad thru the process. Wow is this a dark one, yum. I used 7 lbs of the liquid malt because the local store had it in bulk 7lb jugs. I was thinking I would have a higher gravity but in the end it was around 1.076 and I added some water and tested it. It was then 1.042-44 hard to tell.

Where do you guys get the vanilla beans?

Now what to brew next?

helimech said:

I.brewed this one tonight! It's my third brew ever and first dark. Pretty fun brew, needed a few lifeline calls to my dad thru the process. Wow is this a dark one, yum. I used 7 lbs of the liquid malt because the local store had it in bulk 7lb jugs. I was thinking I would have a higher gravity but in the end it was around 1.076 and I added some water and tested it. It was then 1.042-44 hard to tell.

Where do you guys get the vanilla beans?

Now what to brew next?

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Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00765PU2K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Has anyone else had any trouble with the head on this recipe? I have none. Just wondering what I did wrong?

tried this recipe last weekend. hit my numbers exactly (so far) i did change things up a tad with the help of beer smith tho. i also am making a bourbon vanilla extract that will get dumped in after fermentation is complete. cant wait to try this bad boy!

kmenard said:

Has anyone else had any trouble with the head on this recipe? I have none. Just wondering what I did wrong?

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If you use the Extract in the Fermenter the Vanilla Extract will hinder the head in the beer. I don't know the science behind it but I do know in my original recipe where I used extract the head was basically non-existent due to the extract.

Thank you!

I'm brewing this on Saturday. I'm going to do a 6 gallon batch and I'm going to ferment 1 gallon with coffee added and the rest without. I am using 6lbs of Dark DME (no LME) and 1lb of extra light DME. Brewer's Friend gives me an estimated 1.053 OG and 1.012 FG coming to about 5.35% ABV.
I'll be doing 2-3 (depending on price) vanilla beans soaked in 8oz of "home-smoked" bourbon.

This will be my first dark brew and even more so, my first "non-busy hop schedule" brew. Can't wait to test it out.

i did 1/2 cup of bourbon with 3 beans and it smells awesome. bottle it up in another week or so

anyone try and sub out the black patent with chocolate malt? what results did you have?

Shawnylocks said:

i did 1/2 cup of bourbon with 3 beans and it smells awesome. bottle it up in another week or so

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FWIW, I put a whole quarter cup of vanilla extract in my last batch and two months later the flavor is basically undetectable. I'll make this again, but I'll be using beans from now on!

I recently kegged my second batch of this. I used 3 vanilla beans soake in bourbon for a week, THe first batch I made wa bottled and got rave reviews. I'll be tapping the keg on my nitro tap next weekend (after i drink the rest ofthe milk stout thats on there now). Cant wait to try is ontap.

ilovestout said:

I recently kegged my second batch of this. I used 3 vanilla beans soake in bourbon for a week, THe first batch I made wa bottled and got rave reviews. I'll be tapping the keg on my nitro tap next weekend (after i drink the rest ofthe milk stout thats on there now). Cant wait to try is ontap.

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For nitro dispensing is there a need to carbonate the beer?

Just brewed this yesterday in my new 2-weld 9gal kettle from Adventures in Homebrewing ($100-great deal!). Made a 6gal batch and put 1gal in a growler to try it with coffee added. It began fermenting in about 12hr and has a nice looking krauzen on it. I used 2 packs of Nottingham and it is sitting at 62 degrees. Can't wait to taste it.

joepod said:

anyone try and sub out the black patent with chocolate malt? what results did you have?

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I used 1# chocoalte malt....and also added 8oz of lactose...reminds me of a Youngs Double Chocolate ...my bottle carbonation didnt seem to workout well...its been almost 4 weeks and it seems like it only 1/2 carbonated. My process didnt change..just the recipe addition/substitutions.
I prefer the lower carbonation myself..but theres little to no head as compared to the regular recipe.
Came out excellent in flavor..I used pure vanilla extract in this batch...about 3oz IIRC.

I just bottled a double batch of the original recipe yesterday..it was on vanilla beans in secondary for 3 weeks,each batch contained 3 beans...I left out the black patent (accidentally)...will see how it effects flavor...not nearly as 'dark' in color. HTH-Matt

Masticon said:

I just picked up the stuff yesterday and am starting today. I doctored with the recipe a bit based on some other recipes I've been looking at.

7 lbs Dark Liquid Extract
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt
1/2 lb Crystal 120
1/2 lb Roasted Barley
1/4/lb Black Patent
2 lbs Flaked Oats
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.0 60 min)
1 oz Fuggle (4.1 5 minutes)
Wyeast Irish Ale
4 vanilla beans into the secondary.

I'll let you know how it comes out.

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I followed this recipe pretty closely...3 tbsp vanilla extract in secondary and 1 more at bottling. How long should I condition? Never worked with vanilla before

I suggest at least 3 weeks in the bottle.....You'll be happier after about 5 or 6 though.

This was my first home brew attempt, turned out pretty good, defiantly want to try a AG version sometime.

just bottled my version of this yesterday. i used 1/2 cup jim beam bourbon with 3 sliced up vanilla beans to make the extract and man this tasted AMAZING! i cant wait till this thing carbs up and i can give it a whirl. i think st paddys day will be the first sample but letting the majority of it age for a month or 2

tag

ttt

I first got the homebrewing bug after trying a version of this that a friend had made. I finished my first brew 2 weeks ago (NB Irish Red) and was going to put it into secondary last night but after reading some recent posts decided against it. I know from reading that the topic can be a bit divise, but that is how I decided to proceed on that brew.

I'm now trying to decide what would be the best route for this one when I tackle it.

I have a 6 gal bucket from my NB starter kit and I bought a 6 gal Better Bottle this past weekend that I planned to use for secondary for the Irish Red (didn't realize at the time that a 5 gal would likely have been a better choice after reading about headspace, etc.).

I see two possible options based on what I have. My current line of thinking is to use the 6 gal Better Bottle for fermentation and just open it up and adding a 1/2 c. bourbon and 3 vanilla beans that I'd have soaked for a couple days when the time is right. I could also try to use the 6 gal bucket for primary and transfer to the Better Bottle for secondary and adding the bourbon and vanilla beans at that point. My understanding is that if you only plan to keep it in secondary for a couple weeks that the larger headspace wouldn't cause any big problems.

I guess my question is are there any obvious disadvantages to not racking to secondary for this particular brew? I'm trying to put aside the big question of yeast "cleaning up after itself" vs. "sitting on old yeast cake is bad", or is it impossible to remove that from the equation?

I'm also curious as to how you'd add the beans. I plan on slicing them open. Do they need to go in a mesh bag?

Sorry for the long-winded question. I read through the entire thread and didn't really see an answer. I saw that one poster had success with not transferring to secondary, but wanted to get some input from others.

Thanks.

when i made this i did use a secondary. i have 6.5 gallon bucket and a 6 gallon carboy that i used for the secondary. as far as the beans goes. i used 1/2 cup jim beam with 3 vanilla beans opened up and scraped. every day i would shake up the bourbon extract to help agitate it. i let the extract sit for 2 weeks while the primary fermentation was going and once it was done i racked into the secondary and poured just the liquid from the extract i made in. i let it sit for about 4-5 weeks in the secondary and we just bottled it on 3/3. the first samplings tasted amazing. good bourbon smell with an up front bourbon taste finishing off smooth and vanillaish.

I bought the ingredients for this, and put them in Hopville. It's predicting an OG of only 1.05, 30.3 IBU, and ABV of 4.8%.

The OP had 1.054 OG, 19 IBU... I wonder what could be different.

I used 7 lb Dark LME (no DME) but otherwise my recipe I put into Hopville matches the OP's recipe.

The OG is lower than I had hoped... 4.8% ABV sounds lower than I like.

Edit: I think I'm going to add 1 lb of Dark DME to bring it up to 1.058 OG / 5.6% abv.

Just thought I'd come here to thank the OP. I brewed a modified version of this recipe and entered into a local homebrew competition. I ended up winning 2nd place. So, while I didn't brew this exact recipe, it was certainly my inspiration. So, I'd like to show my appreciation.

Thank you, sir!

i made this stout and man is it good. i tried one after only 12 days and im hooked. i cant wait for more aging time! i used 7 lbs of malt and not 6. the local shop sells it in 7 lb batches for some reason.

So I have read all of the accolades about this recipe and am trying it out tonite.
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

johnsnownw said:

Just thought I'd come here to thank the OP. I brewed a modified version of this recipe and entered into a local homebrew competition. I ended up winning 2nd place. So, while I didn't brew this exact recipe, it was certainly my inspiration. So, I'd like to show my appreciation.

Thank you, sir!

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Thank you for the compliment. This was the first beer I entered in a homebrew competition and I received an Honorable Mention as it didn't meet style guidelines due to poor head retention.

Most of you who have remade this recipe would probably not believe me that this was only my 4th beer I made. Beginners luck I guess.

I can't wait to remake it this winter after my football season is completed and after my conversion to All Grain!

A friend and I brewed this beer this winter, as most others who have brewed this beer have said, the taste was amazing, everyone who has had a pint has loved it. My modifications were....steeped smoked grains in the water prior to adding the extract, also while the beer was fermenting we soaked about two cups of oak chips in bourbon along with four vanilla beans, split and scraped of course. This turned out to be a very smooth beer, combined with the oak and smoked grains I was reminded of the finer bourbon barrel stouts, needs more vanilla though. I will brew this again but as an all grain adventure sticking with the smoked grains but will use more vanilla beans in the secondary.

How long did you let it sit in the seconday, and then in bottles?

histo320 said:

6 lb. Dark Liquid Malt Extract
1 lb. Dark Dry Malt Extract
.75 lb. Black Patent Malt
.25 lb. Roasted Barley
1 oz Cluster (7.00%) at 60 minutes
1 oz East Kent Goldings (4.00) at 20 minutes
1 tsp Irish moss at 15 minutes
2.5 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract (add to secondary)
1 White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Steeped grains at 150F for 35 minutes in oven

Boil for 70 minutes

After 14 days move to secondary and rack on top of 2.5 tbsp of vanilla.
(I know I should have soaked beans in bourbon, but thought i would try this, so far so good)

Primed with 3/4 cup of Corn Sugar.

Enjoy!

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So I'm definitely gonna try this in a couple weeks. Did anyone use all DME or not? How was the chocolate taste on this? I plan on doing one week in primary then rack over to secondary and soaking 4 beans in jack or Jim. After a week of two in secondary I was gonna bottle. I read all the posts but can anyone confirm any modifications to this original recipe that improved the vanilla or chocolate flavor?

SheriffWhiteChocolate said:

So I'm definitely gonna try this in a couple weeks. Did anyone use all DME or not? How was the chocolate taste on this? I plan on doing one week in primary then rack over to secondary and soaking 4 beans in jack or Jim. After a week of two in secondary I was gonna bottle. I read all the posts but can anyone confirm any modifications to this original recipe that improved the vanilla or chocolate flavor?

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My changes were as such:

1lbs Extra Dark DME
.5lbs Black Patent
.5lbs Chocolate Malt
1lb flaked oats
4 Tbs Vanilla Extract

Had a lot of chocolate and vanilla notes. I'm not sure the flaked oats added much, I was doing it for mouth feel, but I have no comparison.