Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Bourbon Vanilla Porter (AG)

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Sparky,

I'm getting ready to brew this up this weekend but have another question. In the beginning of the recipe you give a 60 min. boil time but then in your comments before the recipe you say that it should be boiled for 90 minutes to get the gravity up. So which is it, 60 or 90 minutes?

thanks:mug:
Actually, I just rebuilt my computer and haven't reloaded Beersmith yet, so I'm not sure. I think it was probably 90 mins. I would recommend, with any recipe you find, that you do your own water calculations based on your own system losses, the time you plan to boil, etc. I often find that my volumes and strike temps are different than the recipe details.
 
Well, I finally brewed this on Saturday night. Everything went pretty well, but my OG only ended up at 1.068, so I was way off on that. I'm trying to figure out what I did that could of effected the gravity that much and the only thing I can come up with was that I added another gallon of sparge water right at the end since I was worried I wasn't going to hit my pre-boil volume. Well, I ended up being about a 1/2 gal over. Do you think that an extra 1/2 gallon would of diluted the wort enough to account for a .010 gravity difference? I've been using the BrewPal app for my iPhone and everytime I second guess that thing I end up wishing I hadn't. You'd think I'd learn my lesson one of these sessions. Well, if any of you have considered the app it's really pretty slick. I highly recommend it!

:mug:
 
I'm drinking my extract version of this now... and it's awesome. Used two whole vanilla beans and 2 cups of Makers Mark in the secondary for 10 days.

No head at all even though it's carbonated, I'm blaming the oil in the vanilla beans, but it tastes so good I don't even care. :mug:

Here was my recipe:

3 lbs. dark DME (beginning of boil)
5 lbs. light DME (end of boil)

12 oz. british brown malt
12 oz. american crystal 120L
1 lb. american chocolate
Steeped 25 mins 155.

1 oz. chinook 60 min
1 oz. kent goldings 15 min
1 oz. kent goldings flameout

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.019
IBU: 39
Wyeast 1056 (2 packs, no starter)
 
If you're using extract, you can add it at bottling. Start with 2 oz / 5 gal, mix it in well, try a taste and go from there. You're looking for a slight hint. You don't want it overpowering.
 
The night before you rack, pour your bourbon, I use Jim Beam, over 2 ounces of oak chips for wine making. Dump this whole slurry into your secondary with the vanilla.

The "oak-wood aging" gives you a taste and drinkability... ahhh I'm plagiarizing!!! Anyways, this is an AWESOME beer.

Also, I have had good luck with doubling the yeast. The OG is so high, you ABSOLUTELY should make a starter at a minimum. I make my starter with 2 packs White Labs Ale Yeast.
 
I got a reccomendation for brewing this with 32 ounces of maple syrup infused, I was wondering what you guys think. I wanna make something in commemoration of me getting into trade school.

starts may 10th, gonna brew it may 10th, then I graduate 10.5 months later. This seems like a really strong candidate and I do like the idea of the maple syrup. I feel like its woody taste would accent the bourbon and wood chips really well.

so how's this? I'm thinking of adding 2 ounces of madagascar bourbon vanilla to 32 ounces of grade A dark amber maple and 1.5 cups of bourbon to the oak chips on brewing day, and add all that to the secondary.
 
I brewed this in early March and have been drinking it for the last couple weeks. Damn, boyyeee! It's tasty! I used 3 vanilla beans and soaked them in a tiny bit (just enough to cover them) of spiced rum, 'cause that's what I had in my liquor cabinet. I am calling mine a vanilla porter because I didn't intentionally put in enough rum to add any appreciable flavor. The beer was pretty darn good right from the get go, really. It has a nice little vanilla aroma with a healthy malty body and mouthfeel (my wife says it's real smooth), and a pleasant subtle vanilla flavor on the finish. I totally missed my OG, ending up at 1.068. It finished at 1.016 for a 6.9% ABV. The only criticism I can come up with is it's poor head retention. After reading of similar problems here I really think it might be from the oils in the vanilla beans. I'm very happy with it! I will definitely brew this again. It's a killer dessert beer.

Thanks for the recipe!:mug:
 
Quick update: I entered this beer as a Vanilla Porter in the Oregon Homebrew Festival competition and won 1st place in Cat. 21. You can't go wrong with this recipe! People love this beer! Again, I didn't do the bourbon thing, I just called my a vanilla porter. Anyway, thanks to Lil' Sparky for the recipe!!:mug:
 
Nope, not my recipe. The thanks goes to Denny Conn. I just thought I'd share it again here because I thought it was so good.

Good to hear it worked out so good for you!
 
I'm drinking my extract version of this now... and it's awesome. Used two whole vanilla beans and 2 cups of Makers Mark in the secondary for 10 days.

No head at all even though it's carbonated, I'm blaming the oil in the vanilla beans, but it tastes so good I don't even care. :mug:

Here was my recipe:

3 lbs. dark DME (beginning of boil)
5 lbs. light DME (end of boil)

12 oz. british brown malt
12 oz. american crystal 120L
1 lb. american chocolate
Steeped 25 mins 155.

1 oz. chinook 60 min
1 oz. kent goldings 15 min
1 oz. kent goldings flameout

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.019
IBU: 39
Wyeast 1056 (2 packs, no starter)


How many gallons was your boil.
 
I have this one planed in 2 weeks and I have a question. I am going to make this a PM buy droping the 2-row and adding dry malt. After doing some research on brown malt I found it can't convert itself and Munich can only convert itself so I have to add some 2-row (or maybe 6-row?) back to the mash. How much do I need to get the brown malt to convert. Thanks
 
yeah the munich will convert itself, and the caramel malts and chocolate can be mashed/steeped. You can still mash the brown malt with the others for flavor and color, you just wont get the gravity points from the 1.5pounds you normally would. if you can fit it, 2pounds of 2row should be enough, but that would equal 8pounds(with the .5of chocolate instead of the 1.25 in other recipes) of grains.
 
thanks for the quick repley. Yea I can fit 8 pounds. I have a 5 gal mash tun and am working on makeing a 10 gal. My only problem is my boil kettel. That is only 5 gal. I have mashed up to 7 pounds and came out on target maybe another pound will be ok. I realy need to move to all grain heh.
 
what is the concensus on the bourbon amount. Mine is ready for secondary on the vanilla beans, and I will be using makers mark....so any suggestions on volume?
 
How long have most of you all aged this beer? What is the minimum aging recommendation? Thanks - excited to brew this tomorrow!!!
 
it was good after a few months. I think it really depends on how much bourbon you add. I did 15oz for 5.5 gal. I actually entered it a few months after I made it and I got some good scores. i saved a 12 pa ck to taste over time. I am making another batch this weekend but using Mild Malt my base malt
 
Watch the mash temps close. I brewed this a few months ago and my temps were off just a few degrees and I ended up with a very very sweet porter.
 
Watch the mash temps close. I brewed this a few months ago and my temps were off just a few degrees and I ended up with a very very sweet porter.

I am still newish to AG brewing, would high or low temps make it sweet? thanks
 
Lower mash temps will result in more fermentable sugar. Higher mash temps will result in less fermentable sugar and more residual sweetness. This grain bill will produce a fair amount of unfermentable sugar no matter how low you mash. Which is OK as a nice sweet porter can be a great thing. I think the final gravity should be around 1.02. Mine ended up around 1.03. It has mellowed a bit over time but still too sweet.

You will find this recipe a lot of places but they are not all the same. The recipe I followed had the mash temps at 153. I think I hit 154 but thought that would be close enough. The original post lists mash in at 150. I would stick as close to that as possible.

This is a great recipe and I will make it again. I soaked my vanilla beans in bourbon and poured the vanilla infused bourbon into the secondary.
 
I missed my efficiency a bit and ended up with an OG of 1.074. I hit my mash temperature dead on at 150*F and my FG was 1.015. It's actually quite wonderful at that gravity - still full and rich, but not overly sweet at all.

I let mine secondary with two Madagascar vanilla beans for two weeks. I added about 1.25 cups of bourbon at kegging.

It's been in the keg for a month or so now. I chilled it down today and pulled a glass to see how it is coming along. The yeast did its job and carbed it up nicely. It has a wonderful vanilla and bourbon aroma. You can taste the vanilla, but it isn't overpowering at all, and it has a nice bourbon bite to it. This beer is absolutely delightful! Honestly, I think this beer is great right now. The alcohol is still a bit harsh, though. The plan has been to let this sucker age until New Years Eve, and I'm sticking to that. Judging by how it tasted tonight, it'll be absolutely amazing by then.
 
Mine is terriffic except not carbing well ( not flat just no head at all) so good I have been requested to make it as christmas gifts. used 3 oz of pure vanilla extract and a pint of makers mark.
 
Watch the mash temps close. I brewed this a few months ago and my temps were off just a few degrees and I ended up with a very very sweet porter.

This. Mine finished at 1.030. I dumped a whole lot more bourbon in there. Now it's got kind of a thick bourbon and vanilla coke vibe.

I have to say though, the brew day was a symphony of smells - toasting the malt in the oven, followed by mashing and boiling, then I baked spent grain bread!
 
Been looking for my next brew, and I think this is it. I have some really nice vanilla paste and a variety of French and Hungarian Oak chips to try. I will probably go with a Hungarian medium or heavy toast oak for the vanilla, bittersweet chocolate/coffee flavors. Should be fun!
 
Just got this kegged over the weekend. This came out really nice and I beleave it will only get better with ageing. I was afrad to add the 2 cups of bourbon because I wanted it ready for Christmas so I added about 1 and 1/4 but for me it's not comeing through enough so I may add another 1/2 cup. Either way this is a great recipe and thanks for posting it
 
Has anyone ever tried adding oak chips (toasted or new) to this brew? I have about 2oz laying around from another beer and I'm tempted to try it on this one.
 
Brewing this up tonight and hopefully be ready for New Years Eve about 6 weeks. I'm planning on bottling some without the bourbon and vanilla and the ones with BV in belguim Bottles. I only have a 5 gallon cooler with FB and a regular 5g cooler which I'll add a paint strainer bag so it should be an intersting brew session tonight.

EDIT: Stressful brew session since its the first time I did this dual mash but I hit all my numbers thanks to the new sight glass I got. It smelled good during the mash and boiling my wife mentioned it smelled like coffee. Pitched 2 hydrated s-05 and its sitting in my keezer at 62* with the probe bubble wrap to the glass carboy. 6 hour brew session, good thing I'm only making this once a year. Total cost was $30.72 without bourbon or vanilla, another reason why its only made once a year. Also got to try out my new stainless 25' IC which took about an hour to get to 64*.
 
I skipped the bourbon and just went with just the vanilla on this one, using two Madagascar vanilla beans in the secondary. Had the first glass out of the keg yesterday. It came out really nice. Has a very predominate vanilla flavor. SWMBO says it's dessert in a glass.
 
I made this by splitting open the two vanilla beans, and letting them soak in 2 cups of Maker's Mark while the beer was in primary. Then I added the soaked vanilla beans for the secondary, and the 2 cups of vanilla infused bourbon at bottling. It was amazing!
 
I used 1.5 oz medium toast oak chips in a 5 gal batch. Toasted them in a pan to get the oils aromatics going and added to the secondary. I believe the recommended contact time was like a minimum of 4 weeks, it said on the package that I don't have anymore. I left it in contact for approximately 6 weeks while the beer aged.

In fact, it is still aging: bourbon+oak+vanilla+porter+1.103 SG (way overshot conversion from AG to extract) + nearly 1 year bottle ageing=excellent winter warmer.

All in all, I'd recommend the oak if that's your thing. But I'd caution on the low amount, 1.5 oz is good, but I've had extended ageing, so it depends on what you're going for I think.
 
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