I was able to get the mash in a keg....just barley though.
brewmasterorr said:I was able to get the mash in a keg....just barley though.
What was your water to grain ratio? I'm guessing it has to be 1.25 qts/lb or less. 1.25 qts/lb puts me at 10 5/8 gallons plus the grain. And that's where I'm wondering if the 34 lbs will fit in below curved rim of the top of the keg.
What was your preboil volume with the 10 gallon batch?
I have a keg flipped and run a herms. I was up to the brim, which for me was above where it starts to curve. I account for loss and about a 15% boil off rate so I was at 14.5 gallons pre-boil on this one. I put 38 pounds in the mash tun for this one and ended up with 12 gallons in the fermentor at 21 plato (1.088).
38 lbs? What's your efficiency? I just ordered this and doubled the 5 gallon recipe to 34 lbs as listed. My system is an old Sabco system I converted to eHERMS and I have the curved portion up top intact. I should be fine. I had it this full for my last batch and it didn't boil over and filled two kegs plus 18 12oz bottles. This is preboil:
Yes, you can add to primary after fermentation is done. Don't set a time for the vanilla...it will vary with the quality of your beans. Just start tasting after 3-5 days. The vanilla fades quickly, so let it get a bit more vanilla character than you think it needs.
I'm not a big fan of oaked beers.....I don't understand why everyone wants to oak this. Try it without oak.
I asked the same question about oak and am very glad I decided to not use it, this beer turned out fabulous. The bourbon brings just the right element of flavor needed!
I used 3 whole, long vanilla beans, split and scraped all in the secondary and sat for 10 days total. Initially it was quite strong but after 10-12 weeks bottle conditioned everything has mellowed beautifully!
Yes, you can add to primary after fermentation is done. Don't set a time for the vanilla...it will vary with the quality of your beans. Just start tasting after 3-5 days. The vanilla fades quickly, so let it get a bit more vanilla character than you think it needs.
I'm not a big fan of oaked beers.....I don't understand why everyone wants to oak this. Try it without oak.
jtkratzer said:For the intensity of the vanilla you described, would you use three beans again?
For my 10 gallon batch, I split/scraped/chopped 4 beans and split them by weight - 5 grams for each 5 gallon carboy.
The beans seemed to vary in size, so I took two large and two medium and just split it evenly. Anyone else get a weight on how much vanilla they added?
Yes! All 3 were about 3-4", I did not weigh them
jtkratzer said:Talking about the vanilla beans here, but mine are 7". So, I might end up with more vanilla flavor if yours are 9-12" total and I put 14" of bean into each 5 gallon carboy.
It's possible, as Denny mentioned it really comes down to what you want and you need to sample the beer as it conditions, trust me, if you sample it you will definitely taste and smell the vanilla!
Start tasting at like 3 days and go from there. Let it get a little stronger than you desire because it will fade. It's a personal thing
IMo this beer is best from 12 weeks from bottle so be patient
I believe this is a beer that I've read about doing well with aging.
Denny said:Not IMO. After a couple months the flavors start to fade.
Dang. I was hoping to stash these away for the fall months. Make a difference between bottling or kegging?
Denny said:I can't recall ever kegging it. I mean, go ahead and see what you think, but I'd recommend you think of drinking the bulk of it before fall. Or brewing another batch later!
When the ingredients were pushing close to $120 for 10 gallons, this isn't one I'll be doing often.
Denny said:Holy crap, that's insane!
Should it be less? How do you manage that without buying sacks of grain?
I did pick a pretty decent bourbon in Woodford Reserve. Probably closer to $110 since I used one vial of yeast between two ten gallon batches.
I really can't answer since I do buy bags of grain (about 12oo lb. currently on hand) and lbs. of hops. You really are wasting money (IMO) by buying expensive bourbon. The bourbon flavor should be so well integrated that you shouldn't be able to really pick out the bourbon. That's why I recommend a decent, but not expensive, bourbon.
If you don't mind, what are some examples of decent bourbon? I'll gladly save the Woodford if it the middle of the road stuff will suffice.
I made mine with Makers Mark. I can usually find it for right around $20 a bottle and I thought the vanilla notes of the bourbon would mesh well in this beer.
I could distinctly pick out the bourbon the first week or so after it was drinkable, but by three weeks in the keg everything had melded and subtled out well.
As a plus I had leftover Markers Mark to mix with mexican coke
If you don't mind, what are some examples of decent bourbon? I'll gladly save the Woodford if it the middle of the road stuff will suffice.
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