And for my 50th batch of beer.......

I think Im going to do Denny's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter. Ive been looking at this recipe for a while now, and I think that If I brew it in the beginning of May it will be nice and aged by the end of summer.

Does anyone here have an opinion about this recipe? Or better yet, have you done this one yourself? Good thing I have a 10 gallon mash tun, because this one is going to be the biggest beer Ive done yet.



Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter



Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.00
Anticipated OG: 1.078 Plato: 18.88
Anticipated SRM: 33.3
Anticipated IBU: 31.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes



Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
64.7 11.00 lbs. Crisp Maris Otter Britain 1.036 4
14.7 2.50 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row) America 1.035 6
8.8 1.50 lbs. Crisp Brown Malt America 1.032 70
5.9 1.00 lbs. Crystal 150L Great Britain 1.033 150
2.9 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
2.9 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.60 oz. Magnum Whole 14.00 30.0 60 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 1.7 10 min.


Yeast
-----

WYeast 1056 Amercan Ale/Chico



After primary, slit open 2 vanilla beans. Scrape the insides, chop the pods
into quarters, add to secondary fermenter, rack beer onto vanilla. Taste
pperiodically for the correct balance. I left the beer in secondary for 11 da
ys. Rack to bottling bucket and add 10 ml. per pint of Jim Beam Black Bourbon
(or to your taste). Bottle, enjoy!

50 batches! Nice!

omniscientomar said:

50 batches! Nice!

Click to expand...

wow, how long did that take?

98EXL said:

wow, how long did that take?

Click to expand...

Just did 47 last night, so 3 more batches done in 3 weeks and its 15 months

wow, 5 gallon batches or 10?

Chimone said:

Just did 47 last night, so 3 more batches done in 3 weeks and its 15 months

Click to expand...

Wow!!!
At my current rate it is going to take me closer to 4 years to get that many batches in. I've gotten in 4 batches since I started in January. I am planning 3 batches in the next two weeks but those are for a party and to stock up my pipeline. Even with giving a lot away it takes me close to a month to go through a batch.

However I don't think I will wait for batch 50 to do Denny's Imperial Stout. That might be a brew this summer so I can have a good Imp Stout this winter.

Craig

That recipe sounds delicious...I might brew this since I ordered some high quality vanilla beans for my next AG batch..plus I love bourbon! Although I think I would use Knob Creek.


Dan

Chimone said:

Just did 47 last night, so 3 more batches done in 3 weeks and its 15 months

Click to expand...

We are about on the same pace.....

I'd love to do that recipe too!!!!! I've eyed it curiously more than a few times!

I'm going to actually suck it up and put this into 22oz bombers. So I can finally exchange some with some of you. Plus this is going to need a long aging period before its ready, and theres no way I'd let it sit in a keg that long without drinking it first.

Sounds tasty, would love to try it

This is the beer I sent out for tasting during the brewswap. I've done it twice now, first batch was a little more acidic than I would have liked, but I was the only one to notice.

Denny states that you need to get the best vanilla beans you can find. I completely agree with it. The first batch was with mediocre vanilla beans, little to no aroma and even less taste. The second batch was with much better quality beans. The difference was night and day. However, the vanilla aroma and flavor seemed to disappear depending the temp the beer was served at. While the beer was tasty at six weeks, it really started to shine at 3 months plus. The bottles I sent for tasting were about 4 months old.

I used Maker's Mark for the bourbon. The recipe I used recommended 325 ml per 5 gallons of bourbon. The first batch I used 350 ml for one keg and 700 ml for the second. As fun as the higher amount of bourbon was, it really overpowered the flavor, I don't intend to do it again. My second batch used 350 ml per 5 gallons, ended up being a much better balance.

I've brought this beer to parties, it is the one I have received the most complements about. Even the first batch, which I though was almost undrinkable, received comments like "the best beer I have ever tasted".

This is also my most expensive beer I have ever done. The beans were $2-4 dollars apiece and Maker's Mark at $22 a bottle adds up.

You can bet your ass Im using Maker's in this one too! Where did you find the good vanilla beans you used in your second batch?

My LHBS is fanatical about making liquors and had some on hand. If you can find a specialty food or health food store that knows what they are doing, they should be good quality. Unfortunately, my first batch was from a health food store that did not know what they were doing, the quality suffered.

I've heard that you can occasionally find good quality on ebay, but don't know anyone personally that has done it.

I can only suggest shopping around, if you know any local chefs or bakers they may be able to point you to someone good.