If you plan to make this, be sure to use real vanilla extract. The imitation vanilla usually has preservatives that will harm the yeast. You could also use a couple of real vanilla beans cracked in primary.
I found some real vanilla extract that, while pricey, was free of preservatives.
@ Novabrew... I meant to reply to ya a couple of days ago. I always take copious notes on all the brews I do. When I brewed this I bought "real" pure vanilla extract and not imitation. I put 4 oz into the primary and then 4 oz into the secondary. It seemed like a lot of extract, but in the end it wasn't too overpowering, and not underdone. I hope your brew turns out good. DO NOT USE THIS MUCH VANILLA.
Yeah, it took a few months for the flavors to mellow. You'll taste the vanilla for sure at first. I still have some from this summer and the flavor profile is much more subdued now after sitting in the bottles for about 3-6 months.
Best thing to do is when you're ready to bottle/keg add a little at a time until you get the vanilla taste you're looking for. For bottling you would do this in the bottling bucket, and for kegging just add it straight to the keg. Same goes for the Lactose.
I'm down to my last few bottles of this. I added a total of 4 oz. of vanilla recommended in the recipe. For my first few bottles, the vanilla sweetness was just a little too much in your face. After a couple of weeks the subsequent bottles were perfectly mellow and delicious. Now after two months the vanilla has largely disappeared and the bittering hops really show their bite. I don't think I've had a batch change this much in just a few months. So if you follow this recipe, give it an extra week or two in the bottle and then drink it quickly.
1st try Priming:
>1cup Lactose
2 oz vanilla in the Primary.
2 oz. in the Secondary. (Be careful! This may be too much vanilla for some people. Me too!)
I'm adding the Lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'll add the vanilla in the primary, because I don't want to risk losing any that bonds to the trub. So far, it smells fantastic but I'm still at the bittering hops boil. I think this should end up with a nice caramel flavor and a good hint (perhaps a suggestion size amount) of vanilla. I've had vanillas with way too much flavor and they tasted too much like candy. This should have a decent balance.
So good. Can't even explain it - you simply must make this beer. I let it prime for almost 2 weeks before fridging it, then cracked one tonight after only about 30 hours. Great head, good lace, nice color, good body and nose.
I brewed it yesterday with a yeast starter on the Wyeast. It took off like gangbusters! I love starters.
Today it's bubbling away. I'm missing out it's not stinking up the room with rhino farts.
This beer is the most elaborate thing I've brewed to date. I'm using a pure vanilla "Fiesta Cocina" I bought in Mexico. This product's concoction is FANTASTIC alone. No extract. No preservatives. This stuff is Vanilla on steroids............. so I only used 1 oz. added to the primary and 1 oz. added to the secondary.
Truth be told, the name alone intrigued me beyond any other cream out there.
Well,
2nd Try:
I cut my "special" Vanilla way down. I only used 3 oz. and it still came out much too vanillay for my taste. My son loves it. Too much, all you taste is vanilla.
I can taste the cream but no carmel. The vanilla just kicks my @ss. I will brew this again, just I'll use less of the same potent vanilla.
3rd Try:
Pure Gold example: 1 oz. in the Primary & 1 oz. in the Secondary. Fantastic! Best beer yet. And I've experimented this 3 times. The vanilla should be an undertone here, not over powering, but a nice afterthought in an excellent beer.
Thank you Cheesefood for the start, but like everything in life, practice makes perfect.
