Another vanilla bean thread!

So I've got a sweet stout in the fermenter for about 10 days now, and I'm thinking it's time to start working on the vanilla. I've decided on splitting the bean(s) lengthwise, chopping them into half inch pieces, and soaking it in Ketel One vodka for about a week. After that, I might just add the vodka and top the container off with more vodka, to see how much more flavor I can get out of the bean(s). They're not cheap! And everything is more expensive here in Canada

My question is mainly about how much/many beans to use. It's pretty high gravity for a sweet stout, and the focus is going to largely be on the two or three additions of chocolate I'm adding, so I don't want it to be overwhelming.

I've read a lot of threads on the issue, and there ARE a lot of answers, but invariably they are given as the number of beans, which isn't very helpful. A more useful answer would probably be by weight, or even inches of bean. Many people seem to have beans just a few inches long... the 3 I got for $8.99 from my LHBS are all between 9 and 10 inches. So... can anybody help me out and give me a rough idea in some sort of unit that is actually meaningful?

I added two beans to my double chocolate oatmeal stout. They were 7-8 inches long. They will help show case the chocolate, but you won't get much if any vanilla flavor, which it sounds like your going for.

I've used 3 beans in 5 gals with bourbon and oak and the vanilla was too much. The second time I used 2 beans and it was much better. I guess the oak may have accounted for some vanilla but I think not near as much as the beans themselves. My beans are 9-10 inches long.

Can't help with the quantity question, but if you need to buy vanilla beans in larger quantities check Ebay. I bought 30 Madagascar beans for $8 including shipping from France. They were dryer than ones bought locally, but my wife uses them to make vanilla extract and they are great for that.

Well, I processed the beans. They really smell amazing... with a complexity and spicy bite I never seem to get from even high quality extracts I've purchased in Mexico. They remind me of the best extract I ever purchased, which was also in Mexico but oddly wasn't dark at all - it was clear with a bit of a yellowish tint to it, like you'll see in good quality vanilla ice cream, but even darker. Quite similar to my extract that I'm making right now, though mine is already darker.

I sliced all three in half lengthwise (now that I opened the airtight foil bag, I decided at that point I might as well all of them), and then kind of flattened them out to expose more of the inside area. Then I cut them into 0.5-1 inch strips and put them in a water bottle with 1 cup (250ml) of Ketel One - it's the only vodka I usually have (vastly prefer it to Grey Goose, the popularity and cost of which baffles me), and to go and buy something cheaper would have needlessly cost me even more.

I've shaken it vigorously a few times, and will probably do so every time I think about it in the next week before adding it. It may be too strong to add all of it, so I may only add half, and then decide whether to add more at bottling, but my beer is also very strong (for reasons I won't get into), with not just a pretty high OG for a milk stout (1.072), but also clocking in at around 66 SRM (with absolutely no roasted barley), so I may need a pretty big vanilla kick for this beer. I guess we'll see!

One thing that surprised me was the moisture content in the beans. I always thought they'd be pretty dry, with the dark and shriveled look that cured vanilla beans have, but that's really not at all the case. As a result, the whole process of preparing the beans was a LOT messier than I had anticipated!

emjay said:

a pretty high OG for a milk stout (1.072)...

Click to expand...

Just curious, did you add the lactose in the boil and THEN take a gravity reading? If so, lactose sugar is a non fermentable, so it will add several points to your OG, but will still be around after fermentation, so it will give you a higher FG than you may be expecting.