Winter Cider Recipe Help

I'm working on a winter cider recipe using vanilla bean and toasted oak chips and am looking for some input. This is what I have so far.......

5 gal apple juice
2.5lb honey
1 packet Lavlin-1118
?? vanilla beans
?? American oak chips (med toast)

3-4 weeks in primary
rack to secondary and add oak chips
backsweeten then bottle 1/2 still 1/2 bottle carbed

A few things I'm unsure of.....
- how many vanilla beans to use and whether I should add them to the primary, secondary, or both?
- amount of oak chips I should add and the length of time I should leave them in for.
- whether to use concentrate or honey to backsweeten and carb

The goal is to end up with a very slight oak taste. This is only my second batch so any input is greatly appreciated!

I would add them in secondary in a muslin bag, one of each (one bean, one chip) and taste every few days.

oldmate said:

I would add them in secondary in a muslin bag, one of each (one bean, one chip) and taste every few days.

Click to expand...

Thanks!