Vanilla Whiskey Black Ale

I currently have a black ale from austin home brew i have read in the comments that some of the guys have added whiskey and vanilla to the 2ndary. I was just wondering if anyone had tried this before or brewed anything like this.

i plan on adding 2 cups jack daniels and 1.1/3 vanilla bean. do i need to sanitized the vanilla at all?

This is next up on my list. All I've read is to wash the bean in hot water before.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone has used vanilla extract. I'm considering using it in one of my brews.

I would just soak the vanilla in whatever whiskey you plan on adding. That should kill any nasties.

JebCkr said:

I'd be curious to hear if anyone has used vanilla extract. I'm considering using it in one of my brews.

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Be careful with extract. I ruined a batch of Winter Solstice clone by adding too much. If you are kegging I'd suggest adding 1/2tbl in secondary and then more in the keg after sampling it. I found it was VERY easy to go overboard. I added 1.5tbl and it is almost undrinkable.

I'm cheap I've just brewed with extract. Pure extract. I'm not paying the prices they want for 2 beans.

I am NOT a subject matter expert. I have not used used both ingredients on 1 batch.

This is my experience with the JD chips: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/using-jack-daniels-barrel-chips-my-experience-211857/ . These do lend some, not much, vanilla like flavors. I would also get a few glass marbles (sanitize them) to put into the oak chip bag to sink it...

Also, I have used some vanilla extract (It was homemade) which I prefer over the bean due to over vanilla-ing. I have also seen vanilla bean packages (from Brewers Best???) in my LHBS for about $10.

IMO, I would brew the beer then oak it. After oaking add in extract to taste. BE WARNED some store bought extracts have sugars added in them, read the label as the yeast will ferment them.

GL!

What I do is soak the vanilla in the whiskey as mentioned during fermentation, dump it in the keg before I rack it, then cut a bean in 4 long ways. Then I tie unwaxed/unflavored dental floss to one end of the four pieces of vanilla bean, drop it in and seal the keg. I leave about 1-2 feet of slack in the keg if I plan to drink some right away. I then mark the floss outside of the keg near the seal. Over time as the flavor becomes too strong, I pull the floss out about 2 feet so that its not touching the beer, then finish the keg.

It may seem like overkill but I'm kinda a stickler about opening the keg. I rack directly from my fermenter to the Out of my keg filled with CO2 by attaching a ball lock to the end of my auto-siphon. Once the beer is in the keg, I don't like opening it until its kicked. I also use this method for dry hopping in the keg.

Braxtonhs said:

wash the bean in hot water before.

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wrong

NorCalAngler said:

I would just soak the vanilla in whatever whiskey you plan on adding.

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this is correct. alcohol will extract flavors more efficiently than any other method. the longer the soak the better.

PanzerBanana said:

I'm cheap I've just brewed with extract. Pure extract. I'm not paying the prices they want for 2 beans.

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go to "sur la table" and buy vanilla bean paste. much better than extract, although perhaps not as good as straight up beans. a good median...