Late Season Vanilla Pumpkin Ale?

Okay so my first mistake was making my pumpkin ale too late into the season, so I am just now starting to drink it a week before Thanksgiving. Second mistake, I wanted to add a hint of vanilla flavor to the beer during secondary so I added a vanilla bean. I sliced the bean down the length of it and left it in for one week.

Holy crap! This bean really gave off a lot of flavor. The beer still smells like a pumpkin and a bit of the spices I used, but that vanilla aftertaste comes in like a freight train.

How many/much vanilla bean(s) do you guys use for say.....a vanilla beer, or how about a beer with just a hint of vanilla, or how much is just under the noticeable bar?

I understand a lot of people on here use extract. Same questions apply, how much make a vanilla beer, how much for a hint, and how much is undetectable? Thanks.

Are you drinking it really early? In my pumpkin ale the spices were wayyyyy up front after 2 weeks in the bottle, after 3 weeks it was awesome. I bet it mellows out after a few more weeks, give it time.

To answer your vanilla question- I don't know, but- according to a recipe for double chocolate oatmeal stout, I plan to split 2 vanilla beans and add to secondary for 1 week before I bottle...