Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean - How much bean?

I combined a few different recipes and brewed a Smoked Porter a couple weeks ago. After the trub and yeast dumps there is approximately 10 gallons of beer left. I have a few questions about the vanilla bean addition:

1) How many vanilla beans should I add for a subtle vanilla taste (I'm scared to add to many and turn it into a perfume...)

2) Should I cut them in pieces and scrape them out? Or just drop them in?

3) Sanitize them?

Thanks!

I would do maybe 3 or 4 beans for 10 gallons. Yes you want to cut then, aka slice them down the middle lengthwise because the vanilla is inside the pod. I have seen a lot of people soak the beans in a small amount of vodka for 24 hours before adding the beans and the vodka to the beer. That will sanitize them and bring out the flavor.

jbsengineer said:

1) How many vanilla beans should I add for a subtle vanilla taste (I'm scared to add to many and turn it into a perfume...)

2) Should I cut them in pieces and scrape them out? Or just drop them in?

3) Sanitize them?

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I just finished a vanilla porter and used 4 beans for 5 gallons. I sliced lengthwise, scraped out the insides, chopped the remainder into 1/4 - 1/2" sections, put it all in an empty and sanitized WL yeast tube, filled with white rum (no vodka on hand) and let it sit during fermentation. Then dumped that into the keg and racked on top. Tastes terrific.

I used 2 beans soaked in vodka, no cutting. They soaked for about 2 weeks before I added them to my porter. It tasted fantastic, the vanilla balanced with hops and malt.

Some very different approaches. I like the idea of rum soaked!

4-8 beans per 10 gallons. As stated before, cut down the middle and scrape the bean. Soaking in alcohol (like vodka) for a day works wonders on the flavor. Good luck.

So I cut down the middle, scrape the inside out, and soak both in some alcohol? How do I separate the bean from alcohol? Or don't I?

When you scrape the bean, you are releasing the actual vanilla flavor. The goodness is all of that stuff inside. Soak ALL of it, bean and pulp, in a little bit of vodka in a sealed container. Maybe 1/4-1/2 cup of vodka. The less vodka you use, the more potent it be and the fewer off flavors will occur. But you really just need enough to cover all of the beans and the pulp. After 24-48 hours, you can then dump the contents of the container into the fermenting vessel or your secondary. However the longer you allow it to sit, the better the flavor will become. The vodka will change color, so if it's brown, it's ok. Good luck.

I used 3 beans, soaked in vodka for about a week, for a five gallon batch. The beans were chopped. Tasted good, but a little too much vanilla flavor for my taste - next time I'll use about 1/2 as much.