Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter

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brewmasterorr said:
I was able to get the mash in a keg....just barley though.

What was your water to grain ratio? I'm guessing it has to be 1.25 qts/lb or less. 1.25 qts/lb puts me at 10 5/8 gallons plus the grain. And that's where I'm wondering if the 34 lbs will fit in below curved rim of the top of the keg.

What was your preboil volume with the 10 gallon batch?
 
I have a batch of this brewing now. Only problem is my fermentation got out of hand. It worked itself up to a fermentation temp of 70 degrees around the 24 hour mark. Has anyone had any experience with 1450 fermenting this high? I'm afraid of the final beer having a fusel alcohol presence.
 
Awesome, thanks Denny! Good to hear from the man himself. I think I can deal with fruity. Next time I will definitely be using my refrigerator to control the beastly fermentation from 1450 and a high gravity wort.
 
What was your water to grain ratio? I'm guessing it has to be 1.25 qts/lb or less. 1.25 qts/lb puts me at 10 5/8 gallons plus the grain. And that's where I'm wondering if the 34 lbs will fit in below curved rim of the top of the keg.

What was your preboil volume with the 10 gallon batch?

I have a keg flipped and run a herms. I was up to the brim, which for me was above where it starts to curve. I account for loss and about a 15% boil off rate so I was at 14.5 gallons pre-boil on this one. I put 38 pounds in the mash tun for this one and ended up with 12 gallons in the fermentor at 21 plato (1.088).
 
I have a keg flipped and run a herms. I was up to the brim, which for me was above where it starts to curve. I account for loss and about a 15% boil off rate so I was at 14.5 gallons pre-boil on this one. I put 38 pounds in the mash tun for this one and ended up with 12 gallons in the fermentor at 21 plato (1.088).

38 lbs? What's your efficiency? I just ordered this and doubled the 5 gallon recipe to 34 lbs as listed. My system is an old Sabco system I converted to eHERMS and I have the curved portion up top intact. I should be fine. I had it this full for my last batch and it didn't boil over and filled two kegs plus 18 12oz bottles. This is preboil:

4269AEA8-1036-4D9E-8321-DCAA6180D6F0-1130-0000010B55A3CBC7.jpg
 
38 lbs? What's your efficiency? I just ordered this and doubled the 5 gallon recipe to 34 lbs as listed. My system is an old Sabco system I converted to eHERMS and I have the curved portion up top intact. I should be fine. I had it this full for my last batch and it didn't boil over and filled two kegs plus 18 12oz bottles. This is preboil:

I usually get about 80% I will check my logs. I put the vanilla beans in last night and it was more like 12.5 gallons in the fermenter.
 
Brewed a triple batch of this as part of our new brew club on Saturday (none of us had done AG, most of us hadn't even brewed). We used the grain bill found on the brew365 site, and mashed at 153 for 60 min. Hit our OG of 1.080 and everything tastes great and seems to be fermenting well (it's in the four along the back wall)

I just had some questions about the vanilla and oak additions. I'm planning on adding 2 split/scraped beans and some medium toast oak chips (both soaked in bourbon for a few days) at around 3 weeks, but can I add these straight into primary, provided fermentation is completed at that point? I'm running low on fermenters and it would make life a whole lot easier, but isn't completely necessary. Also it seems like 1-2 weeks is the norm for vanilla beans, what about oak chips?

Also, how much less do you need to add with oak chips vs oak cubes, I seem to have bought the wrong product...
 
Yes, you can add to primary after fermentation is done. Don't set a time for the vanilla...it will vary with the quality of your beans. Just start tasting after 3-5 days. The vanilla fades quickly, so let it get a bit more vanilla character than you think it needs.

I'm not a big fan of oaked beers.....I don't understand why everyone wants to oak this. Try it without oak.
 
Yes, you can add to primary after fermentation is done. Don't set a time for the vanilla...it will vary with the quality of your beans. Just start tasting after 3-5 days. The vanilla fades quickly, so let it get a bit more vanilla character than you think it needs.

I'm not a big fan of oaked beers.....I don't understand why everyone wants to oak this. Try it without oak.

I asked the same question about oak and am very glad I decided to not use it, this beer turned out fabulous. The bourbon brings just the right element of flavor needed!

I used 3 whole, long vanilla beans, split and scraped all in the secondary and sat for 10 days total. Initially it was quite strong but after 10-12 weeks bottle conditioned everything has mellowed beautifully!
 
I asked the same question about oak and am very glad I decided to not use it, this beer turned out fabulous. The bourbon brings just the right element of flavor needed!

I used 3 whole, long vanilla beans, split and scraped all in the secondary and sat for 10 days total. Initially it was quite strong but after 10-12 weeks bottle conditioned everything has mellowed beautifully!

For the intensity of the vanilla you described, would you use three beans again?

For my 10 gallon batch, I split/scraped/chopped 4 beans and split them by weight - 5 grams for each 5 gallon carboy.

The beans seemed to vary in size, so I took two large and two medium and just split it evenly. Anyone else get a weight on how much vanilla they added?
 
Yes, you can add to primary after fermentation is done. Don't set a time for the vanilla...it will vary with the quality of your beans. Just start tasting after 3-5 days. The vanilla fades quickly, so let it get a bit more vanilla character than you think it needs.

I'm not a big fan of oaked beers.....I don't understand why everyone wants to oak this. Try it without oak.

Awesome, thanks for the info!

I'll maybe try 1/2 with oak and 1/2 without then, and report my findings.
 
jtkratzer said:
For the intensity of the vanilla you described, would you use three beans again?

For my 10 gallon batch, I split/scraped/chopped 4 beans and split them by weight - 5 grams for each 5 gallon carboy.

The beans seemed to vary in size, so I took two large and two medium and just split it evenly. Anyone else get a weight on how much vanilla they added?

Yes! All 3 were about 3-4", I did not weigh them
 
jtkratzer said:
Talking about the vanilla beans here, but mine are 7". So, I might end up with more vanilla flavor if yours are 9-12" total and I put 14" of bean into each 5 gallon carboy.

It's possible, as Denny mentioned it really comes down to what you want and you need to sample the beer as it conditions, trust me, if you sample it you will definitely taste and smell the vanilla!

Start tasting at like 3 days and go from there. Let it get a little stronger than you desire because it will fade. It's a personal thing

IMo this beer is best from 12 weeks from bottle so be patient
 
It's possible, as Denny mentioned it really comes down to what you want and you need to sample the beer as it conditions, trust me, if you sample it you will definitely taste and smell the vanilla!

Start tasting at like 3 days and go from there. Let it get a little stronger than you desire because it will fade. It's a personal thing

IMo this beer is best from 12 weeks from bottle so be patient

Tomorrow is 3 days...I was planning on drinking a couple to enjoy them, but most of these, I was going to stash away until the fall. I believe this is a beer that I've read about doing well with aging.
 
Dang. I was hoping to stash these away for the fall months. Make a difference between bottling or kegging?

I can't recall ever kegging it. I mean, go ahead and see what you think, but I'd recommend you think of drinking the bulk of it before fall. Or brewing another batch later!
 
Denny said:
I can't recall ever kegging it. I mean, go ahead and see what you think, but I'd recommend you think of drinking the bulk of it before fall. Or brewing another batch later!

When the ingredients were pushing close to $120 for 10 gallons, this isn't one I'll be doing often.
 
Denny said:
Holy crap, that's insane! :eek:

Should it be less? How do you manage that without buying sacks of grain?

I did pick a pretty decent bourbon in Woodford Reserve. Probably closer to $110 since I used one vial of yeast between two ten gallon batches.
 
Should it be less? How do you manage that without buying sacks of grain?

I did pick a pretty decent bourbon in Woodford Reserve. Probably closer to $110 since I used one vial of yeast between two ten gallon batches.

I really can't answer since I do buy bags of grain (about 12oo lb. currently on hand) and lbs. of hops. You really are wasting money (IMO) by buying expensive bourbon. The bourbon flavor should be so well integrated that you shouldn't be able to really pick out the bourbon. That's why I recommend a decent, but not expensive, bourbon.
 
I really can't answer since I do buy bags of grain (about 12oo lb. currently on hand) and lbs. of hops. You really are wasting money (IMO) by buying expensive bourbon. The bourbon flavor should be so well integrated that you shouldn't be able to really pick out the bourbon. That's why I recommend a decent, but not expensive, bourbon.

If you don't mind, what are some examples of decent bourbon? I'll gladly save the Woodford if it the middle of the road stuff will suffice.
 
If you don't mind, what are some examples of decent bourbon? I'll gladly save the Woodford if it the middle of the road stuff will suffice.

I made mine with Makers Mark. I can usually find it for right around $20 a bottle and I thought the vanilla notes of the bourbon would mesh well in this beer.

I could distinctly pick out the bourbon the first week or so after it was drinkable, but by three weeks in the keg everything had melded and subtled out well.

As a plus I had leftover Markers Mark to mix with mexican coke :drunk:
 
I made mine with Makers Mark. I can usually find it for right around $20 a bottle and I thought the vanilla notes of the bourbon would mesh well in this beer.

I could distinctly pick out the bourbon the first week or so after it was drinkable, but by three weeks in the keg everything had melded and subtled out well.

As a plus I had leftover Markers Mark to mix with mexican coke :drunk:

Mexican coke? Is that a cola or something else?

I love bourbon, probably my favorite out of the spirits, so I really don't mind bourbon flavor sticking out.

I added 75 ml to 3.5 liters of beer that didn't fit in my secondaries with the vanilla and bottled it. The bit that didn't fill a bottle was tasty, no vanilla, but I didn't think the bourbon flavor was too strong and was barely noticeable. I'm wondering if I need to add more than 10ml per pint. I was just going to evenly split a fifth between the two kegs and then rack on top of it. I think I had Maker's 46 in my decanter for the bottled beer.
 
I used Makers Mark as well because I had it on hand

Mexican Coke is Coca Cola but in Mexico they use real cane sugar and IMO it is superior to that made in the good ol USA
 
Hello everyone - total noob to the board, not a noob to the brew. I know this thread has been dormant since Feb, but I am looking to get this recipe underway for the fall season. I was hoping I could get a reply from Denny himself on a couple of questions. I have spent the better part of my afternoon reading 27 pages, start to finish, so I will make the questions short.

Denny...

1) According to the original recipe (and according to another post), the mash-in is done with 5.75 gallons of water - correct? Leaving an additional 3.5 gallons (+/-) for sparge?

1.5) Along the lines of water - my home water sucks so these are my 3 options - Distilled, Spring, or Drinking water (all by the gallon). Which would you recommend using as far as keeping Ph balance in check, etc.?

2) You mention HawaiianVanilla.com for the source of your beans. Great site (expensive). Do you ONLY use 2 beans in your conditioning, or have you used 3 (since you can only buy a single, or a 3pk), and if you have used 3 - how were the results as opposed to using 2?

3) Lastly, in your opinion, would it be worth while using the 3rd bean in the keg (seeing as though the vanilla fades over time) to keep some of that vanilla a little more prominent throughout the life of the keg? I know you say that it depends on personal preference, but I was wondering if you (or anyone for that matter) has attempted this daring feat, and what the results were.

Thanks in advance for the response(s). Great recipe, and great board.

Cheers.
 
1) Just checked my notes and it looks like the last time I brewed it I mashed with 6.5 gal. , sparged with 4 gal. for a 5.5 gal. batch
1.5) drinking water. You'll need to make adjustments, though. I use Bru'nwater to calc them.
2.) I use different numbers of beans depending on the quality of the beans. When I've used the Hawaiian, 2 is enough for my tastes. Keep in mind that the vanilla is the fist thing to fade in the beer, so 3 might be OK, especially if you intend to age it.
3.) who knows? :) It's up to your tastes.
 
Thanks for the response.

I know you say 'up to my taste' and I respect that thought. But in all theory (from a master brewer) would it be worth while to add the 3rd bean right to the keg and letting it meander in there, as opposed to over bean-ing in the conditioning phase?

I'm not looking to age for any extended period of time, so I will be enjoying this as soon as I can - however, it will take me some time to get through 5-6 gallons (glass by glass). That's where I had the thought to use the 3rd directly in the keg in hopes that it would keep the prominent VANILLA flavor around a bit longer...
 
Ya know, since I've never done it, I can't give you anything more than a guess. So, if you want my guess, I'd say yes, add it to the keg. But don't blame me if you don't like it! :) Or maybe wait to see if the vanilla fades and add it then.
 
Very well. I will accept that opinion. Here's what I will do - I will add the 2 beans to the 2ndary and let her rest for 3 weeks (instead of 2), then keg it. Give it a little more Umpff! I'll drink on it until I feel the vanilla begins to fade below my liking, then add a 1/4-1/3 of a bean at a time. Drink it some more until it fades again, and so on. If it takes me more than 3-4 weeks to put 5 gallons down, then I have more of a problem than just fading vanilla.

I think that's the best option (in my opinion) for not over powering it, but not letting it fade off completely. If you run out of salt around the rim of your margarita, before you drink it all, you just add more salt to taste. Same thing.

Thanks again for the opinions. Looking forward to getting this under way!
 
Denny -

I hope you see this in time... As I mentioned in a prior post, this was going to be under way. Well, tomorrow is the day.

I have one BURNING question though - in regards to the hop additions. I have seen a slew of comments in various places about how much to use. Confusing, at best. I thought I had saved YOUR original recipe somewhere, but I cannot find it.

I've seen .75 oz of Magnum, & 1oz of Golding
I've seen 1 oz of each
I've seen .50oz Mag & .75 Golding...
And, for some reason I have .65 Mag, and .40 Golding

Probably doesn't make all that much of a difference in a grain bill of that size with so little hops, but in order to stay authentic to the recipe, I was hoping you could chime in.

Shoot me straight here, Boss. What is your recipe calling out for to toss in, and are you calling for WHOLE hops or the Rabbit Food?

Thanks again (if you get it in time), and I will be sure to post the results in regards to the bean usage and profile.
 
Just for you, my friend....

#264 Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.75
Anticipated OG: 1.086 Plato: 20.58
Anticipated SRM: 45.4
Anticipated IBU: 31.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73 %
Wort Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 1.50 Gallons Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.75 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.063 SG 15.52 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
62.0 11.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
8.5 1.50 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain 1.032 70
2.8 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
14.1 2.50 lbs. Munich Malt (Durst) Germany 1.037 10
5.6 1.00 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.033 120
7.0 1.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.65 oz. Magnum-Domestic Whole 15.00 29.2 60 min.
0.40 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 6.00 2.6 10 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

Wy1450, Wy1056, or DCL Yeast US-56 Fermentis American Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Name:

Total Grain Lbs: 17.75
Total Water Qts: 23.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.75 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.13
Grain Temp: 65.00 F


Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sacc 0 60 155 155 Infuse 172 23.00 1.30


Total Water Qts: 23.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.75 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal: 7.17 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.
All infusion amounts are in Quarts.
All infusion ratios are Quarts/Lbs.


When fermentation is complete, split 2 vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape all the seeds and "gunk" from them and add it to the fermenter. Chop the beans into 2-3 in. long pieces and add them, too. Leave in secondary 10-14 days, then taste. You want the vanilla to be a bit on the strong side since it will fade. If the vanilla flavor is adequate, rack to bottling bucket or keg and add approximately 375 ml. of Jim Beam Black bourbon. You don't need to use an expensive bourbon, and you don't want to add a lot. The beer shouldn't scream "BOURBON!" at you. You should have an integrated flavor of the chocolatey porter, vanilla, and bourbon. This beer does not benefit from extended aging. I prefer it within a few months of brewing. The FG should be in the mid-high 20s, so don't worry about trying to get it lower.
 
Ah, Denny you are the man!

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.65 oz. Magnum-Domestic Whole 15.00 29.2 60 min.
0.40 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 6.00 2.6 10 min.


JACKPOT! Just what I was looking for - but I guess I'm due for a little conversion though, since whole hops is not in my options. I should be good to go though.

I'll check back in a few weeks. I appreciate it very much.
 
Success? I guess...

Man 'o man... What a process. I tried out a new 10 gal mash tun with a 'homemade' bazooka style screen in it - OYI!!! Stuck Strike & Stuck Sparge! I was about 20 minutes late draining my strike, and over an hour late by the time I had my 7 to boil. Arg! I guess it's a good thing I have 2 other tun's sitting around to save my butt. And, to boot, the transfers were a mess of something God awful & sticky. I have one pissed wife I can tell you that much.

I guess well see how it turns out. With all the BS I never cared to get an OG, so it is what it is at this point.

Happy Brewing

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