Adding more vanilla beans

About 2.5 weeks ago I brewed a porter recipe and decided to add vanilla beans into secondary to make a vanilla porter. After soaking the vanilla beans in bourbon for about a week I added it to my secondary after the beer had been fermenting for about a week.

The vanilla has been sitting in with the beer in the fermenter for about 10 days so I thought I would give it a try to make sure there was enough vanilla flavor for my liking. I tried some of it and I did not taste much vanilla at all. I had added 6 whole vanilla beans (which I had read was a bit on the extreme end of the spectrum), but there is not as much vanilla taste as I would like.

I have a couple beans left and am thinking about throwing those in as well. I am just worried that more vanilla taste will come out after I have bottled it. I like the taste as is, but ideally I want more vanilla. Any ideas if I should add more vanilla? Or should I just anticipate that the vanilla will be more prevalent after bottling? Any advice would be appreciated!

did you slice the beans down the center and scrape the insides of the beans? also you don't have to put the beans in alcohol,theres no danger of adding them in the secondary! with 6 beans you should be tasting it good.

Yes, I sliced them down the center. The problem is at this point I am not tasting a lot of vanilla. Do you think I should just go with it and hope for the best? Or should I add more vanilla?

cbmoore43 said:

Yes, I sliced them down the center. The problem is at this point I am not tasting a lot of vanilla. Do you think I should just go with it and hope for the best? Or should I add more vanilla?

Click to expand...

That's a lot of vanilla beans. IMHO, I would stick with what you have. If it's not enough, you'll know for next time. Better to have a good beer with a slight vanilla taste than a ruined one.

I just brewed a vanilla porter two weeks ago. Two beans in the boil for 10 minutes. Has the vanilla aroma and slight vanilla taste, but is not overwhelming at all.

I always hesitate with adding too much spices/flavorings, because I screwed up a raspberry wheat once because I was too ambitious.

Do you mind sharing your recipe?

justabrewin said:

That's a lot of vanilla beans. IMHO, I would stick with what you have. If it's not enough, you'll know for next time. Better to have a good beer with a slight vanilla taste than a ruined one.

I just brewed a vanilla porter two weeks ago. Two beans in the boil for 10 minutes. Has the vanilla aroma and slight vanilla taste, but is not overwhelming at all.

I always hesitate with adding too much spices/flavorings, because I screwed up a raspberry wheat once because I was too ambitious.

Do you mind sharing your recipe?

Click to expand...

i did the beans in the boil ...no flavor what so ever.then i did the vanilla beans in primary first sip you could barley taste it,second drink the flavor was gone. then next time i put the beans with out any alcohol in the secondary and lagered 2 months and you could taste it pretty good. myself i would add the other beans your not gonna ruin a beer with vanilla beans. i anything it will taste good imo. ive been brewin for 10+ years and have won many awards at the old michigan state fair. i took second with a bourbon barrel vanilla stout. good luck with your beer let us know how it turns out!!

it also depends on how long your gonna lager it,if its gonna be another 2 months you might want to just leave it,but if your not and want more vanilla flavor add them other beans.

I make a chocolate vanilla porter twice a year,I`ve found that vanilla flavor diminishes over time.My method is to use 2 oz pure extract at flameout.I usually
rack to secondary with 2 to 3 rum soaked beans,When it comes bottling time I
taste for amount of flavor I`m looking for,if I want more vanilla flavor I add 1
to 2 oz of pure extract to the bottling bucket.This usually isn`t the case because
the beans were about right.I would think 6 beans is plenty though.If you need
more flavor try the extract addition at bottling.This is just my method of getting
the taste I want in a porter.I`m sure your beer will be great anyhow.Hope
this helps ya out some.

Cheers

ive found its better to add flavorings in the secondary,the boil boils it away,and in the primary, the yeast eat the flavor up!

I agree with not adding to the boil,I usually add the extract at about 190.
I`ve found the real flavor comes from the secondary beans but at times
the extract at bottling was just what i needed for flavor.The early addition
I do has worked well for me though.Point well taken on what you said
about adding to the boil.

Cheers

Putting in the boil worked great for me, but to each his own, I guess

Wow. I added 2 scraped vanilla beans to my porter and I thought THAT was a little overpowering on the vanilla flavor. I can't imagine 6. Were they old?

brewmadness said:

Wow. I added 2 scraped vanilla beans to my porter and I thought THAT was a little overpowering on the vanilla flavor. I can't imagine 6. Were they old?

Click to expand...

Were's the I'm with stupid smiley?? No offense Brewmadness...

I agree, I have a vanilla oatmeal stout and I put one whole bean split into a secondary for 2 weeks and it's not over powering to drink just a hint of vanilla.

Might wanna freeze it and make vanilla beer ice cream outa that batch...

6 Beans seems outrageous...i put 2 beans in a 1.060 Porter and within 3 days it was super strong...i just left them in my keg in a bag the entire time the keg was going(probably 1.5 months?) ...the vanilla started to fade after a month but there was no doubt it was in there...i cant imagine 6 beans...

Last night I actually had my first taste of a vanilla porter I made and it was fantastic. I used 6 beans to 5 gallons in secondary, no pre-soak or anything. I sampled at bottling and couldn't taste anything at all, but after 1 month in the bottle the vanilla flavor came out strong and delicious. You might just try bottling it and see if it comes out with age.

Where are people getting these beans that require 6? Are they tiny or something?

It blows my mind that 6 doesnt just taste like drinking pure vanilla extract, even 2 in my 5 gallon porter bordered on overpowering.

Reminds me of the people who toss a "handful" of cloves into their cider and end up with a trainwreck that will never taste good