Adding Vanilla to Imperial Stout - Bean vs. Extract?

[stevemassey]

Noob question.

Trying my hand at my first imperial stout and I wanted to get advice about adding a nice vanilla flavor to the batch.

I love BB Aged Vanilla stouts, so I want both flavors to be pretty forward in the final beer. I already am going to bourbon soak oak spirals and add after the 2nd week of primary.

I see that vanilla beans are really expensive, and since this is a small batch, I wanted to see what others may use, and if the bean is that much better than an extract, and also when to add into the primary?

Thanks for any info!

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I am using 2 beans soaked in 1.5 ounces of bourbon for 7 days to flavor 5 gallons of Porter. I hear whole vanilla beans add lots of aroma, but using pure vanilla extract adds vanilla flavor.

This 1.5 ounce vanilla bean/bourbon tincture equals a 0.23% addition to the 5 gallon batch. Which having never done a flavoring like this before, I feel is a good place to start. I plan on adding the beans and bourbon to the kegged beer after it's been carbonated.

 

[thehaze]

I used 4 bourbon vanilla beans: https://www.beanilla.com/vanilla/vanilla-beans in a 7.5% Stout and they added almost no flavour.

Next time I will use more.

 

[TGFV]

Potentially stupid question thehaze, but did you split and scrape the beans? I've had the flavour come out noticeably in several different drinks with .5 beans a gallon with the only time it didn't come through was my first time using vanilla bean where I didn't split and scrape.

 

[thehaze]

Potentially stupid question thehaze, but did you split and scrape the beans? I've had the flavour come out noticeably in several different drinks with .5 beans a gallon with the only time it didn't come through was my first time using vanilla bean where I didn't split and scrape.

All 4 beans were split and scraped. I also cut them in smaller bits ( 3-4 bits per bean ) and along with crushed cocoa beans, were they stored cold for 2 days in bourbon, prior to being dumped in the fermenter.

I could maybe be a bit insensitive to vanilla flavour, but I doubt this was the case with mine. The grain bill was complex and beer became really good 3 months after I bottled it.

 

[OkashiiBrew]

Go to your local pharmacy and ask for a couple of empty 3 ounce liquid medication bottle. Chop your beans and add 1 to 2 ounces booze of your choice. Shake it often. Do this ahead of time. I try to have a bottle on the shelf ready to go. It won't go bad and you don't have to do the scrape thing if it sits long enough.

 

[isomerization]

All 4 beans were split and scraped. I also cut them in smaller bits ( 3-4 bits per bean ) and along with crushed cocoa beans, were they stored cold for 2 days in bourbon, prior to being dumped in the fermenter.

I could maybe be a bit insensitive to vanilla flavour, but I doubt this was the case with mine. The grain bill was complex and beer became really good 3 months after I bottled it.

Either you had bad beans or the temperature/time duration caused almost no extraction. Obviously, not all beans are equal, but I recently used 2 beans a mango milkshake NE IPA, and the flavor was super strong for a couple weeks before balancing out nicely. In the future, I'd add the extract to the keg/bottling bucket and as a previous poster said, shake the bottle several times a day and leave at RT.

 

[RedlegEd]

Noob question.

Trying my hand at my first imperial stout and I wanted to get advice about adding a nice vanilla flavor to the batch.

I love BB Aged Vanilla stouts, so I want both flavors to be pretty forward in the final beer. I already am going to bourbon soak oak spirals and add after the 2nd week of primary.

I see that vanilla beans are really expensive, and since this is a small batch, I wanted to see what others may use, and if the bean is that much better than an extract, and also when to add into the primary?

Thanks for any info!

I am using 2 beans soaked in 1.5 ounces of bourbon for 7 days to flavor 5 gallons of Porter. I hear whole vanilla beans add lots of aroma, but using pure vanilla extract adds vanilla flavor.

This 1.5 ounce vanilla bean/bourbon tincture equals a 0.23% addition to the 5 gallon batch. Which having never done a flavoring like this before, I feel is a good place to start. I plan on adding the beans and bourbon to the kegged beer after it's been carbonated.

Hi. I've done it both ways, and @Screwybrewer is correct about aroma vs flavor. I prefer Pure Vanilla Extract (not the artificial stuff,) at a rate of 1tsp = 1 bean (I use ~3 tsp.) I've found the beans are just too inconsistent with respect to the amount of flavor/aroma you get, as compared to the extract (which you can really control.) If you want the bourbon flavor, that should come from the soaked oak, but be careful, it doesn't take long for the beer to become too "oaky." If you secondary, I'd recommend adding the oak first, let it condition to your taste, then start adding the vanilla until it hits the profile you're after. Take good notes! so the next time you make it, you have it at hand. Hope this helps. Ed