English Brown w/vanilla

[C-Rider]

Planning to do an English Brown this weekend. Then yesterday a friend gave me some FRESH vanilla beans (it grows wild in the mountains here on O`ahu). Not sure how much and when to add. I'll soak in some rum before adding. This will be a 2 gallon batch w/about 1.8 going into the fermenter.

 

[C-Rider]

Bump

 

[RPh_Guy]

Vanilla makes everything better!

By "fresh" beans I hope you mean that they've already been killed and are brown but moist. I've looked at growing vanilla but outside of the tropics it doesn't seem cost-effective.

Anywhere from 0.5 to 2 or more beans per gallon will impart vanilla flavor.
The best approach imho is the following:
On brew day, split and chop the bean(s), and put them in a shot glass or some small glass container. Add just enough bourbon (or rum is fine) to submerge the beans. Cover and leave them sit for 1-2 weeks while the beer ferments. Add the mixture either to secondary for a week or so, or strain and add at bottling/kegging to taste.
The vanilla flavor will fade over time.

Cheers

 

[C-Rider]

Vanilla makes everything better!

By "fresh" beans I hope you mean that they've already been killed and are brown but moist. I've looked at growing vanilla but outside of the tropics it doesn't seem cost-effective.

Anywhere from 0.5 to 2 or more beans per gallon will impart vanilla flavor.
The best approach imho is the following:
On brew day, split and chop the bean(s), and put them in a shot glass or some small glass container. Add just enough bourbon (or rum is fine) to submerge the beans. Cover and leave them sit for 1-2 weeks while the beer ferments. Add the mixture either to secondary for a week or so, or strain and add at bottling/kegging to taste.
The vanilla flavor will fade over time.

Cheers

Yes "fresh" means brown and just harvested this month. Good idea about the long soak. I'm gonna brew tomorrow morn and will soak the beans sometime during the day. These vines were planted WAY up in the mountains over 100 years ago by coffee plantation workers. They have spread over a good sized area. I have a friend who goes up every year and hand pollinates each flower. It takes about a year before you can harvest the beans.