Fresh vanilla beans

[berebrando]

My cousin just returned from Bali. She brought me these vanilla beans. They are soft and moist. They smell sensational.

I have an imperial stout that is aging right now. It has 10% + abv off the top of my head, lots of chocolate malt, big body. I want to add the beans, but I am unsure of how much or how to go about adding the beans.

Thoughts? Advice? How much to add? How long? Add whole? or soak in rum/bourbon?

 

[djbradle]

Mmmmmm those look great!

Two will do well for a 5 gallon batch. Add whole, cut, sliced open, and tossed in 600 ml of bourbon or whiskey for 2 weeks. Pitch this into a secondary vessel and rack on top until the flavor is right. I have a Porter done this way that is unbelievable after 8 months. I would have preferred whiskey though.

The vanilla bean flavor will be the first to dissipate. My porter was 6.7% so you may want to up the ante depending on how potent the flavor is in your stout and your palate requirement.

 

[formula2fast]

With vanilla I would use vodka instead of whiskey. Vodka brings out more of the flavors of vanilla instead of masking them with the whiskey and oak flavor. I used 5 whole beans (cut and scraped) and added them to my vanilla porter along with the vodka that I soaked them in and the flavor was amazing. I am going to make another one in a few weeks.

 

[berebrando]

How about storage? This container has at least 20 pods and I can't use them all at once.

Should I freeze them? Refrigerate?

 

[djbradle]

Air tight container at lower room temps. This is how they are stored at you local whole foods or other higher end grocery. They were already rum or bourbon soaked I'm sure.