Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans

[Octang]

I am making a Vanilla Milk Stout and I need to use some vanilla beans. I found a store nearby that sells Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla beans. Are these a good option to use? Or is there a particular type of vanilla bean that should be used instead?

 

[McGarnigle]

Those are probably the most popular ice cream vanilla beans. There's also Tahitians , which are more floral/aromatic, and are used in fragrances I believe. And then Mexicans, which are spicy. Vanilla bean connoisseurs will argue the merits of these three.

In short, they're fine for beer.

 

[pksmitty]

Vanilla beans are expensive. It pays to shop the price a little bit. I bought 2 beans recently (for a chocolate stout) and paid about $8. Later I saw 1 oz (about 6 -7 beans) at my lhbs for $8! The moral of the story is check with your lhbs first!

 

[dracus]

This sounds yummy. Want to share recipe. Anything with vanilla is brew of heaven.

 

[bwomp313]

I actually just bought the same type of beans from a lhbs. they were like 4 bucks for 2 of them and I used them in a vanilla bourbon stout so I'm just as anxious to see how they work out.

 

[Octang]

This sounds yummy. Want to share recipe. Anything with vanilla is brew of heaven.

I am just trying to add the vanilla flavor to a sweet stout recipe kit from Northern Brewer.

It is more or less a yummy experiment.

 

[impatient]

Sweet with Vanilla should not be referred to as beer.

 

[rcreveli]

When cooking with vanilla beans, I always slice them the long way and drag the blade along the now open length. Your knife will be coated with little black bits. That's the flavorful bits. They and the bean go into the pot.

That's how I do Ice cream and Creme Brulee

 

[Octang]

Sweet with Vanilla should not be referred to as beer.

Each to his own. Though I enjoy the full-gambit of beers, everything from IPAs to fruity beers. They all have their place and I can appreciate them for what makes them unique.