Using Vanilla bean in your brews

[Marmike600]

I made a Head Scratcher IPA Hefe for my first beer. Great mix of Hefeweizen wheat flavor and IPA hoppyness. It was such a hit with the friends that I brewed a double batch of it this weekend. I have wanted to get a little creative with this so for half of it (5 gallons) I added 3oz of orange zest and the scraped out innards of one Madagascar vanilla bean to the last 5 minutes of the boil.

I am now reading that to get the flavor of the vanilla, I would have had to soak it in vodka or everclear.

It is already fermenting away and I do have a second bean. Should I go ahead and start soaking that in vodka or will I be alright with what I have?

Thanks

Oh, and sniffing the airlock, it smells like one of those orange dream sickles so if nothing else, I will have a hint of vanilla in the smell of the beer.:rockin:

 

[SoonerDoc]

Generally you would want to secondary with vanilla beans that had been sanitized with vodka or bourbon. If you can smell the vanilla I'd bet you're fine.

 

[Marmike600]

Good times. I will know for next time and see how this one goes. If it has no vanilla flavor, its not a big deal as the orange zest will be good by itself with the taste of the bear

 

[Hopper5000]

I would just try it when it's done fermenting and see if you should add more. If you add stuff to secondary more of the subtle flavors and aromas will be there. Something like vanilla can suffer from C02 scrubbing in primary fermentation which can cause a lot of the aroma and flavor to dissapate (this why you don't dry hop when it's actively fermenting.)