Adding vanilla to secondary??

[Jtbrown54]

I've never added vanilla, but I think I'd like to add a hint of vanilla to my pumpkin ale this year (currently in secondary hibernation...I mean fermentation)...

...do I throw in a whole bean or some sort of extract? And how long should I leave it in?

Thanks!

 

[makomachine]

Depends on how much vanilla you want. I did two beans, split down the middle in secondary in a Vanilla Porter and would do three next time. They fade with time. I'd be sure and score down the middle.

 

[Jtbrown54]

Depends on how much vanilla you want. I did two beans, split down the middle in secondary in a Vanilla Porter and would do three next time. They fade with time. I'd be sure and score down the middle.

Any needs to sanitize the bean b4 hand??

 

[CastleHollow]

I've had good experience with vanilla extract in the bottling bucket. Usually 1-2tsp/5gal does the trick.

 

[makomachine]

I dipped mine in starship, including the knife, before splitting and dropping in fermenter. Not sure if it was needed or not, but had it legged for nearly a year and no infection. (about empty)

 

[Jtbrown54]

I dipped mine in starship, including the knife, before splitting and dropping in fermenter. Not sure if it was needed or not, but had it legged for nearly a year and no infection. (about empty)

Thanks!

 

[makomachine]

Starship?!? Ha! Stupid IPad spellcheck time machined me back to the 80's! Legged?? That would be Starsan and kegged.

 

[Jtbrown54]

Starship?!? Ha! Stupid IPad spellcheck time machined me back to the 80's! Legged?? That would be Starsan and kegged.

I speak iPhone as well...it's all goats.

 

[pannell77]

i soak my vanilla beans in some vodka, after I split the beans and scrape out the insides to open it all up, throw everything into a container with some vodka for about 24 hours and dump it all in.

 

[orangeryno]

I recently made a vanilla porter with 4 beans that I chopped and let sit in rum for 4 days prior to adding to second ferment. I dump the beans and rum. I think the vanilla should have sat for more time because the flavor was hardly noticeable.

 

[cscade]

I'm looking at doing something like the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout soon, but not quite so nuts as they have gone with it. The "clone" recipe in BYO is highly suspect in my opinion in a number of ways, so I'm reluctant to do what it directs with the vanilla; "3 vanilla beans split and deseeded steeped for 20 minutes at end of boil then removed".

I'm feeling more like rum-soaked beans into secondary and/or serving keg may be the way to go. Southern Tier uses extract anyhow, so it's not a 1:1 comparison.

For a 5 gallon batch, if I spilt, scrape, and dice 3 beans into 1" long chunks and add them to the serving keg will I get noticeable character? If not, what amount/duration would be better in secondary? I generally do not secondary and I don't want to add the beans to primary.