Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Bourbon Vanilla Porter (AG)

[Lil' Sparky]

Yeah, put it all in there. You want the little black dots, the oils, everything.

 

[Beavdowg]

Do you just dump in the chopped up vanilla beans or do you have to try and sanitize them somehow?

 

[egurney]

I'm soaking mine (along with some oak cubes) in the bourbon (Jack Daniel's actually) to sanitize. Going to dump everything in.

 

[Beavdowg]

I'm soaking mine (along with some oak cubes) in the bourbon (Jack Daniel's actually) to sanitize. Going to dump everything in.

I was going to use this recipe for a Vanilla Porter and leave out the bourbon part. So, do we have to sanitize the vanilla before we put it in, and if so, how?

thanks

 

[Lil' Sparky]

You don't have to - I never have. But if you soaked everything in a an ounce or two of bourbon or vodka, you wouldn't taste it in the end.

 

[timobkg]

I bottled this a week ago and just sampled a bottle. Absolutely amazing. This is the best beer I've brewed so far and it could still use at least a month to age. I posted my recipe a few posts back, but I changed a few things when I brewed. Here's what I did:

Here's my recipe:
5.75lb Extra Light DME
3lb Dark LME
1.5lb Chocolate Malt
.5lb Crystal 120L
.5lb Brown Malt
1oz Chinook (60 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (15 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (5 Minutes)
1 Whirlfloc Tablet (15 Minutes)
1.5tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract (Secondary)
12oz Maker's Mark (Secondary)
Danstar Nottingham

A few notes:
-I steeped at 155F for 30 minutes.
-I added the Dark LME with 15 minutes left in the boil.
-I primed with just under a cup of brown sugar.
-OG = 1.070
-FG = 1.020

This is an extremely smooth beer with no flavor really overpowering another. The flavors from the darker malts as a whole are not as pronounced as I would like though. I'm going to brew this up again soon as a partial mash and let it age for awhile. This is absolutely a great beer. Only a week after bottling and I already love it. It's going to be VERY difficult not to touch the rest of the batch.

I'd like to try making this, but I'm confused about this part: "I added the Dark LME with 15 minutes left in the boil." Can someone explain what that means?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I've never done an extract brew, so take this with a grain of salt...

From what I understand, a lot of extract brewers add the extract late in the boil, like with 15 mins left in that recipe. I think it allows you to get more hop utilization when you're not doing full boils, and maybe something to do with minimizing how much the sugars are caramelized during the boil. Hopefully someone else can verify.

 

[timobkg]

If I understand you correctly, that means to add the extract with 15 minutes left in the hop boil?

I've not heard of that before, but it sounds interesting.

 

[Beavdowg]

What is Brown Malt? I can't find it in my BrewPal software.

thanks

 

[Beavdowg]

Sparky,

I'm getting ready to brew this up this weekend but have another question. In the beginning of the recipe you give a 60 min. boil time but then in your comments before the recipe you say that it should be boiled for 90 minutes to get the gravity up. So which is it, 60 or 90 minutes?

thanks

 

[Lil' Sparky]

If I understand you correctly, that means to add the extract with 15 minutes left in the hop boil?

I've not heard of that before, but it sounds interesting.

Right. I think it's pretty common for extract brewers.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

What is Brown Malt? I can't find it in my BrewPal software.

thanks

AHS's description:
Brown malt imparts a dark-roasted and a slight nutty flavor to beer. It is primarily used in English beers: porters, stouts, milds, and brown ales.
60-90 L

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10734

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Sparky,

I'm getting ready to brew this up this weekend but have another question. In the beginning of the recipe you give a 60 min. boil time but then in your comments before the recipe you say that it should be boiled for 90 minutes to get the gravity up. So which is it, 60 or 90 minutes?

thanks

Actually, I just rebuilt my computer and haven't reloaded Beersmith yet, so I'm not sure. I think it was probably 90 mins. I would recommend, with any recipe you find, that you do your own water calculations based on your own system losses, the time you plan to boil, etc. I often find that my volumes and strike temps are different than the recipe details.

 

[Beavdowg]

Well, I finally brewed this on Saturday night. Everything went pretty well, but my OG only ended up at 1.068, so I was way off on that. I'm trying to figure out what I did that could of effected the gravity that much and the only thing I can come up with was that I added another gallon of sparge water right at the end since I was worried I wasn't going to hit my pre-boil volume. Well, I ended up being about a 1/2 gal over. Do you think that an extra 1/2 gallon would of diluted the wort enough to account for a .010 gravity difference? I've been using the BrewPal app for my iPhone and everytime I second guess that thing I end up wishing I hadn't. You'd think I'd learn my lesson one of these sessions. Well, if any of you have considered the app it's really pretty slick. I highly recommend it!

 

[damdaman]

I'm drinking my extract version of this now... and it's awesome. Used two whole vanilla beans and 2 cups of Makers Mark in the secondary for 10 days.

No head at all even though it's carbonated, I'm blaming the oil in the vanilla beans, but it tastes so good I don't even care.

Here was my recipe:

3 lbs. dark DME (beginning of boil)
5 lbs. light DME (end of boil)

12 oz. british brown malt
12 oz. american crystal 120L
1 lb. american chocolate
Steeped 25 mins 155.

1 oz. chinook 60 min
1 oz. kent goldings 15 min
1 oz. kent goldings flameout

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.019
IBU: 39
Wyeast 1056 (2 packs, no starter)

 

[Beavdowg]

Should we be using vanilla extract so we can get some head or stick to the beans?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

If you use extract, make sure it's 100% pure vanilla extract. It's usually not cheap.

 

[Beavdowg]

If you use extract, make sure it's 100% pure vanilla extract. It's usually not cheap.

How much extract would you recommend? This is about 3/4 way through primary right now.

thanks

 

[Lil' Sparky]

If you're using extract, you can add it at bottling. Start with 2 oz / 5 gal, mix it in well, try a taste and go from there. You're looking for a slight hint. You don't want it overpowering.

 

[OsbornBrewing]

The night before you rack, pour your bourbon, I use Jim Beam, over 2 ounces of oak chips for wine making. Dump this whole slurry into your secondary with the vanilla.

The "oak-wood aging" gives you a taste and drinkability... ahhh I'm plagiarizing!!! Anyways, this is an AWESOME beer.

Also, I have had good luck with doubling the yeast. The OG is so high, you ABSOLUTELY should make a starter at a minimum. I make my starter with 2 packs White Labs Ale Yeast.

 

[Belgian_Brewer]

I got a reccomendation for brewing this with 32 ounces of maple syrup infused, I was wondering what you guys think. I wanna make something in commemoration of me getting into trade school.

starts may 10th, gonna brew it may 10th, then I graduate 10.5 months later. This seems like a really strong candidate and I do like the idea of the maple syrup. I feel like its woody taste would accent the bourbon and wood chips really well.

so how's this? I'm thinking of adding 2 ounces of madagascar bourbon vanilla to 32 ounces of grade A dark amber maple and 1.5 cups of bourbon to the oak chips on brewing day, and add all that to the secondary.

 

[Beavdowg]

I brewed this in early March and have been drinking it for the last couple weeks. Damn, boyyeee! It's tasty! I used 3 vanilla beans and soaked them in a tiny bit (just enough to cover them) of spiced rum, 'cause that's what I had in my liquor cabinet. I am calling mine a vanilla porter because I didn't intentionally put in enough rum to add any appreciable flavor. The beer was pretty darn good right from the get go, really. It has a nice little vanilla aroma with a healthy malty body and mouthfeel (my wife says it's real smooth), and a pleasant subtle vanilla flavor on the finish. I totally missed my OG, ending up at 1.068. It finished at 1.016 for a 6.9% ABV. The only criticism I can come up with is it's poor head retention. After reading of similar problems here I really think it might be from the oils in the vanilla beans. I'm very happy with it! I will definitely brew this again. It's a killer dessert beer.

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[Beavdowg]

Quick update: I entered this beer as a Vanilla Porter in the Oregon Homebrew Festival competition and won 1st place in Cat. 21. You can't go wrong with this recipe! People love this beer! Again, I didn't do the bourbon thing, I just called my a vanilla porter. Anyway, thanks to Lil' Sparky for the recipe!!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Nope, not my recipe. The thanks goes to Denny Conn. I just thought I'd share it again here because I thought it was so good.

Good to hear it worked out so good for you!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Bought the supplies to brew this one today..hope to get it in the fermentor this week!!!

 

[carbonbrew]

I'm drinking my extract version of this now... and it's awesome. Used two whole vanilla beans and 2 cups of Makers Mark in the secondary for 10 days.

No head at all even though it's carbonated, I'm blaming the oil in the vanilla beans, but it tastes so good I don't even care.

Here was my recipe:

3 lbs. dark DME (beginning of boil)
5 lbs. light DME (end of boil)

12 oz. british brown malt
12 oz. american crystal 120L
1 lb. american chocolate
Steeped 25 mins 155.

1 oz. chinook 60 min
1 oz. kent goldings 15 min
1 oz. kent goldings flameout

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.019
IBU: 39
Wyeast 1056 (2 packs, no starter)

How many gallons was your boil.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

This one has been in the fermentor a few days now. anxious to try it.

 

[barrog]

I have this one planed in 2 weeks and I have a question. I am going to make this a PM buy droping the 2-row and adding dry malt. After doing some research on brown malt I found it can't convert itself and Munich can only convert itself so I have to add some 2-row (or maybe 6-row?) back to the mash. How much do I need to get the brown malt to convert. Thanks

 

[bkov]

yeah the munich will convert itself, and the caramel malts and chocolate can be mashed/steeped. You can still mash the brown malt with the others for flavor and color, you just wont get the gravity points from the 1.5pounds you normally would. if you can fit it, 2pounds of 2row should be enough, but that would equal 8pounds(with the .5of chocolate instead of the 1.25 in other recipes) of grains.

 

[barrog]

thanks for the quick repley. Yea I can fit 8 pounds. I have a 5 gal mash tun and am working on makeing a 10 gal. My only problem is my boil kettel. That is only 5 gal. I have mashed up to 7 pounds and came out on target maybe another pound will be ok. I realy need to move to all grain heh.