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

[Lil' Sparky]

I think either of those should be fine. Nugget probably works well, too.

 

[shagington]

I was wondering if anyone might have an answer for why this happened...

As I poured from the bottle into my pint glass the beer fizzed almost like a carbonated soda and the head dissipated like a soda as well. Might I need to add Carapils to this beer to help with head retention, or did I just really screw this up?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

You never can tell about head retention. Carapils, flaked oats or flaked barley can sometimes help, though.

 

[shagington]

Ok, I'll try some different grains to see the results, but man it fizzed exactly like a soda and died that quickly. Could it be the bourbon? The oak chips I added? Or, I mean I use the no rinse five star sanitizer, could that be the issue, maybe there was some residue left in my bottles to cause it?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Oh, did you use vanilla beans? The oils may be killing the head. Forgot about that.

 

[shagington]

yea, I added vanilla beans into the secondary. So they might be causing the fizzle. Darn!!! How was the head on your batch?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I think the batch with beans had less head than the batch with pure extract. I really don't care about a big head on a beer though. It may be visually pleasing, but it doesn't change the taste of the beer IMO.

 

[shagington]

Sweet!!!! Ok, so it must have been the cleaning agent I used didn't wash out completely from the one bottle, because I opened a few more tonight and well...damn that is some good beer. Nice oak and bourbon up front and finishes with that same oakish bourbon zing, but also a silky smooth vanilla in the background. Awesome!!

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I like to drink Breckenridge Vanilla Porter quite a bit when I can find it. I distinctly remember from the Tap and from the Bottle little to no head retention. Perhaps its a characteristic of this beer?? (also voting for the oils from the beans)

 

[jbeauchamp]

I believe I have just found my next beer. It mixes my two most favorite things in the world. Beer and Makers Mark!!!!! Can life get any better?

 

[jbeauchamp]

I was putting this recipe into my BeerSmith software and I am trying to figure out the water amounts for the Mash and the Sparge. I am assuming I will be around 70% eff. as this will be my first all grain batch. I am looking at 1.25 qt/lb for the mash. So with 18 pounds of grain I will need 4.5 gallons of water for the Mash. If the grains absorb 1 gallon of water, does that mean I will need 3 gallons for the sparge? I would like to end up with 5.5 gallons of wort in the primary fermentor.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

BIG beer for first AG!

Your volumes look good for a 60 min boil. However, with such a large grain bill and only 3 gals of sparge water, you'll probably get below 70% efficiency. Really, you need to sparge that much grain with more than 3 lbs. You have a few options.

1) mash a little thicker (say, 1 qt/lb) and use the extra volume in the sparge.

2) Add an extra gallon of sparge water and boil for 2 hours. If you do this, don't add the first hop addition until you've got 60 mins remaining. You can use two pots, or boil some on the stove if your boil kettle isn't large enough to hold everything.

I would recommend both. Good luck, and let us know how the first AG goes.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Some buddies and I did 20 gals about 2 weeks ago. Transferred it to the secondary (onto the vanilla beans) yesterday. Man, this beer really does taste GREAT! If you've never done it, I highly recommend it!!

 

[denimglen]

Gonna brew this to hopefully enjoy on my 21st coming up in June.

Is there an expected OG, FG, IBU for this recipe?

Also, is Maker's Mark the business for this? I know absolutely nothing about bourbon.

Cheers!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I thought I had all that info in the original post, but it's not showing up. Anyway, it's there now. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[denimglen]

Thanks, ended up brewing it before you edited the original post so just took a guess, was only out but two points, haha lucky. Cheers!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Just now getting around to drinking the last batch we made. This recipe really is awesome. I wish I could take credit for it. Nice job, Denny!

 

[maui808]

How is the mouth feel on this recipe? Would this be recommended for someone who likes 'thick' creamy really full bodied porters?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Yes, it's got a thick mouthfeel. I wouldn't say it's really creamy though. Might want to add a little flaked oats, lactose, or something like that if you want to add creaminess.

 

[maui808]

Thanks Lil' Sparky. I can't wait to make this once my Wit is done. I am going to use some local Maui grown vanilla beans.

 

[Wing Nut]

I made this one lasty july, it has been bottled and stored in a cool dark place. I opened one this christmas and was over whelmed with the vanilla flavor. I used two beans. The flavor was too much. I am going to let it sit for till at least next fall and see if it mellows out.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

That's weird. You must have gotten some really strong beans. Two beans per 5 gal usually just gives a mild vanilla flavor, not one that in any way dominates the taste. Hopefully it'll turn out for you.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I am re-doing the vanilla porter idea as the last one I made on 2.5 beans left me with about $8 less in my wallet and exactly 0 Vanilla taste, there was only a slight hint of it, maybe, in the nose of the beer.

Wing nut, which Vanilla beans did you use? There are like 3 types I think.

 

[Wing Nut]

The ones that I bought are called Vanille D'amour, they are madagascar beans and come two 7 inch beans in a glass tube. They realy added a huge vanilla flavor. I am not sure you can get these in north america, I picked these up last time I was in France at the local grocery store. At the same time I bought 1kg of licorice root that helps in adding a wonderfull creamy head on my stouts. French grocery stores are so much better!

Cheers
Wing Nut

 

[jmilton1987]

I just brewed this yesterday. I had to go extract and specialty grains though. I brought it to the lhbs and he changed the recipe to what he had and it went like this:
9# Amber LME
1# Crystal 120L
.5# Crystal 40L
.5# Chocolate
.5# Black Patent
1oz Galena [12% AA] (he had no magnum) @60min
1oz EKG [4.5% AA] @10min
2 packets Safeale 05 yeast re hydrated b/c he was out of 1056
My OG was 1.056 but I bumped it up from a 5 gal to 6 gal and forgot to the the lhbs to do the same.
Overall it smelt great and the gravity tasting was delicious. Anyone have anything to say about the Black Patent the lhbsseemed put off that a porter would not have any?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I think the black patent addition will be OK. It definately changes the recipe and 1/2 lb may be a little much for my taste (although a lot of porter recipes use this much).

Porter recipes may or may not include black patent. Rarely they have just a hint of roasted, too. Too much, though and you're making a stout, not a porter.

 

[jmilton1987]

Thanks for the info, I will post pics when It is done

 

[golfguy819]

I just brewed this yesterday. I had to go extract and specialty grains though. I brought it to the lhbs and he changed the recipe to what he had and it went like this:
9# Amber LME
1# Crystal 120L
.5# Crystal 40L
.5# Chocolate
.5# Black Patent
1oz Galena [12% AA] (he had no magnum) @60min
1oz EKG [4.5% AA] @10min
2 packets Safeale 05 yeast re hydrated b/c he was out of 1056
My OG was 1.056 but I bumped it up from a 5 gal to 6 gal and forgot to the the lhbs to do the same.
Overall it smelt great and the gravity tasting was delicious. Anyone have anything to say about the Black Patent the lhbsseemed put off that a porter would not have any?

I'm interested in doing this, did you use hopped or unhopped LME?

 

[jmilton1987]

I used unhopped LME here is a pic of the grav reading too

and it tastes great right now Gravity today was at 1.012 and has been at that for 2 days to i moved to secondary and racked over 2 vanilla beans

edit: if someone knows how to make that image show up plz help me it is @ http://twitpic.com/6zxmv

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Here it is click-free.

FYI - I typed in (w/out the spaces) [ img ] http://web3.twitpic.com/img/11754247-2bca1a1e46eb9f9cc30f781107d03260.4a2f1de2-scaled.jpg [ /img ]