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

[bkov]

should work except might not be as good. vanilla extract is usually made from other stuff, not vanillla beans.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

If you use extract, make sure it's "pure vanilla extract"!

 

[OldSole]

Hey everyone. I just brewed this recipe for the first time as a 3 gallon batch. Mashed at 156F for 60 min. I only hit around 1.072 OG because I cut my boil short by a half-gallon. D'OH!. Anyways, do you think this is still a big enough beer to hold up to the bourbon and vanilla?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Yeah sure it is.

 

[theacolyte]

I just racked a different, extract porter, on top of 200ml of bourbon and 2oz of vanilla. Tapping the keg tomorrow. Exciting.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

It'll be really good by Thanksgiving, so don't drink it all too fast. ;-)

I've got a case left from the batch we did in Jan and it's holding up really well. It'll be great this winter.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I'm going to try and do an extract version of this, with some modifications, on Friday. I've made a stout rather similar to this that turned out horrible. Had a medicine/plastic/bandaid astringent taste to it. I think this was due to it hitting 90F during fermentation when my AC died. I'm looking to avoid this and minimize any extract twang. The weather is a lot friendlier now and I'm going to use extra light DME for half the fermentables. My LHBS doesn't have brown malt unfortunately.

Here's my recipe:
5lb Extra Light DME
3lb Dark LME
1.5lb Chocolate Malt
.5lb Crystal 120L
.25lb Black Patent
1oz Chinook (60 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (15 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (5 Minutes)
1.5tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract (Secondary)
16oz Maker's Mark (Secondary)
White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast w/starter

I've seen a few recommendations for adding some DME and 5.2 pH stabilizer to the steeping water. I'm going to try doing that, along with adding a Whirlfloc tablet to the end of the boil. DME, pH stabilizer, Whirlfloc and the starter are all totally new to me. I'm hoping it will turn out better than previous batches.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

The whirlfloc is going to help "clear" your very black beer... save it for a light colored brew.

I'm going to bet your last batch's problems were high fermentation temps, too. Keeping that in check should make huge improvements in your beer.

 

[dhacker]

is crisp brown malt the same as brown malt like in the recipe?

"Crisp" is a brand and not a type. You'll be fine!

 

[theacolyte]

I'm going to try and do an extract version of this, with some modifications, on Friday. I've made a stout rather similar to this that turned out horrible. Had a medicine/plastic/bandaid astringent taste to it. I think this was due to it hitting 90F during fermentation when my AC died. I'm looking to avoid this and minimize any extract twang. The weather is a lot friendlier now and I'm going to use extra light DME for half the fermentables. My LHBS doesn't have brown malt unfortunately.

Here's my recipe:
5lb Extra Light DME
3lb Dark LME
1.5lb Chocolate Malt
.5lb Crystal 120L
.25lb Black Patent
1oz Chinook (60 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (15 Minutes)
.5oz US Golding (5 Minutes)
1.5tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract (Secondary)
16oz Maker's Mark (Secondary)
White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast w/starter

I've seen a few recommendations for adding some DME and 5.2 pH stabilizer to the steeping water. I'm going to try doing that, along with adding a Whirlfloc tablet to the end of the boil. DME, pH stabilizer, Whirlfloc and the starter are all totally new to me. I'm hoping it will turn out better than previous batches.

This is essentially what I did, and it worked well - I'd just be careful about 16oz of maker's. If I was to do it all again, I'd probably use 150ml of makers, and maybe 1oz of vanilla. In my opinion, the bourbon/vanilla flavors are almost too strong...

Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.00 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 12.50 %
6.00 lb Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 75.00 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
0.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (60 min) Hops 11.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 27.1 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
8.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Racked (in keg) over:

2oz vanilla extract
200ml Makers Mark

 

[Talloak]

A friend of mine is about to make this. He is subbing .5 lbs biscuit and 1 lbs of something else for the Brown Malt. I will have to tell him he is screwing it up. Anyway, I really want to make this. Has anyone added flaked barley?

 

[mrgstiffler]

What kind of vanilla beans have you all used for this? This site has a lot of options:

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Vanilla-Products-USA

 

[adx]

I brewed this last August and it just won 1st place in the Specialty category (23) in the HBT homebrew contest and 2nd in the Montgomery County homebrew contest. I used 6 oz of Makers Mark in my recipe. It took almost a year for the beer to really come together.

 

[iddqd]

Tried brewing something similar to this yesterday. Having some problems though, but I'm looking forward to seeing the result.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I brewed this last August and it just won 1st place in the Specialty category (23) in the HBT homebrew contest and 2nd in the Montgomery County homebrew contest. I used 6 oz of Makers Mark in my recipe. It took almost a year for the beer to really come together.

What kind of vanilla did you use?

 

[adx]

What kind of vanilla did you use?

I used one "generic" vanilla bean from a local bake shop.

 

[OldSole]

What kind of vanilla did you use?

Use Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla beans. They have a very high vanillin (the main compound responsible for vanilla flavor) content, and are pretty much the classic vanilla ice cream flavor. Other varieties are very different - for example Tahitian vanilla is more fruity, and actually has very little vanillin content. It has a completely different flavor than bourbon vanilla. So don't sub out, spring for the Madagascar bourbon.

On a side note; just kegged this up w/ the bourbon and vanilla last night. The base beer tastes fantastic! Such a complex malt profile.

 

[iddqd]

Found this post made by Denny himself on the Northern Brewer forum.

Apparently, the correct version of the recipe is this:

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.75
Anticipated OG: 1.086 Plato: 20.58
Anticipated SRM: 45.4
Anticipated IBU: 31.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73 %
Wort Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 1.50 Gallons Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.75 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.063 SG 15.52 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
62.0 11.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
8.5 1.50 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain 1.032 70
2.8 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
14.1 2.50 lbs. Munich Malt (Durst) Germany 1.037 10
5.6 1.00 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.033 120
7.0 1.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.65 oz. Magnum-Domestic Whole 15.00 29.2 60 min.
0.40 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 6.00 2.6 10 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

Wyeast 1450, Wyeast 1056, DCL Yeast US-56 Fermentis American Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Name:

Total Grain Lbs: 17.75
Total Water Qts: 23.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.75 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.13
Grain Temp: 65.00 F


Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sacc 0 60 155 155 Infuse 172 23.00 1.30


Total Water Qts: 23.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.75 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal: 7.17 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.
All infusion amounts are in Quarts.
All infusion ratios are Quarts/Lbs.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Yeah, someone else posted that, too, and I've actually got a note about it on the recipe on the 1st post.

The only difference is +.75 lb chocolate - seems like a lot to me. The "wrong" recipe is great, and I've brewed it several times. Brew what sounds good. That's what's so great about this hobby.

 

[bkov]

brewing this for a 2nd time this weekend. first time i used jim beam black which came out great. but the liquor store wants the same price for jim beam black that they do for makers mark($22.99 for 750ml).... i always thought makers mark was a better bourbon then jim beam black but im not a big bourbon drinker. do you think i should use makers mark or just stick with the jim black?

 

[iddqd]

Yeah, someone else posted that, too, and I've actually got a note about it on the recipe on the 1st post.

The only difference is +.75 lb chocolate - seems like a lot to me. The "wrong" recipe is great, and I've brewed it several times. Brew what sounds good. That's what's so great about this hobby.

Denny's original recipe has less hops and the mashing method looks different. I'm sure all the variations posted are great though.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

OK, so maybe not the "only" difference, but it's the "main" difference. 3/4 lb of chocolate is a BIG addition, which is probably why he decided to up the hop amount.

 

[Talloak]

Originally Posted by bkov
brewing this for a 2nd time this weekend. first time i used jim beam black which came out great. but the liquor store wants the same price for jim beam black that they do for makers mark($22.99 for 750ml).... i always thought makers mark was a better bourbon then jim beam black but im not a big bourbon drinker. do you think i should use makers mark or just stick with the jim black?

Try the Makers Mark. There is nothing wrong with Beam Black. But maybe it's better with Makers Mark? I would just try something different. But thats just me.

 

[dhacker]

brewing this for a 2nd time this weekend. first time i used jim beam black which came out great. but the liquor store wants the same price for jim beam black that they do for makers mark($22.99 for 750ml).... i always thought makers mark was a better bourbon then jim beam black but im not a big bourbon drinker. do you think i should use makers mark or just stick with the jim black?

I'm not a bourbon guy either . . I used the black and it's wonderful. I doubt there would be a monumental flavor difference using MM, but then it wouldn't be Denny's BVIP!

Seriously . . I would do whatever you want . . you'll love it!

 

[DRoyLenz]

I'm not a bourbon guy either . . I used the black and it's wonderful. I doubt there would be a monumental flavor difference using MM, but then it wouldn't be Denny's BVIP!

Seriously . . I would do whatever you want . . you'll love it!

I have another thread that I posted asking for people's opinions about which Bourbon to use (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/denny-conns-bourbon-vanilla-imperial-porter-144612/). Denny posted back with a good point. He said if you can tell what kind of bourbon used, you used too much. Don't waste a bunch of money on the bourbon.

I just brewed up my first batch last night, and I'm using Jim Beam White.

 

[mrgstiffler]

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.

 

[o0weno]

Here's yet another bump for aging the poo out of this beer. I made it back in August and have gone through a half rack of bottles tasting it. Each time I was dumbfounded at how off-putting the aftertaste was.

I just cracked a bottle after not tasting it for a month and it was amazing! I used Evan Williams bourbon and could not taste any of its horrible flavor.

Great recipe!

 

[mrgstiffler]

Here's an update. I bottled 12 bombers and 2 Tap a Draft 6L bottles. Today I tapped one of the TAD 6L bottles and pulled a pint from it. Then a pulled another...and another...and another... Yeah, it's THAT good. So freaking delicious. Brewing it again on Saturday and will be saving my next 6L bottle for nitro in a month. But wow, it's delicious!

 

[knownikko]

Brewed this a week or so ago... can't wait to try it. Stuck to the original recipe as close as possible but replaced the 2-row with 8 pounds of LME. Smells delicious already!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Here's an update. I bottled 12 bombers and 2 Tap a Draft 6L bottles. Today I tapped one of the TAD 6L bottles and pulled a pint from it. Then a pulled another...and another...and another... Yeah, it's THAT good. So freaking delicious. Brewing it again on Saturday and will be saving my next 6L bottle for nitro in a month. But wow, it's delicious!

I agree, it is THAT good!