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

[SFGiantsFan925]

I just had a bomber of this that I bottled back in November. Its such a great beer. Great flavors, with just the right balance of roast and sweetness. I used Buffalo Trace Bourbon and Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract. I will be making this again for sure. Dont forget to age it a bit! Seems to really help it out!

 

[IPAIPA]

just realised that the crystal I used for this was 60 and 120 EBC, but the recipe states 40 and 120L, it's smelling good in the garage and tastes ok, dark, grainy, coffee-ish, but maybe not as tasty as it should be doh !
I forgot to check the conversion

 

[cantrell00]

Finally tapped my keg last night. Didn't use bourbon per se'. Used Jack Daniels.

It is a fabulous beer that is best savored. Tons of rich flavor with a pretty swift kick.

Mine turned out at approx 9% ABV. 1.083 OG 1.017 FG (after JD addition of 250 ML into 5 gallons)

 

[LLBeanJ]

I brewed this for the second time last Labor Day weekend. I kegged it a couple of weeks later and it's been sitting in the keg in my basement until about 3 or so weeks ago when it finally made its way to an available tap... on nitro. Damn, I forgot just how tasty this brew is and the nitro just takes it to the next level.

 

[cantrell00]

I need a nitro tap myself. That looks awesome.

 

[pmcint01]

How long do you guys keep this in primary?

 

[pmcint01]

Finally tapped my keg last night. Didn't use bourbon per se'. Used Jack Daniels.

It is a fabulous beer that is best savored. Tons of rich flavor with a pretty swift kick.

Mine turned out at approx 9% ABV. 1.083 OG 1.017 FG (after JD addition of 250 ML into 5 gallons)

How long did you boil for? I misread it and only did 60 mins and my OG was way low.

 

[cantrell00]

60 minutes.

 

[Beeru]

So, last time I made this, I just happened to have two vanilla beans sitting in a bottle of Woodford Reserve, so I used that, and it was delicious. After about 5 months, though, the flavours really mellowed out, and it was more like a typical (although very nice) porter.

This time, I have these coffee beans that were aged in bourbon barrels, and have quite a pronounced bourbon flavour. I was thinking of using pale chocolate malt to get some chocolate flavour without adding the roast coffee flavour, then getting those coffee notes through the beans, which would hopefully impart that bourbon aroma.

I've never used coffee beans in a beer before, though, so I'm not sure if it will alter the recipe too harshly. Any ideas?

 

[cantrell00]

Several coffee infused porters out there but none that also have bourbon also. At least that I am aware of.

The coffee flavoring inherently lends itself well to porters as well as stouts.

Coffee plus bourbon may overpower things. But maybe not. Would be an interesting batch to test for sure.

 

[scampbellatc]

Did this as an extract using WL001 (not set up for starter yet so just pitched as is) and WOW am I glad I glad I decided to get blowoff tubes! The wife is also very happy about that. Do have a question. I am soaking 4 oz of oak chips and 2 vanilla beans in Woodford (1 1/4 C roughly) and was going to toss it in the secondary after about 7 days. Should I only put half the oak chips in and add a little bourbon at bottling, or just throw it all in? I don't want to overpower with oak and was originally going to do secondary for two weeks, but now I'm worried that two weeks will be too long. I know this is very subjective based on personal taste, but just looking for opinions....maybe do half the oak chips and vanilla beans for a week and then taste? Also worried about contamination.


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[rpe290]

I have made this twice now, my first was the best beer I have made so far (got a 42 and 38 in competition with it) but I do not get the FG that is shown, both times I have started at 1.080/1.078 and ended at 1.024. Still tastes great and rich (in fact I probably like it more at this FG than if it finished at 1.018). Both times I used WLP001 and either reused fresh slurry or a big starter, I get great fermentation and I slowly ramp up temps to finish my yeast out in the temp chamber. (so I can't see it dropping out prematurely).

I use Denny's 1.25 choc malt version with no simple sugar and I am hitting between 152-154 mash temps. I normally do not have attenuation problems--in fact, I just used 001 (not the same pitch) to get an IPA from 1.067 to 1.009 a month beforehand.

Here is the recipe I used both times: http://www.brew365.com/beer_dennys_bourbon_vanilla_porter.php

Any thoughts?

 

[rel322]

I made a ginger beer a while back, and used vodka to sanitize the ginger before it was added to the secondary... So I'm wondering, what do you do to sanitize the vanilla before having the Porter racked onto it?

 

[scampbellatc]

I mixed the vanilla with the bourbon to sanitize


Cheers!

 

[ej1332]

I just bottled a very similar recipe the other day. I split the batch and put 2 oz ok light oak chips soaked in makers mark for 2 weeks. I don't notice a difference between the 2. Hope that helps.


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[sacrifice]

Finally got around to bottling this one after spending 9 weeks in primary. Hatched 13 chickens right after I brewed this beer, and was raising them in the garage (in a large brooder, not running all over the place - ), and there was a bit too much dust and feathers for me to want to bottle beer. They are outside now, and the garage is again clean enough to brew and bottle.

Anyway - the beer tasted good before the addition of vanilla and bourbon, and was very good after I added 2 ounces of a good vanilla extract, and 8 ounces of 7 Devils Bourbon (by Koenig - a local place that also makes wine and vodka). I was not sure how I would like the taste of bourbon in the beer, so I added both the vanilla and bourbon slowly until I got something I liked and would want to drink. Looking forward to drinking this one.

 

[sacrifice]

Just cracked my first beer after a month and 6 days in the bottle. Not going to say it is my best beer yet, but it is definitely my most complex and interesting beer to date, with many layers of well balanced flavors. I think that with a bit more time in the bottle that this will be one of my favorite brews, and one that I will do again.

 

[Layne]

Legged my latest batch of this tonight. Can't wait for it to carb up!

 

[meangreen83]

I have one bottle left from a batch that I made two and half years ago. I gave 1L bottles of this beer to every guy at my wedding rehearsal dinner, and now everyone thinks I'm a master brewer. I'm making another batch this weekend and I can guarantee it won't last more than a year this time.

 

[NJfisher]

I would like to try this as my second all grain batch (first being a SMASH) but I have one question I can't seem to understand. I noticed mentions of a 90 minute + boil. Why would this be neccessary? Is there more proteins to boil off? Also doing a 90 minute boil would the first hop addition be at the 90 or at 60 still? Sorry I am relatively new and my book How to Brew really isnt explaining much in the way of variable boil times.
Thank you in advance!

 

[LLBeanJ]

I noticed mentions of a 90 minute + boil. Why would this be neccessary? Is there more proteins to boil off? Also doing a 90 minute boil would the first hop addition be at the 90 or at 60 still?

From the original post:
"A note on the volumes. This is a big grain bill and requires you to sparge more than normal. You will collect much more wort and will also have to boil for longer (90-120 mins). If you don't, then your efficiency and OG will be low."

With that said, I have no problem collecting just the amount of wort needed to hit the OG with my setup, so if you can too, then you can make the adjustments needed with water volume to go with a 60 min boil. Also, the first hop addition is at 60 min whether you do a 60 or 90 min boil.

 

[maurtis]

My brother-in-law and I are going to try this one next weekend. I have made a few wines so I have fermenters and carboys and such, but this will be our first beer. My neighbor is a frequent brewer so he is letting us borrow his mill, keggle, and supervising the boil.

We plan on making two 6 gallon batches using Denny's recipe (with the additional chocolate malt), one batch sticking to the directions and one batch we were going to try to go for a creamier, thicker mouthfeel.

Would we do that with lactose, or something like oats? And if so, how much and when does it get added?

Thanks!

 

[LLBeanJ]

Lactose will add creaminess, but also make it sweeter. I think I'd do it with flaked oats. Substitute flaked oats for some of the base malt so that the oats make up about 10% of the total grain bill. They go in the mash with the rest of the grains. No need to mill them. You can also mash at a higher temp to increase mouthfeel. Maybe go with the oats and try mashing at 154. Those combined will give you a little bit of a different beer.

I just looked back at the recipe and realized there's already flaked barley present. I'd probably remove it completely and then add in 10% flaked oats.

 

[maurtis]

Ah, I had not thought about the added sweetness from the lactose. The oats and brewing at 154 instead of 153 sounds easy enough. Thanks! I look forward to being able to compare the two batches when they are done.

Thanks!

 

[NJfisher]

I just wanted to say thanks for the help I hit the og in the nose in a 60 minute boil and the beer smells delicious. Looking forward to the finished product!

 

[NJfisher]

One more question. I thought I was good! I pitched the wyeast packet about 20 hours after popping it. After pitching I noticed the packet said good to og 1.060. Should I go buy a second pack and pitch?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Should I go buy a second pack and pitch?

Maybe. Assuming your brew is at the recipe OG of 1.078, you definitely underpitched with only one pack of yeast. I'd say if there are no signs of active fermentation showing yet, then it would be beneficial to pitch another pack as soon as you can. Once active fermentation begins, the window of opportunity for adding more yeast is pretty much closed and you just have to accept the outcome.

As a general rule, if you're using liquid yeast you should be making starters or pitching multiple packs. I would completely ignore the instructions stating that one pack is good for 5 gals of <1.060 wort. This is simply not true. Yes, it will result in beer, but if you want the best beer possible, you'll need quite a bit more yeast than what you will get in one pack. Since starters are much less expensive than yeast, economically, it makes more sense to buy one pack/vial of yeast and make a starter. In addition to growing the yeast colony to the proper size for pitching, starters tell you that your yeast is viable. And, since you have no idea what environmental conditions your yeast has been subjected to prior to landing in your possession, this is no trivial assurance, as it is not unheard of to buy a new pack/vial of liquid yeast only to find out after pitching that the cells are no longer viable.

I use this calculator to determine yeast viability and plan my starters.

 

[Paps]

A note on the volumes. This is a big grain bill and requires you to sparge more than normal. You will collect much more wort and will also have to boil for longer (90-120 mins). If you don't, then your efficiency and OG will be low.





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[Hub151]

Brewing this up today, getting ready for the winter.




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[NJfisher]

It looks like I was able to save it. I pitched another pack of yeast about 12 hours after the first and last night about another 12 hours later it was bubbling away. Time to sit back relax and let the easy part take place. Thanks again!