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

[arborman]

What's everyone's ratio of adding bourbon? I've seen conflicting amounts, from 1.5oz per gallon all the way up to 750ml per 5 gallon. I'm ready to keg 10 gallons tomorrow, and I'm not sure what I want to do


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[LLBeanJ]

I go with 2 oz per gal and I've been pretty pleased with that.

 

[arborman]

I go with 2 oz per gal and I've been pretty pleased with that.

Thanks LL, I'll roll with that. Sounds like a good medium


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[arborman]

Another question: I just kegged my 10 gallons. I had the beer on 4 vanilla beans for 14 days. The vanilla didn't seem very noticeable. Was wondering if anyone has ever thrown beans in the keg also?


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[LLBeanJ]

I don't know if I'd do actual beans in the keg, as I'd be afraid of floaties in my brew. Instead, I'd prolly add a little pre-made vanilla extract, or make my own extract with beans and bourbon (or vodka if there's already enough bourbon flavor).

 

[bolus14]

What's everyone's ratio of adding bourbon? I've seen conflicting amounts, from 1.5oz per gallon all the way up to 750ml per 5 gallon. I'm ready to keg 10 gallons tomorrow, and I'm not sure what I want to do


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I assumed you've already kegged yours, but I added 250ml for 5 gal and its perfection. I used a local distillery's bourbon, finger lakes distillery aka Mackenzie. Its prettly smooth, after a couple years at first it has quite a bite, aged in sherry barrels for a short period, seems to smooth out the finish.

 

[bolus14]

What's everyone's ratio of adding bourbon? I've seen conflicting amounts, from 1.5oz per gallon all the way up to 750ml per 5 gallon. I'm ready to keg 10 gallons tomorrow, and I'm not sure what I want to do


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I assumed you've already kegged yours, but I added 250ml for 5 gal and its perfection. I used a local distillery's bourbon, finger lakes distillery aka Mackenzie. Its pretty smooth, after a couple years at first it has quite a bite, aged in sherry barrels for a short period, seems to smooth out the finish.

 

[bolus14]

I assumed you've already kegged yours, but I added 250ml for 5 gal and its perfection. I used a local distillery's bourbon, finger lakes distillery aka Mackenzie. Its prettly smooth, after a couple years at first it has quite a bite, aged in sherry barrels for a short period, seems to smooth out the finish.

 

[Kellerweis]

I don't know if I'd do actual beans in the keg, as I'd be afraid of floaties in my brew. Instead, I'd prolly add a little pre-made vanilla extract, or make my own extract with beans and bourbon (or vodka if there's already enough bourbon flavor).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004RIZ7/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[passedpawn]

I just dumped 5g of this.

I made a 10g batch, kegged, and carbed. I put one of the kegs on tap and the next day found the entire contents on the bottom of my keezer. Bad oring (or something, not sure!) on the gas post. Argh. Glad I had the 2nd keg.

 

[Hanso]

I just dumped 5g of this.

I made a 10g batch, kegged, and carbed. I put one of the kegs on tap and the next day found the entire contents on the bottom of my keezer. Bad oring (or something, not sure!) on the gas post. Argh. Glad I had the 2nd keg.

Ouch not to mention the waste.... what a pain and mess! I finally started kegging this year and have a front door kegorater. At least with a keezer you can keep it contained... this is that stuff my nightmares are made of.

 

[lewisbrett]

Did this for the first time All Grain.

Used three vanilla beans and 10oz of Makers Mark. Also used 1# of Chocolate.

Mashed at 150 on the dot.

Great beer. Will continue to do this beer annually.

 

[saccw]

Drinking a glass of this right now. This was my "dust off the brewing equipment" brew and was a bit of a last minute decision. Brewed on November 16, 3 weeks in primary, 3 weeks in the bottle. I used 4 lbs of DME and the rest a mini-mash @150, OG 1.083, FG 1.024. LHBS was out of 1056, so they suggested WY#1450 Denny's Favorite 50 as an alternative, which I pitched straight from the smack pack, in the mid-50's. Not ideal, but it was a last-minute decision to brew, so I didn't make a starter. I also realized too late that the yeast pack was 4 months old, so there was a pretty decent lag time as well. I think the underpitch, cold fermentation temperature, and the DME is why my FG was higher than my 1.019 target.

I ended up with only 4.5 gallons in the bottling bucket, so I used 1.6 oz Trader Joe's Pure Vanilla Extract and 9 oz Jim Beam at bottling. I tasted a bottle out of curiosity after 1 week and it was nicely carbonated, but it was a vanilla bomb. Now at 3 weeks the vanilla is subtle, slipping in at the tail end of the aftertaste. The perfect amount. Can't taste any of the bourbon, except for perhaps a slight hint in the middle of the taste, a bit of woody warmth, perhaps. The dark roasts seem a bit heavy-handed; I'd definitely go with the edited 0.5lb of Chocolate version next time. Seems like a fun brew, an unusual beer to give out as gifts, but not sure how soon I'll do this one again, and if I do I will definitely be nicer to the yeast, use less chocolate malt, and do an all-grain batch since my mini-mash didn't really save me any time or energy.

4.0lb Extra Light DME
4.5lb Pale 2-Row malt
2.5lb Munich malt
1.5lb Brown malt
1.0lb Crystal 120
1.0lb Chocolate malt
0.5lb Crystal 40

1oz Magnum 15.2% 60 min
1oz EKG 5% 10 min

70% efficiency

 

[jdunn]

Making a 5 gal batch of this now. My reading by hydrometer was 1080 before adding a gallon of water back to the primary. My boil time was 90min, probably could have just used 60 min. Going to transfer to my secondary Wednesday with vanilla beans. Bought some Knob Creek to add to the keg for the bourbon. This one is going to be tough to wait on I think, but I do want to give it time in the keg to mellow.

 

[jdunn]

Making a 5 gal batch of this now. My reading by hydrometer was 1080 before adding a gallon of water back to the primary. My boil time was 90min, probably could have just used 60 min. Going to transfer to my secondary Wednesday with vanilla beans. Bought some Knob Creek to add to the keg for the bourbon. This one is going to be tough to wait on I think, but I do want to give it time in the keg to mellow. [/URL]

 

[RealDarkKnight]

We just made a robust porter last weekend, first all grain! Planning on soaking the vanilla beans in some Captain Morgan for the next week before racking to secondary. From what I've read, soaking the beans in alcohol really brings out the flavor. I think the spice from the rum will really add a unique flavor. I'll update when its done! Prost!

 

[wyowolf]

Can you age this in the keg? I put the bourbon and oak soaking in a bowl. Can i put this in a fine mesh bag then put it all in the keg to age?

 

[pagrider]

this is a great beer. I soaked bourbon and vanilla beans together and just dumped the extract in the keg

 

[J-tizzle]

I really like this beer. I brewed the original recipe the first time and it came out great. Just kegged my second batch and decided to tweak it a bit. I skipped the bourbon and put 4oz of cocoa nibs and two vanilla beans into the secondary for about 2 days. During kegging I added 20oz cold brewed coffee.

 

[Shenanigans]

Think I'll give this beer a go sometime next month.
I don't do secondary so I guess I just throw the vanilla beans into the primary 2 days before I plan on bottling.

As I already have a few bottles of it here I was thinking of using Connemara peated malt whiskey

http://www.kilbeggandistillingcompany.com/our-brands/connemara

Or better to stick with the bourbon and oak chips?

 

[gotbags-10]

What's the typical wait time on this beer? If I brewed now would it be drinkable by christmas ?

 

[bolus14]

Definitely drinkable, but a little aging is ideal. I made it late Sept/late Oct last year and started drinking it at thanksgiving. It was better in January, and think it would've been better all around had I secondaries for a month or so then bottled it.

 

[nduetime]

I stumbled upon this recipe a few weeks ago when I went looking for something I could brew annually once I found out I'm expecting my first child (Porter if it's a boy.)
Brewed this up today and holy crap, what a long day. Suppose it's preparation for what soon to come.

A few things I've learned after today's session:

1. Invest in a d$&@ better grain mill. It's no fun hand cranking 17# of grain using a free, discontinued, 2" grain gobbler mill after leaving the drill at work.

2. No problem milling the grain or setting up for your brew session the night before. H$&@, take a closer look at mashing overnight the night prior, making for an even shorter brew day.

3. Time to finally get my head out of my a$& and get my system dialed in. Figure out measurement markings for mash tun, boil kettle, and fermenter. Figure out a temperature probe solution for my mash tun and invest in a couple replacement probes several days prior to brewing. And

4. Figure out a way to properly sparge. Adding 190*f sparge water to the mash tun before draining the wort will not raise the grain bed to 168*f.

My post boil collection was less than expected, ~4.75 gallons. But my O.G. is 1.083. My boil off rate might have been greater than expected or it could have been the extra 20 minutes of boil. Either way, I'll have to figure it out once my system is dialed in.

Nevertheless, thanks for the recipe!

 

[Relampago]

Just finished drinking the last of this one. It was a great beer enjoyed by all. Great beer.

 

[Layne]

I have a little left in a keg, in thew back of my keggerator. I drink a glass every now and then, and always think it will be the last. So far, so good. mmmmm

 

[shelly14]

I just brewed a bourbon vanilla porter and instead of bourbon am going to use coconut rum to soak the oak chips and vanilla beans before adding to the secondary fermenter. What do you think?

 

[smit70136]

Just found (and promptly consumed) the sole remaining bottle from a batch brewed in August 2014. I cannot begin to describe how awesome it was after that much aging. I really wish I had some more stashed away somewhere! Guess I'll have to get started on another batch and hide as much as possible!

 

[brunoshad]

A quick question about this beer. I made one from an extract kit and added the 2 vanilla beans and 4 oz of bourbon to secondary. Plan to add more bourbon at bottling. My questions is, will the "sugar" in the bourbon make the bottles carbonate? If not, how much sugar should I add to bottling bucket.

 

[corypedia]

What temperature is everyone fermenting this at?

 

[Crispyvelo]

What temperature is everyone fermenting this at?

I threw in some US-05 ale yeast and I'm fermenting at room temp (~between 65-68ish). It should do fine.