Breck Vanilla Porter started today

[irontodd]

Hey all, thought I'd share a bit about my brew day today.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/36475/breckenridge-vanilla-porter-clone

I did do a BIAB for this one, but really a BI2B - brew in 2 bags. I don't have a kettle bigger than 5 gallons, but I wanted to do a 5 gallon batch so I can keg this one when it's ready. Enter the 5 gallon kettle and the 4 gallon kettle. I split the 12.75 lb grain bill into 5.75 and 7 lb batches. From there I split the rest of the ingredients and water into 45% to 55% ratios. Started with 2 gallons in the small kettle and 2.75 in the larger one. Simultaneously mashed, once the hour was up, I sparged and squeezed the larger then the smaller. While sparging the smaller I got the big kettle on the burner again to get it heated up. I reached boil on both about the same time. Had all my 8 hop additions measured out (4 and 4) again in 45/55 ratios so I could drop them at the same time. Came up just shy of 5 gallons when all was said and done, so boiled up about 3 quarts of water to top it off. When I measured my OG, I nailed it. Not bad for my first AG batch, I think. Color looked about right at this stage in the game. I am tickled pink that I was able to pull this off today. Although I probably won't do another 5 gallon AG batch until I have a 10 gallon kettle. There was wayyyyy too much math to get everything right, and having to monitor 2 kettles pretty much sucked but, it was about 4 hours from flame on until all my equipment was clean again.

 

[irontodd]

I kegged this one today. I know, it's still pretty young but wanted to have it on tap for guests on Christmas. Flat, It is a good porter, IMHO, however the 3 vanilla beans don't seem to have added much to it.[emoji53] I'll post a picture of my pint once its carb is right. I fast forced it, shooting for 2.1 volts. Serving pressure should be 8 psi @40 degrees.

 

[RM-MN]

I'll be watching for the picture. I find that my porters get much better with more time in the bottles at room temp. Rushing them doesn't seem to work well as it takes time for the flavors to come together. I understand the wish to give samples to Christmas guests but if they don't empty the keg, take it off line and let it set in a warm place for a couple months and try it again.

 

[irontodd]

Yeah, my last porter (extract) I didn't consume for 2 months after brew day, kept it in the carboy and took a couple samples along the way until the flavor was fairly stable between 2 samples a week apart. I hope we don't go through it all on Christmas day - there will only be 2 to 4 of us drinking it

 

[irontodd]

It's a bit dark I think. The vanilla only slightly comes through but if you look for it it's there. All in all I am pleased for my first all grain batch.

 

[FatDragon]

Split mashes are a pain, but still a nice tool to have in the arsenal. I did one on my last brewday to do a big imperial oatmeal stout with a smaller partigyle version. It was a long, complex brewday but still less work than doing the two beers separately would have taken. The partigyle oatmeal stout is stellar and I racked the imperial into secondary on whiskey and oak a few days ago.

How did you do your vanilla beans? Generally, the suggestion is to slice them lengthwise and soak in liquor of your choice (usually vodka or whiskey) for a few weeks to extract the flavor. If you added them straight to the beer you might have only gotten minimal extraction.

 

[Imperator85]

How did you do your vanilla beans? Generally, the suggestion is to slice them lengthwise and soak in liquor of your choice (usually vodka or whiskey) for a few weeks to extract the flavor. If you added them straight to the beer you might have only gotten minimal extraction.

I was gonna ask this same question. A friend of mine ran into this problem once when he tried to add vanilla to a beer.

 

[irontodd]

Oh wow, weeks? Uh, I soaked on the order of days. Yes they were sliced lengthwise. Used a bit of kahlua as the soaking liquid, in a tall ( maybe 3 oz) shot glass. Mostly to clean them. Oh well live and learn.

I won't have to worry about a split batch for a while, as the jolly man in red brought me a new 10 gallon BK yesterday. Made my last extract kit yesterday, full boil on my electric stove. Apparently our stove kicks butt because it had little problem reaching and maintaining a good boil of 6.5 gallons. Looked up the specs on the stove and the big burner is 3200 watts. 40 minutes from tap temp to full boil.

 

[irontodd]

It's a bit dark I think. The vanilla only slightly comes through but if you look for it it's there. All in all I am pleased for my first all grain batch.
View attachment 551145View attachment 551146

I looked at the recipe again for this one, and it did in fact calculate out to 48 SRM, so the blackness is expected per the recipe.
I really does taste good but I went ahead and took it out of the generator to let it mature a bit more. Probably will give it til mid to late Jan before tasting again.