Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter

[kosmokramer]

Im pretty new to brewing and have done about 10 extract and 2 minimash brews so far. This is going to be for my 30th bday and i would like it to come out good. Can you elaborate a little Denny

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

Ya know, it really doesn't matter all that much, other than you don't want rotgut. I use Jim Beam Black because it's decent and has a reasonable price point. I really suggest you not waste expensive bourbon for this. Neither the bourbon nor vanilla flavors should stick out. They should be integrated with the flavor of the beer. If you can pick out what bourbon was used, I'd say you used too much!

I 2nd the jim beam black. I use it in my oakmeal cookie beer and it's really nice.

 

[HitTheTwit]

This is probably a dumb question, but where is the initial recipe?

 

[Denny]

This is probably a dumb question, but where is the initial recipe?

Just for you...here it is...

#264 Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter

A ProMash Recipe Report

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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

Wy1450, Wy1056, or 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.


When fermentation is complete, split 2 vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape all the seeds and "gunk" from them and add it to the fermenter. Chop the beans into 2-3 in. long pieces and add them, too. Leave in secondary 10-14 days, then taste. You want the vanilla to be a bit on the striong side since it will fade. If the vanilla flavor is adequate, rack to bottling bucket or keg and add approximately 375 ml. of Jim Beam Black bourbon. You don't need to use an expensive bourbon, and you don't want to add a lot. The beer shouldn't scream "BOURBON!" at you. You should have an integrated flavor of the chocolatey porter, vanilla, and bourbon. This beer does not benefit from extended aging. I prefer it within a few months of brewing. The FG should be in the mid-high 20s, so don't worry about trying to get it lower.

 

[Denny]

Im pretty new to brewing and have done about 10 extract and 2 minimash brews so far. This is going to be for my 30th bday and i would like it to come out good. Can you elaborate a little Denny

Sure...here ya go! You still need to be able to partial mash a significant amount of grain.

Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter partial mash

A ProMash Recipe Report

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

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.25
Anticipated OG: 1.087 Plato: 20.83
Anticipated SRM: 46.1
Anticipated IBU: 31.6
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: 1.064 SG 15.72 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
37.7 5.00 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract 1.046 7
18.9 2.50 lbs. Munich Malt (Durst) Germany 1.037 10
11.3 1.50 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain 1.032 70
9.4 1.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
7.5 1.00 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.033 120
7.5 1.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
3.8 0.50 lbs. Cane Sugar 1.047 0
3.8 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.65 oz. Magnum-Domestic Whole 15.00 29.0 60 min.
0.40 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 6.00 2.6 10 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 5 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

WY1450, WY1056, or DCL Yeast US-56 Fermentis American Ale


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

Mash Name:

Total Grain Lbs: 7.75
Total Water Qts: 12.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 3.00 - 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 170 12.00 1.55


Total Water Qts: 12.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 3.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal: 3.62 - After Additional Infusions

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

When fermentation is complete, split 2 vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape all the seeds and "gunk" from them and add it to the fermenter. Chop the beans into 2-3 in. long pieces and add them, too. Leave in secondary 10-14 days, then taste. You want the vanilla to be a bit on the strong side since it will fade. If the vanilla flavor is adequate, rack to bottling bucket or keg and add approximately 375 ml. of Jim Beam Black bourbon. You don't need to use an expensive bourbon, and you don't want to add a lot. The beer shouldn't scream "BOURBON!" at you. You should have an integrated flavor of the chocolatey porter, vanilla, and bourbon. This beer does not benefit from extended aging. I prefer it within a few months of brewing. The FG should be in the mid-high 20s, so don't worry about trying to get it lower.

 

[HitTheTwit]

From the man himself! Thanks. I've since found umpteen different write-ups on this recipe...brilliant!

The best part is my girl is the one who wants to tweak the recipe and brew this one herself. I'm happy as can be!

Cheers, and thanks!

PS. Besides Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, are there any other commercial brews that come close to this?

 

[kosmokramer]

Thank you so much! how long do you normally go grain to glass on this recipe Denny?

 

[Denny]

Thank you so much! how long do you normally go grain to glass on this recipe Denny?

Probably 6-8 weeks, including bottle conditioning.

 

[Denny]

From the man himself! Thanks. I've since found umpteen different write-ups on this recipe...brilliant!

The best part is my girl is the one who wants to tweak the recipe and brew this one herself. I'm happy as can be!

Cheers, and thanks!

PS. Besides Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, are there any other commercial brews that come close to this?

I've seen a lot of incorrect versions of my recipes out there, so I like to post the original to be sure people get the right info.

I don't know of any commercial versions. But it seems kinda strange that I never saw ANY commercial versions until after I made mine.

 

[Time-Travelers]

I'm sure I'm reading right over it, but I can't seem to find what temperature to ferment at?

Thank you!

 

[Denny]

62-65F....that's where I ferment most of mt beers. Sorry I left it out!

 

[Time-Travelers]

Perfect, thank you!

 

[ACESFULL]

I am curious what folks are getting for FG's on this brew.
Mine just went from 1.085 to 1.020 in 11 days @ 70'F.

Taste is awesome and I will be putting into secondary with the bean this weekend. It is a tad sweet, but not bad. I am wondering about adding a packet or so of S05 to get it down a bit before bottling. However if I had kegging equipment I would be tempted to carb it and drink ASAP.

Love to know what other folks are doing.

Thanks in advance.

I've done this recipe once and my FG was 1.013. This was bottled on 11/24/09 and it is still not ready (although I'm 1/2 way done w/ the batch - damn...)

I'm pretty sure that I used s-05 yeast, although I have no notes on that..

Mine generally finishes in the mid 20s.

September 30th I brewed this recipe. Starting gravity was missed supposed to be 1.080ish I ended @ 1.074. Its been in my fermentation chamber ever sense bubbling away. High krausen has fallen and I took a refract reading and it has dropped to roughly 8 brix or 1.032. Now the beer is supposed to finish @ 1.019 - I am quite always away from where I want to be.

I pitched WLP001 Cal Ale yeast with a 2000ml starter. I am struggling to know why my gravity is still so high. I roused the yeast by picking up the bucket and gently spin it in hopes of getting the yeast going again.

Any other ideas on what I should/could do? Should I add more yeast? The small sample of beer is very sweet - I am worried that its not going to come out quite right. Also I still need to add bourbon and oak chips to this. Any advise out there?

Thanks!

 

[kosmokramer]

Woo hoo, well i brewed this up about two weeks ago and really looking forward to it. Unfortunately i had a friend from out of state stop by halfway through my mash and before i knew it we were half drunk. I wasn't paying attn and accidentally through in an extra pound of dme (mini mash) and ended up with an og of 1.10. Right now it is down to about 1.024 but i was wondering how that extra dme would affect the final taste?

Also i dont have whole vanilla so i am going to use extract but i was wondering how much would be best to use? and 2 oz of medium toast american oak chips are currently soaking in jim beam black and i was wondering how these should be added, in a hop bag suspended in the brew or just dump them in? Thanks for all the help

 

[Denny]

Adding the extra DME will throw the balance off and make it sweeter. Whether or not you like it is up to your tastes.

To determine how much extract to use, do it the same way you determnine how much bourbon to use. Pour 4 2 oz. samples before bottling or kegging. Ad a different measured amount of extract to each. Taste and determine which you like best, then scale that amount up to the batch size.

Oak? I never use it...you;re on your own!

 

[kosmokramer]

Is there any way to compensate for that additional sweetness at this point to restore the balance?

I have a couple extra empty corny's think ill split the batch and only oak half and see what the differances are

 

[Denny]

Maybe if you had some iso alpha extract you could up the bitterness, but it would be hit or miss. Whatever you do, don't make and add a hop tea. In general, I try to avoid "fixing" a brewing mistake. Too often it turns out worse than if I had left it alone.

 

[kosmokramer]

Thanks for the help denny, ill let you know how it comes out

 

[kosmokramer]

This beer came out great! With the extra dme i added(by accident) along with the jim beam it probably is something the bmc drinkers wont appreciate but i think it is outstanding. everything tastes very well balanced. vanill smells great up front and even sitting on oak cubes for a month the whole thing is great! I will definitely be brewing this again as soon as i am ready for all grain so i can compare. Thanks for your help Denny

 

[Denny]

Glad ya like it!

 

[matts]

I'm looking to make a smooth vanilla porter in an attempt to replicate Dry Dock's Vanilla Porter. I find many porters I try to be a bit heavy and astringent. Dry Dock is a pretty small brewery in Denver so I don't think many on here have tried their porter. I picked up some Deschutes Black Butte Porter to see how that compares but it doesn't have that smoothness that the Dry Dock has.

This recipe looks promising and its fame has me wanting to try it. I don't like bourbon that much so I would probably just soak the beans in a little bourbon, then add to secondary. I don't have much experience with porters and this being such a high gravity I am not so sure that it would be smooth. Would anyone please tell me whether they would characterize this as smooth?

If not, can someone direct me to a smooth session-y porter that might better suit what I'm looking for?

Thanks!

Edit: I know many say add maltodextrin for mouthfeel, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. Looking for more of a smoothness of grain and malt flavors than body.

 

[Denny]

It's a very smooth base porter, assuming your water is cooperative or you make the proper adjustments. Also, I don't care for bourbon at all, but the amount called fro in the recipe gives you an integrated bourbon flavor, not one that stands out.

 

[SenorPepe]

Just about to bottle this bad boy. It's been on vanilla for 8 days and is tasting great. Very excited to try this one. Thanks, Denny!

 

[Denny]

You're welcome! I recommend bottling when the vanilla is a little stronger than you think it should be. It will be the first thing to go as the beer ages.

 

[SenorPepe]

Cool, will do.

 

[matts]

It's a very smooth base porter, assuming your water is cooperative or you make the proper adjustments. Also, I don't care for bourbon at all, but the amount called fro in the recipe gives you an integrated bourbon flavor, not one that stands out.

Thanks Denny.

 

[Layne]

Brewed this beer Sunday.
Man I can't wait to drink it.
Thanks Denny!

 

[SenorPepe]

Denny, have you ever had this beer finish as high as 1.026? Mine's sitting there. Probably because I had to add 2 lbs of DME due to poor efficiency I'm guessing...It tastes good, although the vanilla is not there yet. WY1450.

 

[wedge421]

Ive always used Makers Mark with great results. I never want to go to expensive or to cheap and this has always been the happy medium

 

[bucfanmike]

been thinking about this recipe for awhile and was at trader joes last weekend and saw vanilla beans. Had to make a trip to midwest while i was in the cities to get the ingredients. Will be brewing it next week.