I do not have my notes with me, however, it was whatever the priming calculator at tasty brew suggested.
Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter
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I do not have my notes with me, however, it was whatever the priming calculator at tasty brew suggested.
phoenixs4r
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Edit: stupid phone....
phoenixs4r
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So, as previously mentioned I boiled a little longer and little more vigourously than normal, luckily I always over sparge and aim for a 6.5 gallon into fermenter for this reason. I ended up with about....6ish, little less, and I didn't leave a drop behind this time. I wasn't able to pitch till morning, and thought it rather odd that there was this much sediment in the carboy.
Thoughts? Normal? (preferable answer, just sayin')
Thoughts? Normal? (preferable answer, just sayin')
I wouldn't use that. It seems to always be too low.
So how much sucrose do you recommend for this recipe?
My standard is to use 1 oz. (by weight) per gal. of beer. Then adjust slightly for higher or lower carbonation.
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This recipe sounds really good to me and I plan on brewing it later on this year. The only thing I have been wondering is how important is the yeast selection for this? I have been on a kick of using English yeasts, especially in my malt driven beers becasue I find 1056 to be very bland/boring. Any chance that something like WLP007 will still produce a beer close enough to what you have created (I know it wont be the same but I am so bored of American Ale yeast).
DO NOT use an English yeast for this or any of my recipes. The recipes are carefully crafted through repeated brewing trials and the idea is for the other ingredients to stand out. The yeast should support the other ingredients and not contribute a character of its own.
I had more than normal sediment / trub for this batch as well but I still ended up with 5 gallons into my keg, that looks like a bit much if that is all solid that looks to be about 3 gallons of sediment.
phoenixs4r
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Aschecte said:
I know right? Lol wtf.
Nemleu
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Since I only have a 5 gallon mash tun a double mash made it a long brew day for me. When bottling I noticed a small leak so I slightly tightened the spigot and all hell broke loose. Afterwards I found that my spigot was cracked. With my wifes help I managed to bottle 48 bottles. My efficiency ended up at 62%, OG was 1.070, FG 1.019. Needless to say I thought a dark cloud was hanging over the beer. It didnt make it to Imperial. Now, 3-weeks after bottling I have to tell you this is one of the best beer Ive ever brewed. I think in another month this beer will be awesome.
Thanks for sharing Denny!
Thanks for sharing Denny!
Yeah, I really prefer it in the first couple months.
Denny - just wanted to jump on the bandwagon.. We love this beer, and so does everyone who has it. This BVP is a staple with us..
We made a few tweaks with the intent of letting it age, and it respondd proudly! I have a corny that is 8 months old, at least. We kind went crazy though and used 5 madagascar vanilla beans, and 2X the liquor suggested,; we used some 18 year old wisers blended whiskey. Let me tell you guys - after 2 weeks it tasted like "imitation vanilla and had a hot-liquored up taste" but after 3 months is starts to mature. At 6 months it is the absolute most delightful beer one could imagine. It is a culinary delight. It makes me smile from ear to ear. I don't think you could get away with that much liquor with Makers or Jim, but Wiser's 18 yr blend is up for the challenge.
We missed the chance to enter into a recent contest due to my keg carbonation not being right when we went to bottle.. It is tricky that way.. Seems to be a fine line between flat and over-carbed.
Thanks for your contribution to the hobby, and for sharing a fantastic recipe!
Jeff & Pat
We made a few tweaks with the intent of letting it age, and it respondd proudly! I have a corny that is 8 months old, at least. We kind went crazy though and used 5 madagascar vanilla beans, and 2X the liquor suggested,; we used some 18 year old wisers blended whiskey. Let me tell you guys - after 2 weeks it tasted like "imitation vanilla and had a hot-liquored up taste" but after 3 months is starts to mature. At 6 months it is the absolute most delightful beer one could imagine. It is a culinary delight. It makes me smile from ear to ear. I don't think you could get away with that much liquor with Makers or Jim, but Wiser's 18 yr blend is up for the challenge.
We missed the chance to enter into a recent contest due to my keg carbonation not being right when we went to bottle.. It is tricky that way.. Seems to be a fine line between flat and over-carbed.
Thanks for your contribution to the hobby, and for sharing a fantastic recipe!
Jeff & Pat
Darn, you people are making me blush!
SnidelyWhiplash
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Can anyone tell me how similar this base (without bourbon) is to the breckenridge vanilla porter? or if they have a similar (but weaker) grain bill? this seems like a lot of chocolate for a vanilla porter, but from the comments IIT it sounds like it blends well with the other flavors.
maybe I'll just brew this myself to tell.
also Denny, how does the flavor change that makes this best in the first few months? losing vanilla? I was thinking of starting with 10gal before I read that.
maybe I'll just brew this myself to tell.
also Denny, how does the flavor change that makes this best in the first few months? losing vanilla? I was thinking of starting with 10gal before I read that.
Yeah, the vanilla flavor fades after a few months. It's still there, but the balance changes.
SnidelyWhiplash said:
I just brewed this and Kegged it about 2-3 weeks ago. It is nothing like Breckinridge the mix is totally different. The dominant flavor is chocolate followed by a background flavor of bourbon and a touch of vanilla. Breckinridge is much more vanilla dominant.
Aschecte said:
There is no comparison between the two. Breckinridge tastes "manufactured" and almost medicinal compared to the bvp. The vanilla in one is still strong - went back and looked and this has been in the keg for 13 months!
phoenixs4r
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Threw this in the kegerator a day or two ago... been carbing....been sneaking ourselves a few glasses here and there. I fear it'll be gone by the time it's fully carbed. LOL very nice beer, thank you sir!
It also turns out me and the misses are not a big fan of bourbon (Never tried it before, had a shot or 2 or.... i don't remember really) before adding it to the 4 gallons of beer I ended up with (I hate not getting 5 gallons). We added much less then the recipe called for. We can still taste it, but it's nice.
It also turns out me and the misses are not a big fan of bourbon (Never tried it before, had a shot or 2 or.... i don't remember really) before adding it to the 4 gallons of beer I ended up with (I hate not getting 5 gallons). We added much less then the recipe called for. We can still taste it, but it's nice.
That's exactly how you should do it! I'm not a bourbon fan, either, which is why I say to add "to taste".
Brewed this today. I did a scaled down 2.5 gal all grain and BIAB brew on my stove top (only my second AG BIAB ever) and managed to hit all my numbers. OG was 1.080 when I pitched. It looked and smelled wonderful.
Anyone used Gentleman Jack for the whiskey addition?
Anyone used Gentleman Jack for the whiskey addition?
One more time.....as long as it's not rotgut, the bourbon doesn't matter. If you can taste the differences between bourbons, you've used too much.
Riseabovebb
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Denny - curious if you've ever tried other additions besides vanilla/bourbon. Was thinking some coconut and rum would be a fun experiment. Any feedback on this?
I don't want to 'ruin' a good thing, but I'm tempted to experiment a bit.
The only other thing I've done with it is add coffee in place of the bourbon and vanilla. Worked really well. Not being a big flavored beer guy (in spite of this recipe) I haven't done anything else.
To answer (in advance) a question I get all the time...the FG should be in the mid 20s. MANY people freak out and worry about it and try to get it lower. It isn't supposed to be lower.
phoenixs4r
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I wanted to brew this for my companies Xmas party but the girlfriend shot that idea down. I bet if I brewed it without the bourbon she would like it, but the Bourbon really adds complexity to the beer.
They all drink BMC, so chances are I'd be bringing most of it home anyways, which is totally fine with me.
They all drink BMC, so chances are I'd be bringing most of it home anyways, which is totally fine with me.
FWIW, I don't care for bourbon at all. I buy a bottle for this beer and it sits in the liquor cabinet until I brew it again. But as you say, the bourbon adds a lot of complexity. That's why I always tell people that if you can tell what kind of bourbon you used, you used too much. The beer should be the lead flavor with the vanilla and bourbon as integrated backup notes.
