Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter

Williams 728
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Denny said:
Not being a bourbon drinker, I thought I'd pass on what people who do appreciate it say. I chose JBB becasue it was mid price range. I lucked out in that it integrates well in the beer without screaming "BOURBON!" at you.
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I am not a regular bourbon drinker either. That being said, I do have a bottle of Four Roses in my basement.

Would this work?
 
Checked on fermentation this morning and the yeast must've ripped through this one. No airlock activity, which I know isn't the best sign of fermentation, krausen has dropped, only went about 1.5 inches up the bucket. I'm sure there's still some fermentation going on but this must've taken off quick and ripped through it. So, I may throw in the vanilla bean this weekend, give it a couple weeks and then bottle at let it condition for a few weeks.

That timeline sound sufficient?
 
Agreed. I'm just trying to have it "ready" around the two months timeframe that you've mentioned you think is it's ideal consuming time.
 
bolus14 said:
Agreed. I'm just trying to have it "ready" around the two months timeframe that you've mentioned you think is it's ideal consuming time.
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I guess I need to clarify a bit...I start timing the 2 months from when it's finished and packaged, not from when it's brewed. Sorry for any confusion.
 
Ok, that makes more sense to me on a beer this big. I usually like to let things that are over 8% sit in the fermenter for around 5 to six weeks, then bottle and allow for 2 -3 weeks before I start to taste them. Usually it's about 3 - 4 weeks after that, so total of 5 -7 weeks, where everything comes together and one flavor doesn't overpower another. So, due to my misunderstanding this may not be ready for Turkey day, but should certainly be go to go right around Christmas and New Years.
 
Brewed this on 9/5 - primary till 9/22 then bottled with 4oz of medium toast oak on 3oz of Makers Mark and 2T of vanilla extract that had been sitting on my kitchen counter for 3 months. I also changed the yeast to WLP005 for that British Porter taste. This IS my favorite porter recipe.
 
DNKDUKE said:
Brewed this on 9/5 - primary till 9/22 then bottled with 4oz of medium toast oak on 3oz of Makers Mark and 2T of vanilla extract that had been sitting on my kitchen counter for 3 months. I also changed the yeast to WLP005 for that British Porter taste. This IS my favorite porter recipe.
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Did you try it with 1450?
 
No, I'm the type of brewer that can't leave well enough alone - I probably should not have changed the yeast but......
I also used an ounce of home grown magnums instead of the pellets.

So far the taste is good with the 005 - attenuation was very low - efficiency was down around 45-50%
Gravity started at 1.082 and bottomed out at 1.042 after (2 1/2) weeks in primary
That'll learn me not to change the yeast.:eek:
 
DNKDUKE said:
No, I'm the type of brewer that can't leave well enough alone - I probably should not have changed the yeast but......
I also used an ounce of home grown magnums instead of the pellets.

So far the taste is good with the 005 - attenuation was very low - efficiency was down around 45-50%
Gravity started at 1.082 and bottomed out at 1.042 after (2 1/2) weeks in primary
That'll learn me not to change the yeast.:eek:
Click to expand...

I guess my theory is always how do you know what (or if) to change until you try it as is. At least, that's the way I approach it when I brew other people's recipes.
 
You're right.
It's what I taught my kids.
Don't tell me you don't like something unless you've tried it. (usually at the dinner table)


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Denny said:
I guess my theory is always how do you know what (or if) to change until you try it as is. At least, that's the way I approach it when I brew other people's recipes.
Click to expand...

I agree. Its taken me over a year of brewing to start understanding this, even though it's an obvious concept. No matter how much we all think we know what we want, we should always try others recipes as is before we try to make them our own.

Even on this recipe I debated using rum instead of bourbon, but decided to try it as is the first time around.
 
Pulled a hydro sample this morning, down to 1.020 from what I could see, there were some bubbles at the top so it's 1.020 +/- a point or two. Hoping it doesn't drop anymore than this. That works out to be about 75 apparent attenuation and 8.26% ABV without the Bourbon addition. Dark brown in color, still very murky looking, smell and taste didn't show anything at this point, way too early, but I could pick up a small amount of roast and chocolate in the back of the taste. Surprisingly there was much alcohol in the smell or taste either.

Might put the vanilla beans in this weekend, going with 2 whole madagascar beans, scraped and cut into inch or so pieces. Then let it sit for 2 -3 weeks then bottle, unless leaving the beans in that long isn't ideal? I'm mentioning because the last vanilla porter I made used 5 vanilla beans and to me it's still needs to mellow, it's basically this recipe http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/dry-dock-urca-vanilla-porter-pro-series-all-grain-kit.html

The vanilla is very sharp to me,. A friend made it and his was pretty smooth, but it was also around 4 months old. I also have an Imperial Stout almost ready to bottle that I put one vanilla bean in and since I put the vanilla in the roast character seems to be lacking. I brewed that one on 8/17 and added the vanilla bean on 9/20.
 
Denny said:
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.
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I am pretty new at home brewing and I have never done a porter. I'm trying to read this recipe and instructions on my I phone and I need help on figuring out how much to boil and how long what temp? I also use the BIAB method.
 
jennasbiotch said:
I am pretty new at home brewing and I have never done a porter. I'm trying to read this recipe and instructions on my I phone and I need help on figuring out how much to boil and how long what temp? I also use the BIAB method.
Click to expand...

Doing this BIAB is quite different, that's how I did it though, as knowing your efficiency and how to adjust for the bigger grain bill will come into play. The amount you boil and for how long is no different than any other recipe, unless you do a sparge step with your BIAB, then you may need to extend you boil time to take into account the sparge water. So, if you can explain your process a little more me or someone else might be able to help you out. It might be better to post in one of the BIAB threads if its mainly a BIAB question as you might get quicker responses there.
 
Hi Guys,

Sorry if this has been asked/posted, but I have not found it...

I just wanted to confirm mash temp, and also confirm the amount of bourbon to be added.. I am doing a 10 gallon batch, so if I read correctly, that would be 750ml? I thought I read in another thread it was 1.5oz per gallon.. I was planning on adding 15oz, but now I am seeing this thread showing 375ml per 5 gal. Just making sure I am not reading a typo!

Thanks in advance! Got all my ingredients for this, and gonna make a big starter this week

Oh, last question: I am going to use Pacman yeast.. any objections to that?
 
Last edited:
Picked up my grains today. The starter of 1450 is done and chilling in the fridge. Brewing either tomorrow or Wednesday. Last time I made this was in 2006. Didn't have Denny's Favorite yeast back then.
 
arborman said:
Hi Guys,

Sorry if this has been asked/posted, but I have not found it...

I just wanted to confirm mash temp, and also confirm the amount of bourbon to be added.. I am doing a 10 gallon batch, so if I read correctly, that would be 750ml? I thought I read in another thread it was 1.5oz per gallon.. I was planning on adding 15oz, but now I am seeing this thread showing 375ml per 5 gal. Just making sure I am not reading a typo!

Thanks in advance! Got all my ingredients for this, and gonna make a big starter this week

Oh, last question: I am going to use Pacman yeast.. any objections to that?
Click to expand...

I use 375 ml./5 gal. That's what works for my tastes. As to Pacman, it will work although the mouthfeel will be a bit thinner. If you ever have questions about my recipes, the first place to look is http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/BeerRecipes .
 
Denny said:
I use 375 ml./5 gal. That's what works for my tastes. As to Pacman, it will work although the mouthfeel will be a bit thinner. If you ever have questions about my recipes, the first place to look is http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/BeerRecipes .
Click to expand...

Thanks Denny.... Only reason I was going to use Pacman was because thats what I have on hand.. no 1450 or 1056 at my local store, so I decided to go with 001. Hope that does the trick!
 
I brewed this on 9/21 and added 2 vanilla beans this past Monday 10/20. Before adding the beans there was no noticeable alcohol "burn" or taste to it, which is great, the caramel and chocolate is most noticeable, although maybe slightly muddles at this point, with a touch of roast at the end, I really liked where it was at, and will check this weekend to see what's changed since adding the vanilla.

I'm really thinking of bottling it up this weekend. I don't want the vanilla to become over prominent and need extra time to mellow out like i've seen with two others beers I've added beans to. I'm also wondering if the bourbon helps to mellow it out, so do you want the vanilla to be a little more prominent than usual before adding the bourbon when bottling?
 
I brewed this Wednesday with the 1450 yeast. Had to add a blowoff tube Thursday night.
I had made a 1750ml starter. The date on the yeast packet was October 8.
 
bolus14 said:
I brewed this on 9/21 and added 2 vanilla beans this past Monday 10/20. Before adding the beans there was no noticeable alcohol "burn" or taste to it, which is great, the caramel and chocolate is most noticeable, although maybe slightly muddles at this point, with a touch of roast at the end, I really liked where it was at, and will check this weekend to see what's changed since adding the vanilla.

I'm really thinking of bottling it up this weekend. I don't want the vanilla to become over prominent and need extra time to mellow out like i've seen with two others beers I've added beans to. I'm also wondering if the bourbon helps to mellow it out, so do you want the vanilla to be a little more prominent than usual before adding the bourbon when bottling?
Click to expand...

The vanilla is the first thing to fade, followed by the bourbon. When I bottle, I like the vanilla to be just little stronger than I want it to end up. The fading bourbon i actually a good thing...it ends up blending just right.
 
Are most of you racking to a secondary on the vanilla beans, or just adding them to the primary after fermentation has finished?

I have been skipping secondaries on most of my brews lately.
 
Added right into primary. I'm with you, haven't used a secondary except for a couple that I was adding fruit to and I wanted to wash the yeast.
 
I also bottles mine up yesterday. Used 250ml of McKenzie's bourbon, which is from a local distillery in the Finger Lakes of NY. I'm not sure how widely they distribute. I can't wait till these carbonate and get some conditioning time. Only been 4-5 weeks since brew day, so I'm not planning to open these for 4-5 weeks and at least a 6 pack will be put up to age.

I know Denny likes it in the 2-3 month timeframe but others have said they like how it ages so I want to see how it does.
 
Chops1867 said:
Are most of you racking to a secondary on the vanilla beans, or just adding them to the primary after fermentation has finished?

I have been skipping secondaries on most of my brews lately.
Click to expand...

I always rack to secondary before adding the vanilla. One of the few times I use a secondary.
 
Thanks, Denny. I just racked a British Bitter. First time I've done a secondary in years. I'll be racking this as well.
 
Our first batch turned out great! The only criticism we heard was that it needed a little more carbonation, but that is easy to adjust.

The first batch was done at a neighbor's house using his 3 vessel setup. I now have a burner and keggle of my own, so was hoping to do my next batch BIAB. Since I used the wrong recipe when I purchased my grain I already have 2 lbs extra of the two row, so that should work out nicely.
 
maurtis said:
Our first batch turned out great! The only criticism we heard was that it needed a little more carbonation, but that is easy to adjust.

The first batch was done at a neighbor's house using his 3 vessel setup. I now have a burner and keggle of my own, so was hoping to do my next batch BIAB. Since I used the wrong recipe when I purchased my grain I already have 2 lbs extra of the two row, so that should work out nicely.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of grain for a 5 gal. BIAB batch.
 
I did BIAB, plan for lower efficiency though. I also did a second vessel sparge in 2 extra gallons of water. This meant longer boil, but in the end it works.
Larger grain bills are easily done BIAB, but I think you need to know your system pretty well.
 
bolus14 said:
I did BIAB, plan for lower efficiency though. I also did a second vessel sparge in 2 extra gallons of water. This meant longer boil, but in the end it works.
Larger grain bills are easily done BIAB, but I think you need to know your system pretty well.
Click to expand...


My experience with BIAB led me to conclude that lifting a hot, wet, heavy bag of grain that's necessary for a 5 gal. batch was enough of a PITA that using my tun was much easier. YMMV.
 
That's what a pulley is for :). For me I can save about an hour, sometimes more, not having to wait for wort to drain, deal with stuck sparges, etc. Its tough for me to get brewing time so if I can shave an hour or more off and still get the same result I'm all for it.
 
Agreed, I would not want to lift all that grain without help. My wife is sewing handles into the bag she is making for me and I have an extra bike lift not being used, one of those pulley rigs that are used to hang bikes from the ceiling.
 
Got a question for you all. I am at on my 11th day of primary fermentation in my conical. I did a 10 gal batch, came in right on the money at 1.086, and pitched a huge starter.

I had my fermentor controlled right at 65 degrees for the first 7 days, then ramped up to 68 since. I had very vigorous fermentation the first 3 days, and it since has really slowed down.

I went to do a trub dump about 5 days ago, and there was no settling of anything yet, I just got all liquid out of the dump valve.

Took a gravity reading at that point, and I was at 1.030. Today, I tried another trub dump, and the same thing... No solids, just all liquid. Took another gravity reading, 1.030.

I can't figure this thing out. wtf is going on? 11 days of primary, no trub yet and I am stuck at 1.030, and the beer is still insanely cloudy with lots of sediment floating around in it.

I wanted this to be done by Thanksgiving, and I was hoping to add my vanilla beans tonight. Im not sure what to do at this point, but seems like its taking much longer then I am used to. I am used to primary being done in 4-7 days with a huge trub dump at that point, then on to dry hopping. This is insane. Any ideas? I am tempted to just toss in my beans now, let it go as is for 2 weeks, then cold crash and transfer.
 
Just kegged this badboy today. I let it go 19days in the primary and then threw it in the fridge the last few days to settle everything out. FG ended up being 1.016 in both carboys. I let 4 vanilla beans soak in 2 cups of bourbon via mason jar for 1 week, strained, then added 1 cup to each keg. The smell was awesome. Plan on putting them on the gas tonight for a 24 hour force carb, then giving it a try next weekend. Im kind of sad Im giving one keg to my brother, but he did mule me a bunch of beer back from MI recently.
 
bolus14 said:
That's what a pulley is for :). For me I can save about an hour, sometimes more, not having to wait for wort to drain, deal with stuck sparges, etc. Its tough for me to get brewing time so if I can shave an hour or more off and still get the same result I'm all for it.
Click to expand...

Takes me a total of 15 min. to vorlauf, drain the mash, stir in sparge water, vorlauf again and runoff. I have brewed 469 batches and never had a stuck runoff.
 

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