Fading flavor from vanilla

[vsusinga]

Hi, i am just about to bottle my Creamsicle Wheat Ale. To achieve the flavor i wanted i added orange zest and a madagascar vanilla bean after primary fermentation. Several days ago i tasted a sample and i could clearly taste the orange and vanilla creamsicle flavor. It was very light and pretty pleasant. Last night i tasted another sample after doing a gravity reading. The hops had mellowed out and i could taste no vanilla whatsoever. Is this normal?

 

[FarmerTed]

Vanillin can be reduced to vanillyl alcohol by yeast. Maybe that's happening?

 

[vsusinga]

Cool. Maybe.. thank u

 

[ArcLight]

Vanillin can be reduced to vanillyl alcohol by yeast. Maybe that's happening?

How can I get good vanilla flavor from vanilla beans if I bottle?
Should Iuse more beans?
Or is there some other method?

I was just soaking the vanilla beans in Vodka for a week and adding it to my bottling bucket.

 

[FarmerTed]

How can I get good vanilla flavor from vanilla beans if I bottle?
Should Iuse more beans?
Or is there some other method?

I was just soaking the vanilla beans in Vodka for a week and adding it to my bottling bucket.

I've never used them myself, but I've read about the flavor fading, and if you listen to some of the podcasts on the web with Charlie Bamforth, he'll talk about yeast reducing aldehydes (such as trans-2-nonenal, the source of cardboard oxidation flavors). My guess would just be to add more than you think you need, but it could obviously be tricky. If you're bottle conditioning, the beer's going to have to be warm, and the yeast will be active. Come to think of it, I've had vanilla flavor from oak fade out on me, too (I also bottle condition). My guess would be that it's the yeast reducing it to vanillyl alcohol as well.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I have had this happen to me on my kitchen sink porter that I let 4 vanilla beans soak in a couple oz of rum for almost a month. Then let the beans soak in secondary on the beer for 5 weeks after that. The vanilla aroma and flavor was very very strong the first "sample" I took on bottling day.

After conditioning a lot of the flavor went away, but the aroma is still there. Its a very complimentary flavor that to me, reinforces other flavors without you *knowing* its there in the beer. Think of it as the sound guy at a concert. You might not know hes there doing stuff to make the music sound better, but you would know if he's not there.

I was kind of expecting a vanilla ice cream bomb when I (accidentally) let the vanilla beans sit in the beer for 5 weeks. But was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't like chewing on vanilla bean leather.