grinding vanilla beans for a stout

[stickyfinger]

Hi, I want to try using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to make a powder/paste out of some fresh vanilla beans and add them to a stout. has anyone done this? I am going to add the powder/paste to a keg along with some cacao nibs and coconut and then rack a fermented stout onto it for a week or so. I will probably mix the keg a few times a day to get better extraction. How many beans worth of powder/paste should I use for an apparent vanilla flavor? I'm getting some juicy fresh beans.

 

[VikeMan]

Hi, I want to try using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to make a powder/paste out of some fresh vanilla beans and add them to a stout.

Vanilla bean pods are very pliable. They're not going to turn to powder when crushed by your pestle. You'd end up with an oozing vanilla paste mixed with mostly intact pods.

For "dry beaning," I simply slice the beans lengthwise and chop each half into 3 or 4 pieces. How many beans to use depends on the beer style, the strength of the beans, and your preference. As a rough rule, for 5 gallons, I use one bean for a subtle but noticeable presence, 3 beans for a borderline vanilla bomb, and 2 beans for something in between. I usually use Madagascar beans from Beanilla.

 

[day_trippr]

I agree, using a mortar and pestle will result in a lot of loss to the tool and bowl.

fwiw, I use two beans per 5 gallons of my chocolate stout along with 8 ounces of cocoa nibs post-fermentation. The beans get sliced length-wise, the seeds and goo scraped out with a knife blade, then the pods get chopped up. Everything goes into a quart size plastic sealable container with the nibs and are marinated in enough dark rum to cover for a week or so. Then the works gets dumped in the stout...

Cheers!

 

[stickyfinger]

ok, seems like you're both in agreement on the 2 beans for noticeable but not overboard. i think i'll try the scrape and cut up pods and dump into my keg approach and see how that goes.

have either of you used coconut? I've read info that some like untoasted and some like toasted. i was going to try 2.5-3# untoasted along with the beans and 4 oz cacao nibs.

Vanilla bean pods are very pliable. They're not going to turn to powder when crushed by your pestle. You'd end up with an oozing vanilla paste mixed with mostly intact pods.

For "dry beaning," I simply slice the beans lengthwise and chop each half into 3 or 4 pieces. How many beans to use depends on the beer style, the strength of the beans, and your preference. As a rough rule, for 5 gallons, I use one bean for a subtle but noticeable presence, 3 beans for a borderline vanilla bomb, and 2 beans for something in between. I usually use Madagascar beans from Beanilla.

 

[InspectorJon]

I use two beans per 5 gallons of my chocolate stout along with 8 ounces of cocoa nibs post-fermentation. The beans get sliced length-wise, the seeds and goo scraped out with a knife blade, then the pods get chopped up. Everything goes into a quart size plastic sealable container with the nibs and are marinated in enough dark rum to cover for a week or so. Then the works gets dumped in the stout...

@day_trippr, How long does this stay in the fermenter before packaging?

 

[day_trippr]

Usually a week or a few days longer - really the week is enough, then it's just a matter of me getting on with it.

My stout really does not need much time on the clock - I'm not trying to age out anything. Looking at the brew history (I've done a lot of them over the years) it's usually ready for tapping four weeks after pitching - 2 weeks primary, 1 week+ for the nibs and 'nilla, then a week cold conditioning and it's ready, though most likely it'll sit cold until its tap opens up. It goes on a nitro tap so carbonation time is minimal...

Cheers!