how much vanilla bean is TOO MUCH vanilla bean ?

[odie]

Looks over recipes and my own records...

Seems everything always calls for like a single bean. It that cause they are so powerful or just so damn expensive?

I've never discerned a distinct vanilla flavor...or I'm just not paying attention that closely?

it's over 10 bucks a bean at the local grocery normally.

I ordered some Madagascar whole beans online and got a bulk package of 11 that ended up being about a buck a bean.

should I up the bean additions or just save them?

 

[kev211]

You dont measure vanilla by the bean. Measure that sh!t with your heart!

Ha! I joke and digress, but I've experiemented a ton with vanilla actually, so not that Im an expert by any means, but I have put it through the trials and come up with the following (my control batches were a vanilla cream ale and cinnamon vanilla milk stout, so it allows the vanilla to show against a lighter and heavier malt base)...

I hate using vanilla beans, they are wildly expensive, and a PITA to extract the actual seeds. Ultimately I would add the seeds to vodka to make a tincture/santize which is effectively vanilla extract. I've also said screw it to extracting the seeds since I would always end up with so much waste still left in the pods, knife, fingers, etc so I tried just splitting the pod and tossing that in... Way too vegetal and woody, do not recommend this method.

Ultimately what I settled on was getting a high quality vanilla extract and use that instead. GOOD vanilla extract is an alcohol of some kind and vanilla, so works well. I cant stress enough to use the good stuff though. Dont buy the crappy McCormicks stuff and expect it to work well.

That said, in terms of amounts... I use one shot glass (~2oz) in both my vanilla cream ale and stout. The vanilla cream ale has a very pronounced vanilla flavor (as intended). The stout is definitely more muted. Its my Christmas beer, so I wanted the cinnamon to be the star and have the vanilla to almost provide some roundness/fullness to compliment the lactose and balance out the astringent notes that can come from cinnamon.

 

[mac_1103]

I hate using vanilla beans, they are wildly expensive, and a PITA to extract the actual seeds.

This^. I've only used beans once and probably won't again. SWMBO uses high quality extract for baking, so it's always on hand anyway. Another advantage to extract is that you can do some dose-finding by adding it to a similar beer a drop at a time.

 

[user 246304]

+1 on real vanilla extract, not "imitation," which is listed on the box. Also +1 on how much to use. Unfortunately I suspect you'll just have to experiment. Not sure how "into" vanilla you are, but to me a little goes a long way in cooking. Never used it in brewing so YMMV.

Actually it's quite easy to get the seeds. Split the bean lengthwise, then with the back of your (straight-backed, not curved like a curved fileting knife or something) knife, just scrape along each side of the split bean. Most if not all will come off and adhere to your knife. Use another knife to scrape that off, if you need to, and you're good to go.

 

[kev211]

Actually it's quite easy to get the seeds. Split the bean lengthwise, then with the back of your (straight-backed, not curved like a curved fileting knife or something) knife, just scrape along each side of the split bean. Most if not all will come off and adhere to your knife. Use another knife to scrape that off, if you need to, and you're good to go.

Ya, this is what I would do, but ultimately there would be some left in the pod and some on the knife. Not a ton, but enough to make me pissed at how much i paid for the damn pod and how many cents of seeds I left behind

 

[user 246304]

Ya, this is what I would do, but ultimately there would be some left in the pod and some on the knife. Not a ton, but enough to make me pissed at how much i paid for the damn pod and how many cents of seeds I left behind

Hmm, bummer, that sucks!

Just did it on mine - that's just wood. Rest comes off cleanly for me. It does help if the bean is really fresh, so that it is pasty inside and the woody outside is still pliant.

 

[odie]

interesting on the extract. I've used vanilla extract before but somehow it just feels like cheating.

I always have this suspicion that extract...even non "artificial" labeled is probably not real either.

 

[Agent]

I miss back when vanilla beans were reasonably priced. We'd buy 1-2lbs and make a gallon or so of extract every year or two. Heads and shoulders above any extract I could afford.

 

[mac_1103]

I always have this suspicion that extract...even non "artificial" labeled is probably not real either.

I guess maybe that depends on what you mean by real. There aren't any obviously artificial ingredients listed.

 

[day_trippr]

I started using extract instead of beans a couple of years ago when it became even more difficult to find reasonably priced beans. I use Nielsen-Massey extracts which are sold as pure...

Cheers!

 

[Dgallo]

Looks over recipes and my own records...

Seems everything always calls for like a single bean. It that cause they are so powerful or just so damn expensive?

I've never discerned a distinct vanilla flavor...or I'm just not paying attention that closely?

it's over 10 bucks a bean at the local grocery normally.

I ordered some Madagascar whole beans online and got a bulk package of 11 that ended up being about a buck a bean.

should I up the bean additions or just save them?

Depends on the beer. If it’s a big imperial stout and you want the vanilla to be forward, I say 3.

Porter 1-2

Light ale 1 or so is probably enough.

That said I always make tinctures with my vanilla. Cut and scrape the pod then dice it up. Use just enough everclear to cover everything and then add it at kegging after straining

 

[user 246304]

I started using extract instead of beans a couple of years ago when it became even more difficult to find reasonably priced beans. I use Nielsen-Massey extracts which are sold as pure...

View attachment 854358

Cheers!

That's the bomb.

 

[G_robertus]

I have a jar with vodka to which I add the skins after I've used vanilla, for example in ice cream, cookies, pastry, etc. As long as they haven't been in oil I put the skins in the jar to extract the aromatics. The effect becomes stronger over time as well, so you can add more flavour each time you make something and each day you let it stand. When using the extract (in beer or cooking) I just measure out how much I want to get to the flavour in looking for. Never too much and easy to compensate for too little flavour. This makes it very easy to dose vanilla flavour and you get something out of your waste. Imo this works just as good or better than putting some pods in vodka for a few days or weeks and adding that to beer.

 

[Ramjet]

I used 5 Madagascar vanilla beans in my vanilla cream ale. I soaked the beans in everclear for a couple of hours and then split them length wise and hung them in the keg. Great vanilla flavor no Woody taste. I was trying to clone a beer from a brewery here in Wisconsin

 

[Oldskewl]

It is not hard to make your own vanilla extract. We make it every year for baking and gift giving. Buy the madagascar vanilla beans online, cut them into 4 or 5 pieces and add them to some cheap vodka in a mason jar. Let them sit for 3 months minimum(I prefer 6-8 months). Then strain the pieces out and bottle. You can get various small bottles on amazon. It's alot cheaper than buying "the good stuff" and its just as good(or better).

I usually add vanilla to my imperial stouts. 2 beans for subtle overtone and 3 beans for a forward aroma/flavor. I soak in bourbon or vodka usually add at bottling or kegging. Be aware that vanilla pods vary in size so use your better judgement.

 

[Snuffy]

I'm up to 3 beans now and I've never really captured a discernable vanilla flavor. Recipe always says add them in the secondary. Anybody add them to the boil? Cinnamon sticks go in the boil but I can't taste them either.

 

[Dgallo]

I'm up to 3 beans now and I've never really captured a discernable vanilla flavor. Recipe always says add them in the secondary. Anybody add them to the boil? Cinnamon sticks go in the boil but I can't taste them either.

Gotta use tinctures for the best extraction ( vanilla extract). When you add pods to vessels they can sink and get trapped in the trub. Also your abv isn’t high enough in get enough extraction in a short contact time.

Adding it to boil would be a bad call because the compounds in vanilla are highly volatile and will evaporate off or denature.

 

[worlddivides]

I've made quite a few beers with vanilla in them and I'm currently debating whether to add vanilla to a chocolate stout recipe I made. In general, I let the beans soak in vodka for about a week or so, then added the vodka (but no beans) to secondary. I'm kind of on the fence on whether to just use regular vanilla extract this time (since vanilla beans, which have ALWAYS been very expensive, have only gotten more and more expensive) or to just omit the vanilla altogether (since my girlfriend wants a "chocolate stout," and I've always felt that vanilla helps bring out that "chocolate flavor" since vanilla is very commonly added to chocolate candies, especially in the case of milk chocolate). I believe it's less commonly added to dark chocolate, so maybe I just won't add them this time.

I'm thinking you might just want to buy a good vanilla extract, especially if you'll be making more beers with vanilla in them. Even if you aren't, just in general if you make baked goods, vanilla extract is pretty awesome. More recently, I've seen some pretty interesting uses of vanilla in beers that I never would have imagined adding vanilla to when I first started (as just one example, I had a juicy IPA that had vanilla in it a few months ago and it was actually pretty good).

Making my own extracts from scratch is how I've always handled things for brewing my own beers, but with how expensive vanilla beans are now, extract might be the better solution.

 

[Snuffy]

Gotta use tinctures for the best extraction ( vanilla extract). When you add pods to vessels they can sink and get trapped in the trub. Also your abv isn’t high enough in get enough extraction in a short contact time.

Adding it to boil would be a bad call because the compounds in vanilla are highly volatile and will evaporate off or denature.

I usually split, scrape and soak all in a couple shots of Sailor Jerry's or dark rum and then bag em and add the liquor too. Sometimes I can taste the rum. Vanilla, not so much. I'm gonna go for some high end extract next time. Anybody got a feel for how much in a 5 gal batch? I just want an obvious vanilla note but not overpowered by it. Talking holiday beer, stout, Pirate Strong, that kinda thing.

 

[day_trippr]

I use two ounces of extract per each five gallon keg of chocolate stout...

Cheers!

 

[odie]

I'm wanting to soak them in burbon or rum, not vodka. any reason not to and just use vodka? it's going in an RIS.

 

[mac_1103]

I steeped vanilla beans, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel in rum for last year's Christmas Imperial Stout. I can taste everything except the vanilla.

 

[day_trippr]

When I was still using real beans I always let them marinade in dark rum along with cocoa nibs. The whole thing got dumped in a fresh carboy and the stout racked on top. I still marinade the 'nibs in dark rum and dump that all in, but I hold off adding the vanilla extract until kegging...

Cheers!

 

[Willy]

You dont measure vanilla by the bean. Measure that **** with your heart!

Ha! I joke and digress, but I've experiemented a ton with vanilla actually, so not that Im an expert by any means, but I have put it through the trials and come up with the following (my control batches were a vanilla cream ale and cinnamon vanilla milk stout, so it allows the vanilla to show against a lighter and heavier malt base)...

I hate using vanilla beans, they are wildly expensive, and a PITA to extract the actual seeds. Ultimately I would add the seeds to vodka to make a tincture/santize which is effectively vanilla extract. I've also said screw it to extracting the seeds since I would always end up with so much waste still left in the pods, knife, fingers, etc so I tried just splitting the pod and tossing that in... Way too vegetal and woody, do not recommend this method.

Ultimately what I settled on was getting a high quality vanilla extract and use that instead. GOOD vanilla extract is an alcohol of some kind and vanilla, so works well. I cant stress enough to use the good stuff though. Dont buy the crappy McCormicks stuff and expect it to work well.

That said, in terms of amounts... I use one shot glass (~2oz) in both my vanilla cream ale and stout. The vanilla cream ale has a very pronounced vanilla flavor (as intended). The stout is definitely more muted. Its my Christmas beer, so I wanted the cinnamon to be the star and have the vanilla to almost provide some roundness/fullness to compliment the lactose and balance out the astringent notes that can come from cinnamon.

I make my own vanilla extract - quite easy. I use Myers dark rum and a single vanilla bean that I slice longways about 1/2 way thru to expose the interior flesh and seeds. Let it sit for 3 months - and woot woot, excellent high quality vanilla extract.

 

[Scottyward]

I started using extract instead of beans a couple of years ago when it became even more difficult to find reasonably priced beans. I use Nielsen-Massey extracts which are sold as pure...

View attachment 854358

Cheers!

I just used this extract for the first time in a 5 gallon pastry stout. I used 1 oz and it is just the amount of Vanilla I wanted. Not Cheap, but if it make a great beer.

 

[InspectorJon]

I buy vanilla beans on line, still expensive but a fraction of the grocery store price. I make tincture/extract with vodka or Everclear. I feel like it’s the same thing as the high quality extracts. Same ingredients. As others have said, it takes a long time to make good extract, not just a few days. We can make good beer so we should be able to make good extract. A good imperial stout takes time, so does good extract.

 

[Willy]

I buy vanilla beans on line, still expensive but a fraction of the grocery store price. I make tincture/extract with vodka or Everclear. I feel like it’s the same thing as the high quality extracts. Same ingredients. As others have said, it takes a long time to make good extract, not just a few days. We can make good beer so we should be able to make good extract. A good imperial stout takes time, so does good extract.

Give Myers dark rum a try in lieu of Vodka. Personally I prefer the dark rum vs vodka as the rum blend seems richer than the vodka.

 

[InspectorJon]

I really don’t like the taste of whisky in my beer so I don’t use it for tinctures. Some folks love the bourbon barrel aged stouts but I don’t. Not sure I would like rum either. I’ll try dosing a small amount in my next glass of stout and see.

 

[passedpawn]

I miss back when vanilla beans were reasonably priced. We'd buy 1-2lbs and make a gallon or so of extract every year or two. Heads and shoulders above any extract I could afford.

yep. I used to buy beans and make very strong extract. I have one bottle left! I hope it ages well LOL.