Making a vanilla porter...should I add cherries?

[Gordonwes]

I made a 5 gallon extract porter last Saturday (2/11). It's still sitting in the primary. I'm going to add 3-4 vanilla beans in the secondary that I'm going to soak in vodka starting today(2/15). I was thinking of adding cheery or some other fruit flavor to the mix. Any suggestions on flavors and tips on doing it correctly? Would love to hear your suggestions! 🍻✌

 

[Thirstin4aburstin]

I have a vanilla-almond porter bottled right now. Added 2 vanilla beans that I also had soaked in vodka. Make sure you cut the bean open lengthwise and use the blade to loosen all the seeds first. 2 beans are definitely noticeable but it's mellowed out nicely at about 4 weeks in the bottle. Next time i'll probably just use 1. I would say 3-4 might be too many but the cherry would probably dominate over the vanilla.
I also have a dubbel that I added 3 lbs of dark sweet cherries to in secondary. I bottled it Monday. Cherry was definitely there, almost a little more than what I wanted but I imagine once it's conditioned it'll mellow. Hope this helps. I'll post more when I crack my first bottle!

 

[Gordonwes]

Thanks for the response! I was wondering if by adding cherries, it would almost be too much flavor in there. Since porters have such big flavors just in themselves. So I may not be adding cherries. Thanks again! 🍻