Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer None More Black Vanilla Stout

[johnsnownw]

I did brew the extract recipe exactly as is.

I did the reading pre bottling - so de-gassing wasn't the issue.

This was actually my first yeast starter, active fermentation was great. I live in Boston in an apartment so I don't have enough space to control temperature but I know it's been consistently at 64-66 degrees.

There is C02 in suspension, after primary and secondary. It's why you have to de-gas wine prior to bottling. So, that could have been a factor.

As to the starter, it depends on your procedure. If you pitched an older vial of yeast, and the starter hadn't propagated enough yeast, you would have under-pitched. This can cause the beer not to fully attenuate. Yeast health is difficult to determine if you're using air-lock activity as an indication. I'm not saying you didn't have healthy yeast, but if your measurement was correct, then something is causing the lower than expected attenuation.

If it was an ambient temperature in the room of 64-66, then the temperature of the wort could have risen by a factor of 5-7 degrees. This is because the yeast are exothermic. Though, generally warmer temperatures, if not too warm, aid in attenuation. So I do not believe the temperature was a factor here...unless you pitched the yeast warm or something.

Now, something you need to pay attention to. If your measurement was correct, and the yeast stalled, there is the possibility that during priming the yeast will continue where they left off. That is, they may eat all the priming sugar, and then move on to the sugars it didn't finish before. This could create an over-carb issue, and possibly lead to bottle bombs. I would suggest putting those bottles into a rubber/plastic tote, in case this does happen. You do not want to clean up a bunch of beer off the floor. Make sure to be careful when opening as well.

 

[Beer-lord]

Kegged this today. Still sitting at 1.030 even though I tried everything but adding more yeast to bring it down. Good news....under 5%. Bad news...tasted thin. Not sure why.
I added more vanilla in a bag in the keg because the vanilla was weak. Gonna let that sit a few weeks. I naturally carbed this since I don't have room in the kegerator for a few weeks.
I was really hoping for a roastier beer. Too early to complain.

 

[CJ-3]

i completely forgot about this beer as i brewed it back in 2011. Has anyone tried to add lactose and make this more of a dessert beer? (sorry i cant read through all these pages if this has been done)

I added a pound of lactose - half at flameout and half at bottling. It has a great mouthfeel to it but it is definitely not overly sweet because of it. I don't know if that answers your question about being a desert beer or not, but it is what I have noticed.

 

[Hulud]

I added a pound of lactose - half at flameout and half at bottling. It has a great mouthfeel to it but it is definitely not overly sweet because of it. I don't know if that answers your question about being a desert beer or not, but it is what I have noticed.

thanks! gave me an idea of what a pound would do to it.

 

[RhodySeth]

Had a party last night and everyone really enjoyed the vanilla stout. Thanks for this great recipe!

 

[mdbrewer1]

I try to save one beer from each batch to open at the 6-month mark and another to save at the 12-month, and I just opened the 6-month old version of this brew last week. The roastiness/smokiness had completely taken over, to the point that I couldn't finish it. It was great the first couple months, but aging it turned it into a completely different beer. I'm very curious how the last bottle will taste in another 6 months. I'm not imagining I'll care for it.

Anyone else have it last that long and have something similar happen? It was always right on the edge for roastiness for me, and perhaps with the vanilla fading, it put it over the top.

 

[whitenhiemer]

this looks like a tasty beverage, I'd love to make this as a 1 gallon condo size batch. Do you think i can just shrink down the recipe without making a bid difference?

 

[stever1000]

This is my first time brewing, and I have this on the stove top at the moment.

I used more LME than the recipe called for (<=8lbs vs 7.25lbs) because I didn't want a small amount of LME sitting around (it came in a 8lb pail, but I didn't get every oz out)

How much will this effect the brew overall?

Also, my two closets are about 65* or 73-74* which would be better for fermenting this batch? I noticed it said 70, but I can't get it to that easily

Thanks

 

[KartRacer54]

If you have all ingredients from kit, Beersmith will recalculate the outcome, but I think mainly you will end up with a little higher OG. Use the cooler of the two rooms, IMO fermentation process will increase temps to at least 70 maybe higher. I ferment all of my brews at 68 room temp as I currently have no way to control the temp.
As I have progressed it seems as if temperature control is EVERYTHING. 2015 goal is to have system to control temps (Cool) as heating is easy.
Have fun it only gets better and easier!

 

[stever1000]

If you have all ingredients from kit, Beersmith will recalculate the outcome, but I think mainly you will end up with a little higher OG. Use the cooler of the two rooms, IMO fermentation process will increase temps to at least 70 maybe higher. I ferment all of my brews at 68 room temp as I currently have no way to control the temp.
As I have progressed it seems as if temperature control is EVERYTHING. 2015 goal is to have system to control temps (Cool) as heating is easy.
Have fun it only gets better and easier!

Ok, cold room it is.

I added cold water to speed up the cooling time (after I ran out of ice in the sink) and to top up the wort to ~5 gallons of water used total. However I think I added too much because my OG is now 1.050-1.052 (hard to tell because of the foam)

How will this effect my recipe, aside from some dilution

 

[stever1000]

Already had bubbles in the airlock 24hrs. Not as "violent" as I thought. Just like blub, blub, blub. Very interesting and already learning lots!

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Ok, cold room it is.

I added cold water to speed up the cooling time (after I ran out of ice in the sink) and to top up the wort to ~5 gallons of water used total. However I think I added too much because my OG is now 1.050-1.052 (hard to tell because of the foam)

How will this effect my recipe, aside from some dilution

Some extra beer . Getting a perfectly accurate gravity reading with extract is pretty tough as is, but I have found this beer to be pretty forgiving. Your extra water and extra extract should even out, more or less.

 

[FMac]

Made this today. My timing was slightly off on the EKG addition but I figure the worst that will happen is I made beer

 

[stever1000]

Will there be any issue if I use a plastic carboy for the 7day secondary fermentation? It's not too long of a time so I am not sure if the plastic permeability would be an issue or not?
Thanks

 

[mdbrewer1]

Will there be any issue if I use a plastic carboy for the 7day secondary fermentation? It's not too long of a time so I am not sure if the plastic permeability would be an issue or not?
Thanks

You'll be fine with plastic. That's how I did mine.

Permeability isn't an issue until you start talking months.

 

[stever1000]

You'll be fine with plastic. That's how I did mine.

Permeability isn't an issue until you start talking months.

Excellent, that will save me a trip in the morning!

 

[stever1000]

I will apologize for my beginner questions, but I don't want to mess up this batch after reading all the praise for it.

If I am aiming for a Final Gravity of 1.015, this is before I add the vanilla extract, and before I transfer to the secondary on top of the vanilla extract, right?

What will the vanilla extract do to the FG from the primary since the extract is mostly alcohol? Should I also take a final gravity reading at the end of the 7 days in the secondary?

Also, what would be the effect of changing the primary/secondary times? Like using 3 weeks primary, 4 days secondary? Or some other ratio of longer primary time?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mdbrewer1]

I will apologize for my beginner questions, but I don't want to mess up this batch after reading all the praise for it.

If I am aiming for a Final Gravity of 1.015, this is before I add the vanilla extract, and before I transfer to the secondary on top of the vanilla extract, right?

What will the vanilla extract do to the FG from the primary since the extract is mostly alcohol? Should I also take a final gravity reading at the end of the 7 days in the secondary?

Also, what would be the effect of changing the primary/secondary times? Like using 3 weeks primary, 4 days secondary? Or some other ratio of longer primary time?

Thanks in advance!

No worries. We were all beginners once.

Yes. 1.015 is the target before any additions, but I doubt the vanilla extract will have any effect on your gravity reading. It is such a small volume compared to the 5 gallons of beer. No need to take a gravity reading after secondary as long as you verified it was done fermenting before transferring it. It shouldn't have changed.

If it is the ABV you are trying to figure out, I just use an online calculator based on my gravity readings and then add to it the contribution of whatever alcohol you used to make your extract.

Once you get past 2-3 weeks in primary and have verified it has finished fermenting, you aren't gaining anything by going longer. The yeast have done their job and finished cleaning up after themselves by that point. Changing the secondary time may affect the amount of vanilla flavor it picks up if you're adding the beans. If you're just adding extract that has been sitting with the beans for quite a while, it might not be as big of a deal.

If you're flexible in your timing, you can start taking samples after a couple days in secondary to see if the vanilla flavor is where you want it. If after a week or so it isn't enough, you can add some extract at bottling. I added an extra 1 1/2 Tbsp to bump it up a bit.

 

[stever1000]

Thanks for the info - that definitely clears up all my questions. I will check the FG and transfer to the secondary when it is 1.015

 

[stever1000]

Some extra beer . Getting a perfectly accurate gravity reading with extract is pretty tough as is, but I have found this beer to be pretty forgiving. Your extra water and extra extract should even out, more or less.

Ok, so I brewed the beer on the 13th and due to running out of sanitizer, I wasn't able to check my FG until today, 28th.

Anyway, the FG was 1.016

Is this close enough to rack into the secondary? Or should I wait a couple more days to see if it will drop to 1.015?

 

[DoctorMemory]

Definitely close enough. It may finish in secondary or it may be done, either way there's no need to wait.

 

[curious_monkey]

I haven't read thru the posts, but right from the beginning... Love the name. None More Black is a great band.

 

[FMac]

Hopefully it's not a problem to leave this in secondary for a couple of weeks?

 

[stever1000]

Due to some issues at home I didn't have time to rack this on vanilla and it went straight to bottling after 3weeks. It's been 2 weeks in the bottle as of tonight and it tastes great!! Can't wait to try with some vanilla

 

[FMac]

I had one bottle that was about 3/4 full, so I threw it in the fridge and tasted tonight. Only been in the bottle for a week and it was FANTASTIC!!! I can only imagine how good it will be with a couple more weeks in the bottle. This was my first journey away from Mr. Beer!

 

[bolus14]

Debating between making this and Yoopers oatmeal stout, anybody made both?

How prominent is the vanilla in this? I've made a vanilla porter with 4 beans and an imperial porter with a couple and neither had the vanilla flavor I was looking for. I got the beans from beanilla which seems to be a pretty prominent source so I don't think the beans were bad.

I'm mainly looking for a good base, a little chocolate in the background, some coffee, vanilla that isn't hidden, I want to know its there, all followed with some bitter roastiness.

 

[Beer-lord]

I still remain underwhelmed with this recipe and even though it finished a bit high, and many like it, it's not great, IMO. I'm not sure I can even call this a stout. Maybe a vanilla porter.
Mine's been in the keg awhile as I fight to finish it and the vanilla is losing it's punch. There definitely needs to be more roast in this for balance as far as what I like in a stout.

 

[mdbrewer1]

I still remain underwhelmed with this recipe and even though it finished a bit high, and many like it, it's not great, IMO. I'm not sure I can even call this a stout. Maybe a vanilla porter.
Mine's been in the keg awhile as I fight to finish it and the vanilla is losing it's punch. There definitely needs to be more roast in this for balance as far as what I like in a stout.

If you like more roast, just wait it out. I always save 1 bottle of each batch to try at 6 months and another to try at 12 months. At 6 months the roast flavor was very pronounced. At 12 months it was so strong I couldn't finish it.

 

[Beer-lord]

I am barely hitting the keg as I wait and do have a few bottles sitting in wait as well. Its definitely drinkable, just not what I expected.
It's certainly not something I'd pitch out.

 

[bolus14]

I wonder if the black patent is causing the roast flavor to become too strong over time? Maybe drop it to .25lb would help that. I don't have much experience creating recipes but from looking around even some much bigger stouts only use .25lb - .5lb of black patent.