vanilla bean or real vanilla concentrate?

[rdbrett]

I am looking to add vanilla to an old ale that I put 1 gallon aside for. (in secondary) Anybody have a recommendation as to which of these to use? A real vanilla bean or just a few drops of concentrate? If you've tried either, do you have a suggestion as to how much to use for 1 gallon? Just experimenting a little. I bottled 4 gallons of it and put 1 gallon on the side for this.
thanks!

 

[ColoHox]

Use a real bean and make an extract in vodka or bourbon. You would want to start with a tiny amount. I use 1 bean and the scraped seeds for a 5gal batch, so you won't need much.

My advice is to start small, mix and sample, then potentially add more if needed. You can always add more, but you can never get rid of excess.

 

[241]

I've used vanilla extract on an oatmeal stout just because I had some really good extract. I included wheat malt in the recipe to try to balance the head retention issues you have when adding extracts. Worked well.

I added 3 drops from a pipette to a 5 gal keg before carbonating. Great vanilla flavor - going back I would have only added 1 or 2 drops, a little sure goes a long way.

 

[kombat]

I've done a Robust Vanilla Porter in which I used 6 vanilla beans in a 5 gallon batch. The vanilla is present, but barely noticeable.

I split each of the 6 vanilla beans and scraped out the paste inside. I chopped the shells up into thirds. I put it all in a sanitized Mason jar and added just enough Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka to cover the beans (maybe 2 oz?). Every time I walked by the jar, I gave it a swirl, for about a week. Then I dumped the whole thing, vodka, bean shells and all, into the fermenter (2 weeks after it had been brewed, so fermentation was finished). A week later, I cold-crashed and kegged it.

 

[rdbrett]

I understand that the vanilla flavor fades over time. So, if you bottle condition for a couple months will there still be flavor present. I'm going to use drops in a small amount of beer.

 

[bigmike99]

I understand that the vanilla flavor fades over time. So, if you bottle condition for a couple months will there still be flavor present. I'm going to use drops in a small amount of beer.

Exactly what I was looking to find out after adding extra vanilla extract and coffee to the last 6 bottles of my bourbon stout yesterday. Vanilla came through pretty strong but figured it would fade over time. Now how much time?