Vanilla

[Jmakep]

Brand new at the home brewing!!!
Woundering the best way to add vanilla to my stout and when is the best time.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Two possibilities. One is to use pure vanilla extract. The other is to make a tincture with real vanilla beans. Most people prefer the tincture. To make it split 3 (depends on preference) vanilla beans, scrap the innards and cut them up. Put them in a sterile jar, cover them with a couple of oz of vodka (or bourbon if you like the flavor) and put a lid on to soak for a few days. I usually do 5-7 days.

Once the tincture has soaked, you can either dump the whole mess into the fermenter for the last 5-7 days or you can add it a bit at a time to the bottling bucket until the flavor is right. It will take some experimenting to decide what is the right amount for you.

 

[m00ps]

I like using whole beans. I will typoically cut up 2 of them, cover them with water, and boil it for a minute or so to sanitize. It also quickly extracts a lot of flavor so I dump the liquid and chopped beans into the fermentor

 

[jrcrilly]

I have settled on two beans, split and scraped, added 5 days before racking my porters. I don't see a point in making a tincture with vodka or whatever prior to making a tincture with beer in the fermenter. A strong stout may stanbd up to a larger dose than two beans, but I haven't tried that.

 

[unionrdr]

I let mine soak as bluehouse related, but for the whole time the beer is in primary. I strained it into the priming solution & added it to the bottling bucket that way. But...the vanilla beans are the size & color of celery seed, so it went right through the fine mesh strainer & into the bottles. Next time, I'll use a coffee filter...

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I haven't tried adding beans directly to the fermenter. I would be worried about infection. Sanitizing is another benefit of using vodka. I haven't tried boiling them in water, either. That could be a quick and easy alternative.

 

[unionrdr]

I haven't tried boiling them in a small amount of water yet either. But it does seem like a quick way to get that thick paste inside the beans to dissolve?

 

[bikerbob951]

Not my first brew, but definitely our first with a vanilla bourbon tincture. I'll be preparing ours tonight, and just so I'm clear on this... scrape and discard the insides of the vanilla bean, and use only the husks?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Do NOT discard the innards. That is where the good stuff it. I split the beans and scrape the insides. Then I cut the split beans into 1" lengths and put the bean pieces and the scrapings in the bourbon. Usually I just scrape the innards off the knife onto one of the sections of bean to be sure all of it gets in the tincture.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I just split two beans lengthwise, sanitize a nylon bag, put the beans in the bag and throw it into my fermenter after fermentation is complete, or sometimes even just into my keg.
I dont bother really 'sanitizing' the beans other than having starsan on my hands when i am cutting and working with them...they are coming out of a sealed tube..have clean hands and a clean work environment and you shouldn't be getting infections.
2 beans is more than enough for most dark beers, even too much depending on how fresh your beans are.

The good? thing about vanilla though is that it mellows out pretty fast. So if you add too much just wait a few weeks and it will mellow out.

Also if you didnt know Costco has amazing deals on Vanilla beans, dont buy them in the spice area of your grocery store its a ripoff.

 

[bikerbob951]

Do NOT discard the innards. That is where the good stuff it. I split the beans and scrape the insides. Then I cut the split beans into 1" lengths and put the bean pieces and the scrapings in the bourbon. Usually I just scrape the innards off the knife onto one of the sections of bean to be sure all of it gets in the tincture.

Thanks for the clear instruction! One last question; do you run the tincture through a coffee filter or equiv. to prevent tiny vanilla particles from winding up in the final product? If so, do I have to sterilize the funnel & filter, or is the alcohol enough to kill any baddies?

We will be doing another vanilla tincture in the near future, I think I'll try FuzzeWuzze's method next and see what's what.

Thanks for the great help, and for making the new guy feel welcome!

 

[unionrdr]

Well, the first time I strained the tincture, & the lil celery seed-size beans got into the bottles. So a sanitized funnel with a coffee filter would be better, in my opinion.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I have used a fine woven hop bag (sanitized) to pour the tincture through into the fermenter. Then I tied off the hop bag with the vanilla bits and tossed that in, too. I have also used a hop bag wrapped around the bottom of the siphon as a filter when I racked to the bottling bucket. And, I have just cold crashed and siphoned to the bucket with no filter. Using any of these options I've never had any vanilla particles end up in the bottle.

Given that all three options worked, I think cold crashing is probably the easiest. If it will settle out all but the tiniest yeast particles, it should settled out bits of vanilla seeds, too.