Vanilla Porter

I'm a rather conservative brewer. Because of the amount of time it takes to go from grain to glass, I typically avoid putting "non-grain" flavors into my beers with fear of overdoing it. I decided with this last batch to step out of my comfort zone a little. I like having my Robust Porter around for winter. One of my wife's favorite beers is Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter. So I figured, maybe do a split batch and try putting a fresh vanilla bean in. If I screw it up, its just half a batch. I wasn't going for a clone, but hoping for a smooth vanilla tasting/smelling porter.  

I did some research and a lot of what I read said that you should use 1 whole vanilla bean for every 5 gallons of beer. The impression I get is that a little bit bean goes a long way. Since I was going to split the batch, I only needed half a bean. Too bad they don't sell half beans as it cost me $6 for one bean at Whole Foods! 

For those that have never seen one, here is what a vanilla bean looks like. Sort of like a brown, shriveled up string bean.  



What you want to do is expose as much of the inside of the bean to the beer. That is where all the good stuff is. I cut the bean lengthwise and scrapped out all the contents. It wasn’t what I expected. The inside of the bean is like the consistency of a very fine coffee ground. I cut up the pod too into small pieces to again allow as much of the inside of the pod make contact with the beer.



I dumped the entire bean and it insides into a Better Bottle. I then racked half of the porter right on top. Figured by putting the bean in first that it would help mix it up fully as it racked.

As early as the next day, there was a nice vanilla aroma coming off the beer. I can see how you can easily overdue it though! The plan was to have the beer in contact with the bean for at least 10 days.

I just racked the beer to kegs yesterday so I have yet to taste a fully finished product. But there is a nice, clear vanilla aroma and a slight vanilla in the finish. So far, so good. I’m very interested to see if the flavors changes at all once it is carbed up like does the CO2 enhance or suppress the vanilla.

For those that want the recipe, is pretty much Jamil’s….

10 lb American 2-Row (74.07%)
1.25 lb Crystal 40 (9.26%)
1.25 lb Munich I (9.26%)
0.75 lb Chocolate (5.56%)
0.25 lb Black Patent (1.85%)

1 oz East Kent Golding Pellet @ 60 Minutes
0.5 oz East Kent Golding Pellet @ 10 Minutes
0.5 oz East Kent Golding Pellet @ 5 Minutes

Vanilla bean added after beer was fully fermented and left it in for 10 days.