[afacini]

Hi there,

A quick question regarding the use of vanilla -- I've noticed plenty of people with examples of success using vanilla beans in their beers. Is there any glaring reason that brewers aren't looking to pre-made vanilla extract instead of beans, other than the desire to avoid pre-mades and other extracts in general? It seems extract would be a far more consistent and predictable alternative, at least for a first-timer.

Andy

[dbeechum]

For me, I tend to make my own extracts at home for the primary reason, I can control the beans that go into it.

So for instance I know that I've got high quality Bourbon beans adn Tahitian beans in my extracts.

[afacini]

In that case, where do you get your beans from, and how can you verify quality? If not consistency brew-to-brew?

[dbeechum]

I used to get mine from organic-vanilla.com but they've seemingly gone out of business.

I don't usually worry about super accuracy in the extract since I'll just adjust the amount to taste in the final product.

[EHall]

do a search of the forum for vanilla beans... Denny and some others have some favorite sites they always recommend.

[afacini]

Thanks, I picked up a small bottle of Madagascar extract and a few beans to try my luck with from Beanilla. I'll let you know how it goes!

[denny]

The best vanilla beans and extract I've found come from hawaiianvanilla.com .