[sharg54]

I have been looking at a lot of beer styles what with my time in Germany and when I came home I ran into a Vanilla Porter made by a local brewery here in Colorado and found the taste quite good and very relaxing to drink. Sort of what I would call a lay back beer.  Than I see that the winning beer this year is a vanilla porter, so 2+2 is always try a new twist on a stile you already make well.

 Here is my problem, the grain bill calls for whole vanilla beans and whole Coffey beans. Beans for Coffey no problem however, if I substitute the Vanilla Beans with extract how much should I use or should I? Can I shorten the long aging times involved with blending the beans into the porter if I use extract?    My line of thinking is if I use the Vanilla extract and keep the Coffey the same I should be able to cut the age time in half and have it ready for Christmas because the extract should blend faster than the chunks of Venilla beans. Or if I do that will I over power the Porter with Vanilla and if so how much should I use in say a 5.5 gal batch to prevent that? Anyone making a Vanilla Porter? If so how do you do it?  

[EHall]

I make a beer with vanilla about once a year... not always a porter... but I use at least 4 beans split lenghtwise in secondary for at least 2 weeks. Keep in mind the vanilla flavor with fade with time. If you decide to use extract, find a good, high quality one and start mixing it in about a teaspoon at a time and stir gently and taste as you go. For the coffee, I cold steep a strong brew and add it at bottling/kegging too. and you could 'dry bean' too. Add some coarsely cracked beans when you add the vanilla if you do it in secondary.

[corkybstewart]

On the day I brew my porter I split 2 vanilla beans, cut them into inch long pieces and put in about 1/2 cup bourbon.  I let them soak until I'm ready to keg(usually about 3 weeks) and then pour the bourbon into the keg.  In your case pour it into the bottling bucket.  It should easily be ready (if not finished) by Christmas.

[vista]

it's not a vanilla porter but...denny's bvip is pretty awesome. if you have the better half of an afternoon and don't mind sifting through a gabillion posts i recommend making your way over to the northernbrewer forum and checking out denny's boubon vanilla imperial porter.

[sharg54]

Thanks for the input...

[majorvices]

it's not a vanilla porter but...denny's bvip is pretty awesome. if you have the better half of an afternoon and don't mind sifting through a gabillion posts i recommend making your way over to the northernbrewer forum and checking out denny's boubon vanilla imperial porter.

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