Bourbon and Vanilla Stout Advice

[Portreath]

Hi All

I have a Mena Dhu Clone (Cornish Stout) which is about 12 days into a slow ferment. I plan to rack off 50% of the 20 ltrs and add bourbon and vanilla to 10 ltrs. I have a whole vanilla pod chopped and soaking in about 50ml of a well known Kentucky bourbon. Does this sound enough bourbon or should I be adding a little more?

BTW, I do love a nice Whisky, Jura and Glenlivet being my favorite singles, however I tasted the 'well known brand' bourbon and it tastes like $#!£, how on earth could anyone drink that stuff neat!!

 

[Simonh82]

I've not made one so this is only based on Internet reading but I think you may want more than 50ml. There is a very famous recipe by Denny Conn for his imperial bourbon vanilla porter.

He uses 2 vanilla pods in 5 US gallons (19L) but he adds 400ml of bourbon. That does seem like a lot to me but 50ml might not be enough.

 

[Dutto]

I guess it very much a "to taste" thing.

Personally I don't like Bourbon of any description (*) but I love vanilla so I would probably go with the 50ml and hope that the vanilla infusion came through.

With regard to whisky, some of the "Island Malts" taste like TCP to me so I try and avoid them (*) as much as Bourbon.

(*)

I demonstrated my qualifications as a full blown "hypocrite" way back in the 1980's.

I worked for an Italian company and in Milan I was asked what I thought of Johnny Walker Red Label. My response was "I wouldn't even wash my feet in it." although I did admit to liking their Black Label.

Three months later in Saudi Arabia the same gentleman offered me a glass of whisky and apologised that it was "... only Johnny Walker Red Label." I accepted the drink despite my previous description and for some reason it tasted just fine.

 

[Portreath]

I agree, ultimately it's a matter of taste. After tasting the Bourbon I'd be more than happy for that taste to be very much in the background. I've read a few posts and articles on adding vanilla, and more than not the author suggests that the use of the spirit element is for the most part to clean the vanilla pod. As I'm only adding it to 50% of the brew (I don't want to cock up the whole batch) I think I'll go with the 50ml and see what comes out the other end.

 

[BeerCat]

I found when I added vanilla pods it never really did much. I have soaked loads in vodka before and i could drink it as it is but diluting it in 20l of beer lost the vanilla taste. I will look for a high quality extract next time although i just bought 4 more pods after a few beers.

 

[Portreath]

I use Preema vanilla extract and essence for work, these are very potent and I guess would only require a little amount. Now you have mentioned it I might give it a try when I next do a stout, only this time drop the bourbon, I'll save that for unwanted Xmas visitors

 

[Slid]

Hi All

I have a Mena Dhu Clone (Cornish Stout) which is about 12 days into a slow ferment. I plan to rack off 50% of the 20 ltrs and add bourbon and vanilla to 10 ltrs. I have a whole vanilla pod chopped and soaking in about 50ml of a well known Kentucky bourbon. Does this sound enough bourbon or should I be adding a little more?

BTW, I do love a nice Whisky, Jura and Glenlivet being my favorite singles, however I tasted the 'well known brand' bourbon and it tastes like $#!£, how on earth could anyone drink that stuff neat!!

It is now well over a year since I did the Greg Hughes Vanilla Bourbon Stout recipe (Bottled 3 Nov 2017). I must have chucked in almost the whole bottle (750ml), as I don't really drink spirits - the remnants are still in the kitchen.

It was pretty much undrinkable to my tastes for the best part of the whole year. Of late it is really smooth and a very agreeable sipping beer, but very strong. If you keep it for six months in bulk, it may be ready to drink a bit earlier, I suspect.

 

[Zephyr259]

I also brewed the Greg Hughes recipe, it also calls for 400 ml in 23L so I scaled back to 240 ml in my 15L batch, it's noticeable to different levels based on who's tasting it some find it in the background, others more dominant. I used 2 tsp of good supermarket vanilla extract (the paste stuff) and it was strong to start with but faded after a couple of months more or less disappearing as a noticeable flavour by 6 months. I did a taste test between Jim Bean White and Woodford Reserve, unsurprisingly the latter tasted a lot better so decided to use it rather than risk the batch of beer on the harsher JB.