Vanilla Porter All Grain Recipe

Description
PRODUCT REVIEWS
Questions and Answers

Vanilla Porter All Grain Recipe

A rich robust porter with 2 vanilla beans. A real treat! A rich and complex, full bodied Robust Porter. Notes of chocolate, roast and vanilla, which is balanced by clean hop additions.

Yield: 5 Gallons

Original Gravity: 1.0562

Final Gravity: 1.016

Color / SRM: 34

Alcohol by Volume: 6.04%

IBU (anticipated, alpha acids can fluctuate): 39

Specialty Grains: Chocolate, Crystal 60L, Black

Hops: Willamette

Recipe Includes : Base Malt Grain, Specialty Grains & Hops, Vanilla Beans

View The Vanilla Porter All Grain Recipe Instructions here.

Good so far

It's carbonating as I write this. Nice porter, I sample it every time I rack it so at this point, I like it. I would like more vanilla myself. I would recommend 1-2 extra beans with it. I sometimes have trouble picking up light nuances though. The malt bill is a great backbone for the vanilla though. GREAT JOB GUYS!

Reviewed by: LilRed from Allendale on 11/11/2020

A good kit

This is the first porter I have brewed. I am not a huge fan of the style, but it's winter and my peeps have been asking for a heartier brew for the season. This kit seemed to fill the bill, and I recommend it. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. I used the Wyeast 1098 English Ale yeast, which worked quickly and efficiently. It produced a drier taste than I expected, but it's still good. I modified the kit a bit by adding 6 oz. of 80L Breiss Caramel malt and some cocoa nibs and whiskey-soaked toasted oak chips. It is a good-tasting beer, but it has only been in the bottle for four weeks and I think more aging will only improve the balance. The vanilla flavor is subtle - it shows up mainly in the nose. I would add one more bean to the recipe. I personally don't like too much of the roasted coffee flavor of black patent malt. If I were to make this again, I would customize my recipe and add a little less. I know I didn't make the kit as it was shipped, but I think the underlying brew turned out to be a clean, flavorful porter. It's not too heavy or bitter. I wouldn't call it the best batch I ever brewed, but my porter-loving friends are enjoying it and want more.

Reviewed by: Tom Wanamaker from USA on 2/12/2019

Great Vanilla Porter

I've only brewed this recipe one time so far, but I'm preparing to order/brew again. This is a house favorite for many of my guests. I added 3 extra vanilla beans to the recipe and I kegged it with a touch of 100% vanilla extract. It's got a nice clean finish and a robust vanilla scent.

Reviewed by: Ryan P from on 8/3/2018

A good porter but light on vanilla

As title said - this recipe makes a good porter, but if you are looking for a vanilla porter ala Breckenridge, there really isn't much vanilla character in the finished product. Maybe need to add an extra vanilla bean (?) or some vanilla extract to secondary? Hard to say - we didn't rush secondary fermentation so time wasn't the issue.

Reviewed by: K. Grant from on 9/6/2016

Wow!

This is by far my favorite of the all-grain recipes I have brewed. Rich taste, full body. Just like a good porter should be.

Reviewed by: John Crilly from on 8/15/2015

Q: What is the shelf life of an all grain kit? I like your sale price and would like to buy a few however I would not be brewing all kits at once

Asked by: Michael Farnan - 9/29/2020

A: all-grain kits are best used with 6 months of purchase with the grains and hops properly stored.

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Answer provided by: Aaron (9/29/2020)

Q: Is the vanilla beans real vanilla beans and not some home grown knock off bean because it's awfully cheap for a full recipe.

Asked by: Jon Jon - 11/23/2019

A: The recipe uses real Madagascar sourced vanilla beans. These are purchased in bulk and repackaged in our facility and only uses two beans so they cost of the recipe can be kept in line with other porters

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Answer provided by: Aaron (11/24/2019)

Q: I’m curious to see if I can get any whiskey flavor into the beer if I soak the vanilla beans in whiskey and then pour the tincture into the fermenter. Would you recommend soaking the beans in whiskey for 24 hours or so to sanitize, then dumping the tincture plus beans into the fermenter for a few days, or letting the beans soak in the whiskey, and pouring just the tincture(not the beans) in at bottling/kegging to taste?

Asked by: Steven Ross - 8/22/2019

A: Either process could be done without issues. Leaving the beans in the fermenter would help impart more vanilla flavor as it sets for a few days, otherwise the tincture would likely be like adding more of a vanilla forward whiskey like say, makers mark and have more whiskey than vanilla profile. This would be brewers choice!

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Answer provided by: Aaron (8/23/2019)

Q: I do 2.5 gallon batches. Are the different grains separated so I can accurately scale/split this kit?

Asked by: Mike - 8/22/2017

A: The grains order as a kit would be combined into 1 package when shipped. A recipe sheet can be provided to order the grains individually, but this would fall under the a la cart pricing for each grain as it is ordered

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Answer provided by: Aaron (8/22/2017)

Q: At what point in the process do you add the vanilla beans?

Asked by: Jesse - 8/20/2015

A: Typically you would add the sanitized vanilla beans to the secondary. We recommend making a tincture by splitting the vanilla beans and soaking them in vodka. Then you can pour the vanilla tincture into the bottling/kegging phase to taste.

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Answer provided by: Carson (8/20/2015)

Q: How long should I spend in the secondary to extract vanilla flavor from the beans?

Asked by: Fred Scholl - 7/5/2015

A: Typically about 7 to 14 days is enough time to extract the vanilla flavor into the beer.

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Answer provided by: Robert (7/6/2015)

Q: What is the timing for the hop additions?

Asked by: Gordon - 6/9/2015

A: You will add the boil hops with 60 minutes left in the boil and the flavor hops with 15 minutes left in the boil

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Answer provided by: Robert (6/9/2015)

Q: How much beer does this kit yield?

Asked by: Todd Nacca - 12/5/2014

A: This kit is designed to make 5 gallons of finished beer.

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Answer provided by: Robert (12/11/2014)

Questions? Ask here.

Vanilla Porter All Grain Recipe

Q: What is the shelf life of an all grain kit? I like your sale price and would like to buy a few however I would not be brewing all kits at once

Q: Is the vanilla beans real vanilla beans and not some home grown knock off bean because it's awfully cheap for a full recipe.

Q: I do 2.5 gallon batches. Are the different grains separated so I can accurately scale/split this kit?

Q: At what point in the process do you add the vanilla beans?

Q: How long should I spend in the secondary to extract vanilla flavor from the beans?

Q: What is the timing for the hop additions?

Q: How much beer does this kit yield?

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