The beer is a 10% smoked porter with vanilla beans. I cut open 3 vanilla beans and placed them in a stainless steel tea ball, and dropped the ball into the corny keg. Now the stainless steel tea ball is at the bottom of the keg. The first 3 days I didn’t taste much vanilla, today is the 4th day and the beer tastes like it has just the right amount of vanilla flavor. I have been trying to swirl the tea ball around so all the beer gets contact with the vanilla. I don’t know if I’m getting too much vanilla flavor because I’m drawing beer from the bottom and the vanilla tea ball is at the bottom.
Does the vanilla bean flavor dissipate over time?
Here’s my issue.
When I age beer on oak, initially after 3 months the beer tastes like it’s perfectly oaked so I go to bottle it. But when I bottle the beer the oak isn’t so apparent as it first tasted. So with vanilla beans is it the same thing?
Yes. The intensity of the vanilla flavor will slowly age out over time. I have a VBIP that is about a year old and the vanilla flavor is very subtle right now whereas it was pretty strong initially.
The good thing is that you can always add more to the beer at any time you deem necessary. 8)
I made an Imperial Porter Last year and aged a portion Vanilla (chopped pods soaked in Vodka) Oak and Nutmeg. It was a total Vanilla bomb at bottling - almost undrinkable (but almost perfect when blended 50-50 with the un-spiced Porter). By 3-months it was MUCH less and 8 months later was almost entirely gone. Was really surprised how quickly and thoroughly it disappeared.