So I'm going to give this brew a shot in about 3 weeks, with a little tinkering. I'm going to do a couple different tinctures which I will add in both around 7 days in the primary.
I started one tincture yesterday, which was 4oz of bourbon on 2oz of med. roast oak cubes. I will put the other tincture together a couple days after brew day, which will be ~2oz of bourbon on the nibs and vanilla beans. I haven't decided if I'm going to put the cubes or the bourbon in from the first tincture yet. I've heard/read that 6oz of bourbon may be too much on a 5 gallon batch, but I haven't decided. To me, that does not seem like it should/would impart that much flavor into the batch, but I'll keep doing some reading to come to a decision.
The only other differences I'm going to make are adding a little more chocolate, coffee, and carafa malts. I'd like to get the ABV up a little higher, so possibly another half pound of 2-row as well.
Did anyone who brewed this adjust their water profile? I am going to use distilled water and add in some baking soda to get the pH in the range of 5.5-5.6.
Other question is on the Vanilla beans... I'm trying to find a solid answer on this, but I keep seeing it done different ways. Do you split them down the middle and throw the long pieces in, or do you split them down the middle and cut them into small sections and throw them in, or do you scrape out the insides and only throw the insides or outsides in? I see people do all 4 ways, so what are you guys doing?
Thanks!
I started one tincture yesterday, which was 4oz of bourbon on 2oz of med. roast oak cubes. I will put the other tincture together a couple days after brew day, which will be ~2oz of bourbon on the nibs and vanilla beans. I haven't decided if I'm going to put the cubes or the bourbon in from the first tincture yet. I've heard/read that 6oz of bourbon may be too much on a 5 gallon batch, but I haven't decided. To me, that does not seem like it should/would impart that much flavor into the batch, but I'll keep doing some reading to come to a decision.
The only other differences I'm going to make are adding a little more chocolate, coffee, and carafa malts. I'd like to get the ABV up a little higher, so possibly another half pound of 2-row as well.
Did anyone who brewed this adjust their water profile? I am going to use distilled water and add in some baking soda to get the pH in the range of 5.5-5.6.
Other question is on the Vanilla beans... I'm trying to find a solid answer on this, but I keep seeing it done different ways. Do you split them down the middle and throw the long pieces in, or do you split them down the middle and cut them into small sections and throw them in, or do you scrape out the insides and only throw the insides or outsides in? I see people do all 4 ways, so what are you guys doing?
Thanks!