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  • Processing Vanilla Beans

    Wise Ones,

    We "dry hop" one our winter seasonals with two pounds of Vanilla beans post fermentation (60bbl) and I am looking for a more effective way to process them. Cutting open and scraping two pounds of beans is not super practical so I have been chopping them into half inch to one inch pieces and suspending them in the beer from the top of the tank. I am looking for a way to get more out of each bean and am curious what other vanilla bean users have found works the best.

    Thanks!

    Christian
    Elevation Beer Company

  • #2
    Originally posted by Elevation_Beer View Post
    Wise Ones,

    We "dry hop" one our winter seasonals with two pounds of Vanilla beans post fermentation (60bbl) and I am looking for a more effective way to process them. Cutting open and scraping two pounds of beans is not super practical so I have been chopping them into half inch to one inch pieces and suspending them in the beer from the top of the tank. I am looking for a way to get more out of each bean and am curious what other vanilla bean users have found works the best.

    Thanks!

    Christian
    Elevation Beer Company
    This seems to be like perfect timing: https://instagram.com/p/-CjcSaB1jD/

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    • #3
      We do the exact same thing. Used to scrape each bean but it took forever. Now we use a blender. The end result is the same, you just want to expose as much of the pulp as possible.

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      • #4
        Vanilla beans

        I do not know if anyone else handles the beans in this way but we have been successful in submerging the beans in a minimal amount of vodka for about 30 minutes and than adding them to the fermenter. What you do with the vodka is your choice-drink it or add to the fermenter.
        The beans in this case are cut to open the pod but nothing else.

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        • #5
          We have been using this product:

          Terrasoul Superfoods Vanilla Bean Powder (Organic), 5 Pack Case



          Its pure ground organic vanilla beans. We add it right to the fermenter and get great results.
          Much easier than scraping

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          • #6
            I also just cut them into 1/2 pieces and put them in the ferm. I have had very good luck with this method.. FYI my bean wholesaler has told me to expect a "huge increase" in bean prices. This came down from Mcormick spice Co. I guess they had a bad growing year and the harvest is very poor. I purchased 6# for next years brews
            Mike Eme
            Brewmaster

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            • #7
              Why not use a blender?
              Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
              tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
              "Your results may vary"

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              • #8
                Originally posted by beerguy1 View Post
                I also just cut them into 1/2 pieces and put them in the ferm. I have had very good luck with this method.. FYI my bean wholesaler has told me to expect a "huge increase" in bean prices. This came down from Mcormick spice Co. I guess they had a bad growing year and the harvest is very poor. I purchased 6# for next years brews
                We heard the same about the rise of vanilla bean prices.

                We also process ours by cutting them into centimeter long pieces with kitchen shears.

                That said, you can buy pre-ground vanilla beans or vanilla bean paste as well...

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                • #9
                  We simply cut them into 0.5-1cm pieces like others have noted. I wear nitrile gloves while handling the beans and stainless scissors that have been sprayed with isopropyl beforehand. I suppose if you had a lot of beans to cut up at once, you could use some type of kitchen knife and chop them like people do with a bundle of green beans.

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                  • #10
                    Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but have some more processing questions (nano system).

                    Back in my homebrew days I would soak in Vodka or whiskey and add the whole thing, this would make an extract and sanitize, but pretty sure you cannot do this is not allowed in the commercial world.

                    I heard of people just cutting/scraping or just throwing in whole, right into the fermentor. Has anyone had any sanitation issues with this?

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