It depends on the malt. Some maltsters make a 30-35L malt that they call “brown”. Those would likely have just enough power to self convert. My recipe uses 70L, which as noted will not.
Transferred this year’s batch to keg last night. Made the vanilla tincture with Maker’s Mark as well as putting Maker’s Mark in the keg (stretching that free handle as far as I can 
). Can I just say that the mason jar I used for the tincture smelled friggin awesome!! I’ll never use vodka again. Very much looking forward to getting this carbed up in time for Christmas. Used White labs 001 on this batch cause it’s what LHBS had in stock, ran a longer than normal time in primary on account of knee surgery (11/12 - 12/21) and it finished out at 1.028 which seems a bit high. Last two times I used that yeast for this beer, I got down to the high teens, low 20’s. Oh well, it tastes delicious flat so I have high hopes for the finished product. 
Rad
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Finishing at 1.028 is perfect. It’s designed that way.
Been thinking about taking stab at this one. Sounds amazing!!
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Stop thinking about it; just do it. It is amazing.
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Just brew it. We’ve made 4 batches in the last few years. One of the few recipes we like to brew again because it’s so damn good.
Kudos, Denny on the BVIP. Splendid indeed.
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Thank you guys!
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This looks really good, something I’d like to try. I have only been brewing for less than a year, and just went from extract to BIAB. Can this be done with BIAB? How would the mash schedule be done? Mash for 60 minutes at 155 degrees? Thank you
If you can get the all grain method… Thats what you’ll follow… Maybe the Denny himself has a special tweak for you with BIAB… Perhaps? Sneezles61
Can’t imagine why it would be any different for BIAB. BTW, the official recipe is here…Site Not Found
Thank you, that’s the one I was looking at. I understood the mash, but wasn’t sure about the infusion.
Always look for my recipes in the AHA recipe database. That’s the only way to be sure of getting the accurate recipe…
http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/BourbonVanillaImperialPorter
Circling back to this discussion just now, and I totally agree. I generally like simple beers, and don’t really love “barrel aged” beers, which I expected the bourbon here to approximate (more or less), but I gave it a shot anyway and I reeeeeaaally loved it, as did everyone I served it to.
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@denny it appears this site no longer is being maintained? Is there another place to point someone to for this recipe? I don’t currently have my notes with my recipe with me, figured I’d check.
Rad
It wasn’t getting enough use for the AHA to maintain it. But Wayback has it…American Homebrewers Association
I found it here… Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter | Experimental Homebrewing Sounds like something I’d like to try for the holiday season coming up.
Question: It calls for 375 ml of bourbon (12 oz) to the bottling bucket, but I don’t see any priming sugar if your bottling. If bottling I would assume you have to add priming sugar. Is that correct?
Right. You would use a calculator to determine carbonation level and and amount to be used.
It is an excellent beer. I recommend following the recipe.
Even if you make it without the bourbon it is great. The vanilla will fade pretty quickly.
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Vanilla beans come from an orchid… I was totally blown away reading that… And since we’ve got orchids we tend to… I wonder if I can find that one… Sneezles61
I had no idea vanilla came from an orchid. I guess it’s a vanilla orchid not just any orchid. Pretty cool.
Back to BVIP. I brewed it once and did use bourbon and real vanilla beans. At first both of those really came through, almost too much. After some ageing it mellowed out and was a really tasty but yes dangerous beer.
I’ve been trying to get my hands on a vanilla orchid for years but they are hard to come by. If you put a bean in your sugar jar the sugar will absorb the flavor. A single bean works on many refills.
Vanilla originally came from Mexico only…
Outside of the area that Vanilla evolved the flowers need to be hand pollinated. Because it is a labor heavy crop with a high price tag, Vanilla is general not an equitably harvested crop and many of those involved in its production are exploited.
