I woulda bought some fake, real imitation stuff for that price! HOLY MOLY!! 
Sneezles61
My friends went to Madagascar and gave us a 2 pound bundle of beans that lasted us 2 years. The price really gets jacked up when it comes over here. One of my favorite things to do is to shove 2 beans in your sugar bowl. The sugar absorbs the vanilla aroma and you can keep refilling the bowl for a long time without discarding the beans.
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I think I’ll be returning those beans and looking for a cheaper option. I’ve found some on Amazon and will continue looking as I have some time before I really need them.
The beans she got were probably organic. That jacks the price WAY up.
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At this point just use them what are you gonna save maybe $10.
Turns out they are organic and after some vanilla research I will just keep these. Apparently there’s a worldwide shortage and to keep up growers are harvesting and drying early creating less meaningful product. Might explain some reasoning behind the $24 4packs from Tired Hands
Beans from Madagascar are over $325/lb right now. It’s pretty crazy.
2 beans will have little effect from my experience. Brewed an Imperial Porter with 2 in fermenter late and could barely detect it. They were good beans as well.
I dunno, I used 2 beans and they did a great job. I only wish they lasted longer in the flavors.
Did you scoop out the insides and soak in vodka for a few days first? Or just drop them in?
Scraped and added, but not soaked in anything. Not necessary at the time I added them.
Hmmm I wonder what happened. My stout was 9.1% and had other flavors in it too (raisins, molasses, cinnamon) and yet the vanilla really shined for me. When the vanilla eventually faded over time, the beer took on a much different taste. Still good, but I miss the “glory days”
Best vanilla i’ve got came from a bourbon soak along with oak chips. I agree it’s fleeting however.
Just checked my Walmart store and they wanted 11 bucks for 1 bean so it wasn’t a bad deal I guess. I buy hops in bulk and harvest most of my yeast so I’d say I’m even on this batch.
I use the liquid vanilla. I think it’s cheaper and easier to predict. I still put the beans in my sugar bowl though.
Tapped the Milkshake Sunday and I must say that it turned out well. Lactose is heavy up front right now but maybe with a couple weeks, it’ll die down and bring the vanilla out. Needs some more carb as well!
The lactose won’t die down but the carbonic acid from the carbonation will definitely help. If you kegged there might be ways to brighten the beer with lactic acid and dry hopping but it’s probably best to learn to enjoy what you have with some friends and some spicy salsa
I dry hopped in the keg and it was only 4 days on gas until we tapped it so I’m sure it will be better after a few more days. Funny you mentioned the salsa @squeegeethree because I smoked a pork butt and somebody brought some hot @$$ sauce that was cured by a pint of the Milkshake!
After thinking about those vanilla beans for a while, I remembered a friend of mine works at McCormick. Turns out he can get me the exact beans my wife bought for nothing whenever I need them again! The price on those things is what turned me off most about the whole brew but that’s no longer a problem it looks.
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So now you can swap some brews for beans! You are a lucky guy! Sneezles61
Look into a Randall to infuse some flavor
