Vanilla Chai Porter

Northern Brewer General
1

I’m thinking I will add the vanilla and chai into the secondary, but I have a few questions:

    1.) To anyone that's brewed with chai and/or vanilla - how much do you recommend for a 5 gallon batch? I'd ideally like the vanilla to have a fairly prevalent flavor while the chai is a more subtle aroma.

    2.) It seems forum users recommend soaking Vanilla Beans in vodka for a few minutes to minimize spoilage (even though it’s unlikely at this stage in the brewing process). That being said - anything I should do with the chai outside of sanitizing the mesh steep bag? I’m thinking it would be similar to the treatment of coffee?

Any and all help is appreciated! And as always - cheers :cheers:

2

If I recall correctly, the last time I used vanilla beans, I cut two beans into about 1/2 inch segments and tossed it onto my carboy with 5 gallons of fermenting beer for about 2 weeks. It imparted a nice mild vanilla flavor on the stout.

Hope that helps

3

Two vanilla beans slit lengthwise, insides scraped out and throw all including husks into the keg or secondary for 11-14 days. Then I like to put a half bean unslit into the keg for the duration to keep a nice vanilla presence. I see no need to soak in vodka.

As for the chai, yes, treat it just like coffee. Sanitize the bag and go.

4

Awesome - thanks guys!