Vanilla Porter to Secondary

Yay for no infected beer!

Today the Vanilla Porter was moved to secondary. There was some speculation as to whether or not the beer would be infected after its near explosive fermentation, but it was kept under control. To continue the process of this beer, the vanilla beans were added in to flavor the beer (can't have a Vanilla Porter without vanilla beans)

Once we determined the beer was not infected and after we took a gravity reading (FG: 1.018, 6.8% ABV), I prepared the vanilla beans while my roommate handled the racking.

Bean cutting setup on my desk

Bits and pieces

Preparing the vanilla beans for the beer involved slicing the beans in half lengthwise and (unlike the vanilla extract I made) cutting them into small pieces. This gives more surface area for the flavoring compounds to be extracted. Since the beans are only going to be in the fermenter for 1 week, the amount of vanillin extracted is limited.

Just plop them in there

All done!

Bottling day