# Queen's Vanilla Bean Paste



## dr_pepper (23/12/10)

Hello,

I have a 65g little tub thing of "Queens Vanilla Bean Paste" i'm hoping to add to a brew,

and just wondering firstly about quantities, but also about how to add it to the brew.

A sticker on the lid says 1 tablespoon = equivalent of 1 vanilla bean pod (ie its not an 'essence' its pure extract)

I have seen a few threads on here mentioning quantities of essence and actual vanilla bean pods, but no mention of vanilla bean paste.

It's going in an amber ale, and i don't want it too present...just a background flavour

And about adding to the brew.... since its not a thin watery essence, i can't really just add it straight into the fermenter, its quite gooey and thick... any ideas on how i can add? I could add straight to the fermenter and give it a big stir, but i don't know if it will break it up enough... i'm thinking of adding it half a litre of boiling water or something and letting it all dissolve then adding to the brew. 

The amber ale tastes great so far, i almost don't want to risk stuffing it up with vanilla, but the vanilla was a part of my original plan from the start. I just added a tiny amount to a schooner of a similar beer, and it was pretty strong vanilla flavour wise...probably too much.

My primary fermentation is almost done (should be completely done by tomorrow when i plan to add the vanilla)

cheers
Dr Pepper


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## brettprevans (23/12/10)

Well u can just dump it into the fermentor if u want. No issues with that. It will break up and impart flavour. 
Or u could take sone of the amber ale out, heat it up and dissolve the paste in that, then add back into fermentor. 
Really it doesn't even need to be dissolved. Just mix it up in sone of ur beers and dump back in. 

Make sure u sterilize ur equipment or at least run it under hot water for a while to decrease chance of an infection. 

How much did the paste cost out if interest?


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## dr_pepper (23/12/10)

ok sweet...thanks for that

was $9-$10 from memory (65g)...just at woolies


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## benno1973 (23/12/10)

Check out this thread for some discussion on the vanilla paste.


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## dr_pepper (24/12/10)

Kaiser Soze said:


> Check out this thread for some discussion on the vanilla paste.




thanks, but i have checked out that thread, but still aren't able to come to a conclusion on how much to put in

there is mention of vanilla bean paste but the people using it said they put 1 teaspoon in each bottle and didn't get any taste...which seems completely unreasonable since other people have put a little bottle of vanilla essence / extract and have had too much flavour...

plus 1 teaspoon for each bottle, probably would have cost the person $50 in vanilla bean paste. something isn't right there

man i dunno


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## dr_pepper (24/12/10)

oh and yeah im not priming with vanilla, im adding to fermenter, so different calculations

i noticed a lot of people have added 1 or 2 vanilla bean pods to their boil or as a dry hop kinda thing, and as i said the lid of the vanilla bean paste says "1 teaspoon = 1 vanilla bean pod" 

so im more wondering if anyone has specifically used "vanilla bean paste" and by adding to their fermenter, and if so how much did they use and how much flavour did it make

cheers


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## brettprevans (24/12/10)

Problem is that it's entirely a taste thing. People will like more vanilla than others, some detect it more etc
IMO I'd be aiming for 1 in boil and 2pods as fermentation drops off. Go from there. So 3 teaspoons. 

Oh and if u go in the boil it's only for last 5min


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## dr_pepper (26/12/10)

citymorgue2 said:


> Problem is that it's entirely a taste thing. People will like more vanilla than others, some detect it more etc
> IMO I'd be aiming for 1 in boil and 2pods as fermentation drops off. Go from there. So 3 teaspoons.
> 
> Oh and if u go in the boil it's only for last 5min



Yeah thanks, good point. im only after a background taste, and i've already done primary ferment, so i'm thinking i might just add 1 teaspoon to be completely safe this time around.

Will report back with results in this thread


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## dr_pepper (19/1/11)

reporting back on results

i ended up adding 1 TABLEspoon (1 TEAspoon = 1 vanilla bean pod) and it is completely unnoticeable in my amber ale.

Definitely needs more to have any real presence. 

I'm gonna give 2 x tablespoon's in my next brew (dark ale) and i'll see how it goes


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## dr_pepper (20/2/11)

i ended up using the remainder of the vanilla bean paste jar in the dark ale i just bottled, prob about 5-6 tablespoons, and is still completely unnoticeable 

won't be going back to vanilla bean paste, definitely trying actual vanilla pods next time


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