Using Vanilla Bean in Mead

 Vanilla is one of the most expensive spices and has been traded with regard to its value for centuries.

It is widely used in cooking and is a nice addition to many meads. In cooking it is used primarily as a confection or bakery spice, often in conjunction with other spices and usually along with a decent amount of sweetness.

In a mead it is rare that vanilla is actually the star of the show and is usually used to enhance and support either the honey or the other flavours, it does this very well. Some ingredients are destined to play away from the main microphone, vanilla is one of them.

It is a spice that does not survive primary fermentation and is best used later in the process. It blows away in primary, no matter how sympathetic the selected yeast is to flavours.

Vanilla beans in secondary keep giving flavour for quite some time and most simply leave them in the ageing vessel and monitor the progress. Being able to remove them is a plus from an operational point.

I simply split the pods and put them in a cheesecloth bag or hop spider that gets placed in the mead. At times I will simply split a couple of beans and add them to a long term barrel, but I am guided by experience on this and have yet to over-flavour anything with these.

To get the most out of this expensive ingredient, an extract can be made with a neutral spirit and the beans allowed to soak in this.

Commercial extracts are available and there is a wide variance of qualities out there, a good quality extract is a sound alternative to fresh beans. Imitation vanilla should be avoided and some poor quality extracts should also be avoided.  Paste is often made at the source from damaged or mis-shaped beans and can be a really good quality alternative, though not all are made like this and some are a second rate ingredient.

A general rule of thumb is 1 bean per 10 litres left for two to three months will give a sound vanilla foundation if used post fermentation (secondary or ageing). More beans for a shorter period will also work. A bean per gallon for a month is a figure often bantered around the home mead making forums. This works well, but the beans do keep giving well after a month so if there is no rush, then may as well get the most out of those expensive little flavour bombs.

Having an extract on hand for final tweaking is always handy.

If you have found yourself with a tiny barrel, a handful of vanilla and some honey spirit, you are well on the way to creating an amazing extract.

Vanillan is different, it is a phenolic aldehyde and is where barrel aged beverages get there vanilla tones from. Vanillan is also the primary aroma and taste of the Vanilla Bean.