Beer Forum

Hello all! New to brewing, halfway thru my first batch. Decided upon APA brew kit. So far so good.

Already brainstorming my next brew. Currently my favorite beer is Anchor Steam. So I was thinking along those lines. Due to its biscuit, caramel, malty profile thought a little vanilla in there could be fun. Want to add to 2 vanilla beans and some med plus american oak cubes to secondary. Does this sound doable? I've been reading a ton about how to use vanilla and oak, just not sure how these additions might change the profile?

Any thoughts?

Welcome to the forum-

I love a good Cal Common. I love oak and vanilla.
Note that Cal Common has a nice caramel flavor to it. The vanilla and caramel may end up like those 'bullseye' caramel candies we had as kids. Those things were great. I'd actually try it without the wood first. That'll add tannin, which will compound the hop astringency usually edging in on hoppy beers like this.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out-

Thanks for the response. I agree with the oak, might be trying to add to much at once. In addition to the tannins. Probably will get vanilla i'm looking for with beans.
Second question. How to take Anchor Steam, to a slightly creamier feel. At this point i'll still be using extracts. Think creamy vanilla, but not to sweet. I like the slightly bitter finish in AS, but I might tone that down too.

You can add a cup of malto-dextrin powder to the boil (5 gallon batch).
It will add dextrins to the mouthfeel, without adding fermentable sugars.
It is very effective and perfect for what you are doing.

Alright then, i'll start with that. THanks for your help. I see you're from North Bend. I currently live in chicago, but originally from the San Juan Islands. Been thru north bend a few times. I miss the Pac NW. Hope to get back there someday.

Cool