how much vanilla beans should be added to a six gallon batch? Should it be added in primary or secondary fermention? I'm doing a coffee porter with vanilla beans and cherries should I add the cherries in first fermention and vanilla in the second with the coffee beans for aroma or do you think it should be added in the first fermentation?
Whole cherries need at least 3-4 weeks. 2-3 vanilla beans need a week. Coffee beans don't benefit from more than 4 days.
There are several ways you could do it and get a good result. I'd crush the cherries just enough to break the skin and add them to the primary after one week. Let the cherries ferment with all the yeast for 3-4 weeks. Transfer to a secondary. Add the vanilla first. Three days later add the coffee. Total time in secondary 1 week.
What's next is I retract my previous advice. Adding a bunch of cherries to the primary will be too splashy. I normally use concentrate or puree. So, now I'm going with put the cherries in a secondary and transfer the beer on top of the cherries. Adding a 1/2 cup of yeast from the primary to help rip through the cherries is optional, but I would do it.
