2nd batch of Arachna Negra Bourbon Vanilla porter

Two weekends ago I brewed my second batch of Arachna Negra (Black Widow) Bourbon Vanilla Porter.  There were some minor changes to the grain bill so here are the particulars on the recipe:

Grain Bill:
8lb 6oz Maris Otter malt 3L *( change base malt and reduced amount from last batch )
2lb 5oz Munich Malt 10L
1lb 8oz Brown malt 65L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
2lb Crystal Malt 40L
1lb Crystal Malt 80L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
7oz Chocolate Malt  350L *(upped from 5oz )
3oz Black Patent Malt 500L *(upped form 2oz )

Hops:
.5 oz Magnum 15.3% Alpha 60min *( new hop profile, added Magnum and removed Fuggles)
1.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 15min
.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 5min

Yeast:
Fermentis #5 dry ale yesat
Winfroc Tablet @ 15min

Adjuncts:
2 Vanilla Beans (split in half, scraped and quartered.  These were small beans)
8 smoked oak cubes *( reduced from 20 cubes )
1.5 cup Jim Beam Bourbon *( increased amount from 1cup )

Step-by-Step: The usual single infusion mash process; 5gal 164F water to attain mash temp of 153F for 60 min. After 60min mash run wart back to mash until clear then runout to boiling pot. 1st batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) while gently stirring grains to release attached sugars. Run wart back to mash until clear then run out to boiling pot.  2nd batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) attain 7.25gal kettle volume. Boil 15min through hot break then add yeast according to schedule above. Boil 60min then rapid cool to 90F and run out to sanitized carboy.  Let stand 2 hours then agitate well and pitch yeast.

While wart is fermenting make your bourbon extract by adding the adjuncts into a 16oz jar so you can shake it often to saturate the oak. Keep shaking each day until fermentation is complete. When fermentation is complete (bubbling over a minute or FG is 1.012) rack wart to sanitized carboy. Add the bourbon extract, including oak cubes and vanilla beans,  to the beer.  Let the beer set for a couple of days before cold conditioning. 

The beer finished fermenting in 4 days.  Cold conditioning lasted another 4 days and the beer is now in the keg under 30psi CO2.  One more day at this pressure and it should be nicely carbonated.  Pressure will be reduced to 10psi and aged until Dec 21, 2012 to celebrate the end of the Mayan ((Aztec) calendar...

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