Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter is bottled!

This is right before we bottled

I am always searching out new ideas for brewing unique beers.  My wonderful mother-in-law took my wife and I out to the Woodsman Tavern (http://woodsmantavern.com/), which serves great food and drinks.  Being a fan of bourbon I ordered the 'Kentucky Special.' No joke, it was special.  I could not stop thinking about the complexity of it and the smokiness of it.  The drink had one special ingredient in my mind, which was Lapsang Souchong. This black tea from the Fujian province of China imparts a brilliant sweet smokiness from the pine wood it is smoked on.  I liked how it worked with the vanilla oak of the bourbon.  I decided to recreate the 'Kentucky Special' in my favorite form, BEER!  I made an extract by soaking sliced vanilla beans and Lapsang Souchong in vodka for 30 days.  After brewing the beer with Steve Childs, we added the smoky vanilla extract into the secondary fermentation phase.  It is now bottled!  It needs to condition in the bottle for about 2-3 weeks.  Hopefully it will be a special experience to drink.  I am really grateful for all the people involved in making this beer happen.  Cheers to the farmers, labors, distributors, retailers, bartenders, Steve, Muriel, and the list goes on...