Adjunct
Vanilla
Vanilla pods or extract, used in dark and dessert beers to add perceived sweetness and soften roast.
Vanilla contributes almost no sweetness of its own but is read as sweet by almost everybody, which is why it appears wherever a brewer wants a beer to seem richer than its gravity. In a pastry stout it does more of the work than the lactose beside it.
Whole beans, extract and paste all behave differently in beer, and extract carries alcohol and often sugar of its own. The character fades over months in package faster than the roast it sits alongside, so an aged bottle of the same beer tastes drier than it did.
What it is for
Spice. Aromatic, potent by weight, and usually added late so the volatile character survives into the glass.
- Adds sweetness perception without sugar
- Rounds harsh roast character
Whether it ferments
| Fermentable | No — brewing yeast cannot take it, so whatever goes in stays in. It contributes flavour, and where it is a sugar, sweetness and body that survive into the glass. |
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What it contributes
The contribution of the ingredient, not the profile of a finished beer. How much of it reaches the glass depends on quantity, timing and what else is in the recipe.
Styles it defines
- Milkshake IPA
A hazy IPA with lactose and fruit added for sweetness and a fuller, creamier body.
- Pastry stout
A heavily adjuncted sweet stout built to taste like dessert, using lactose, vanilla, cocoa and similar additions.
Styles where this is characteristic rather than optional. Plenty of other beers use it — these are the ones that would not be themselves without it.