Barley Wine Recipe

[Cloud Surfer]

I’m about to do a Barley Wine, and have built this recipe list-

80% Maris Otter
5% Medium Crystal
5% Munich II
5% Flaked Wheat
5% Dextrose

For those who’ve done Barley Wines, what are your thoughts about using Munich? I use it in most of my beers, and like the extra grainy, malty character it provides.

Also, I’ve tried Flaked Barley in my big beers for some head retention, but it’s been marginally successful. Thought I would try Flaked Wheat this time. Anyone have experience with this in Barley Wines? Thanks

 

[BigEd]

I’m about to do a Barley Wine, and have built this recipe list-

80% Maris Otter
5% Medium Crystal
5% Munich II
5% Flaked Wheat
5% Dextrose

For those who’ve done Barley Wines, what are your thoughts about using Munich? I use it in most of my beers, and like the extra grainy, malty character it provides.

Also, I’ve tried Flaked Barley in my big beers for some head retention, but it’s been marginally successful. Thought I would try Flaked Wheat this time. Anyone have experience with this in Barley Wines? Thanks

Questions: What is your target OG? What is the style (English or US)? What are the hops and schedule? What is the yeast?

Assuming this might be English style based on the MO pale malt I'd say the Munich and dextrose are superfluous. The MO doesn't really need any help in the malt department and you would expect a fair amount of residual sweetness in the final beer if the OG is high enough. My taste runs to the English style in barleywines (J W Lee's, Thomas Hardy Ale) and what I've brewed emulates those. I wouldn't worry about head retention as these high gravity beers tend not to display much in that area. The flaked wheat isn't going to hurt anything but don't expect a big, frothy head on a 10%+ ABV brew.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I live by the mantra that few beers do not benefit from a pound of Munich.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Questions: What is your target OG? What is the style (English or US)? What are the hops and schedule? What is the yeast?

Assuming this might be English style based on the MO pale malt I'd say the Munich and dextrose are superfluous. The MO doesn't really need any help in the malt department and you would expect a fair amount of residual sweetness in the final beer if the OG is high enough. My taste runs to the English style in barleywines (J W Lee's, Thomas Hardy Ale) and what I've brewed emulates those. I wouldn't worry about head retention as these high gravity beers tend not to display much in that area. The flaked wheat isn't going to hurt anything but don't expect a big, frothy head on a 10%+ ABV brew.

Target OG is 1.100 for an English Barley Wine. Magnum hops at 60 minutes and EKG in the whirlpool for 80 IBU. I’m using Mangrove Jack M42 yeast.

I like some dextrose in my big beers to help the attenuation. Agreed, they don’t have a big, frothy head, but I like to give it a little life.

 

[Miraculix]

I'd replace the dextrose with medium invert sugar. Same effect but also a nice and appropriate flavour boost .

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I live by the mantra that few beers do not benefit from a pound of Munich.

Yes I really like my Weyermann Munich II. I make two beers that don’t use it, everything else gets varying amounts.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I'd replace the dextrose with medium invert sugar. Same effect but also a nice and appropriate flavour boost .

I’m always looking for good ideas. Is invert sugar anything like the Candi Syrup’s? I use all those in various beers.

 

[Miraculix]

I’m always looking for good ideas. Is invert sugar anything like the Candi Syrup’s? I use all those in various beers.

Kind of, there's a difference in the way they are made, but I'd rather use Candi syrup than dextrose.

You can make an easy approximation of invert sugar while mashing or boiling. Just throw the cane sugar into a pot (I use the light brown raw organic cane sugar, not dark brown, more of a very light colour, the traces of molasses help the mailard reaction) with some water and a dash of lemon juice (don't overdo it, really just a dash of it) and then let it simmer till it has the right colour and taste (careful when trying, it's extremely hot!!!). You might need to add some water from time to time. It turns darker quicker when there is not so much water left, so don't use too much or it will take ages.

 

[madscientist451]

I like some dextrose in my big beers to help the attenuation.

I've been experimenting with overnight BIAB mash and I get more attenuation from that.

 

[BigEd]

Target OG is 1.100 for an English Barley Wine. Magnum hops at 60 minutes and EKG in the whirlpool for 80 IBU. I’m using Mangrove Jack M42 yeast.

I like some dextrose in my big beers to help the attenuation. Agreed, they don’t have a big, frothy head, but I like to give it a little life.

I would consider sucking it up and use all low-alpha UK noble hops here. EKG is great and my favorite but Fuggles and WGV are excellent choices as well. You also might want to try a much longer than normal boil time, say 120 minutes, and layer the hops in multiple additions. The long boil will enhance the color and provide some very nice background caramel notes to the beer. Many of the subtle flavor notes in a good barleywine (leather, tobacco, etc) will come from the hops and a large quantity of low-alpha noble hops is better than higher alpha hops purley for bittering IMO.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I would consider sucking it up and use all low-alpha UK noble hops here. EKG is great and my favorite but Fuggles and WGV are excellent choices as well. You also might want to try a much longer than normal boil time, say 120 minutes, and layer the hops in multiple additions. The long boil will enhance the color and provide some very nice background caramel notes to the beer. Many of the subtle flavor notes in a good barleywine (leather, tobacco, etc) will come from the hops and a large quantity of low-alpha noble hops is better than higher alpha hops purley for bittering IMO.

I usually just use high alpha hops for bittering, but I have read this before about using noble hops instead. I will consider that.

I’ve done a Barley Wine before with a 180 minute boil and really liked the result, so I’ll do that again. Last time I was given some HA-18 yeast to try and it fermented out to a 16% beer. I don’t recommend that yeast. It tastes like I’m drinking fire.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Thinking about the hops, I’ll need almost 200g of EKG for bittering. Rather than put them in my hop basket all at once, I guess I could put in 100g for 60 minutes then replace with a fresh 100g for another 60 minutes to get best utilisation.

 

[patto1ro]

Thinking about the hops, I’ll need almost 200g of EKG for bittering. Rather than put them in my hop basket all at once, I guess I could put in 100g for 60 minutes then replace with a fresh 100g for another 60 minutes to get best utilisation.

That's a technique which was used in the past.

 

[JAReeves]

I based my Barley Wine on Bigfoot. I took some liberties, as we all do; it is, after all, home-brew. After a year of aging in the bottle, I am getting requests for it from people. It's not my favorite style of beer, but as the Book of Wisdom says, "Give the people what they want!"