British Barleywine (stock ale)

[JKaranka]

Just ordered a bunch of stuff to make a strong barleywine. Aiming at an OG of 1.100. 8oz of EKG, 4oz of Keyworth Early, several pounds of Chevalier malt (pale), Brett C., a dash of brown malt and some darkish sugar, etc. Plan is to leave it age for the best part of a year on its lees with the brett (after pitching two strains of sacc). The vital stats are around 12%abv, 18SRM, 110IBU. I was aiming for a brewhouse efficiency of 55% based on previous experience.

Any tips?

 

[secondbase]

I've not attempted this but I would be worried about the brett drying it out and leaving 100ibu of harsh bitterness with no sweetness to balance it out. This is purely anecdotal but it might be something to think about. Hopefully someone can chime in with some insight. This sounds delicious!

 

[JKaranka]

I've had smaller things with high IBU to OG and dry finish and they've been fine. I think here the main point is that I probably won't open any bottles before 24 months of aging.

 

[JKaranka]

Brewed! Hit 1.104 OG. Around 95 IBU. Pitched ale and lager yeast, as well as Brett C. I'll probably use a secondary in April and then bottle in December 2018 for consumption from December 2019 onwards.

 

[JKaranka]

Update on quantities (metric). 4kg chevalier, 1/2kg pale, 1/2kg brown, 600g maize, 950g sugarcane extract, 3kg light DME. 200g Goldings and 100g Keyworth across 75, 40 and 20 minute additions.

 

[bierhaus15]

I did Ron's 1879 W. Younger No 1. with 100% Chevallier malt and Goldings hops, fermented with the Caledonian strain.

The beer went from 1.100 to around 1.030. I ended up adding brett b in secondary. Its been in the keg for 6 months now and tastes great. Chevallier character comes through well, although I sort of wish I didn't add the brett, since it does push the beer more into Belgian territory.

Obviously different than yours, but looks good.

 

[JKaranka]

I find Brett C. to just give some aroma. I was tempted by trying out B. but I thought it wouldn't quite suit.

100% Chevallier and Goldings sounds great, I'd be very very keen on that! What IBU did you roughly end up with? I would have thought the hopping would set the Younger #1 apart from anything coming from Belgium. British beer around 1880 is definitively my favourite period, once the free mash tun act passes and the variety of available styles goes ballistic (and strong and bitter).

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Yep, claussenii is more appropriate for old British beers than bruxellensis.

Hopefully I'll get a chance over Christmas to brew my tribute to the 1880s, with Tolhurst & Chevallier that have been sitting in store for weeks now. I've seen it suggested that you need more alpha than usual to cut through the sweetness of Chevallier - thoughts?

 

[kevin58]

I did Ron's 1879 W. Younger No 1. with 100% Chevallier malt and Goldings hops, fermented with the Caledonian strain.

The beer went from 1.100 to around 1.030. I ended up adding brett b in secondary. Its been in the keg for 6 months now and tastes great. Chevallier character comes through well, although I sort of wish I didn't add the brett, since it does push the beer more into Belgian territory.

Obviously different than yours, but looks good.

Where did you find a No. 1 recipe? I've seen Ron post a Truman #1 and #5 but not a Younger. And if it is Younger No. 1 would you mind sharing it?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Where did you find a No. 1 recipe? I've seen Ron post a Truman #1 and #5 but not a Younger. And if it is Younger No. 1 would you mind sharing it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=1879+W.+Younger+No+1

 

[kevin58]

https://www.google.com/search?q=1879+W.+Younger+No+1

Thank you. I missed that one somehow.

 

[bierhaus15]

Yep, claussenii is more appropriate for old British beers than bruxellensis.

I've seen it suggested that you need more alpha than usual to cut through the sweetness of Chevallier - thoughts?

A few years ago I isolated brett yeast from a 1993 bottle of Gales Old Prize Ale and had the brett analyzed with PCR this past spring. Surprisingly, the brett was flagged as a B. bruxellensis species and not claussenii. I used this brett in the beer and although it doesn't taste "barnyard-y" in the traditional brett b sense, it does have a full bretty character. It would be interesting to see if more old British stock ales contained other forms of brett b.

Per chevallier, it holds up to high hopping exceptionally well; even with over 100 theoretical BU's, the beer tastes like 40-50 BU max. FYI, the beer measured to 70 BU via spectrometry.

 

[JKaranka]

Excellent! Thanks! Indeed, that Brett C was originally isolated in British ale casks doesn't mean it was the only "nasty" in there. British brewing used to have more wild yeasts in some regional styles (now lost). Some were described to be like Flemish / Belgian beer: Low in alcohol and fairly sour (like lambic).

Great choice for the Old Prize yeast too...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Oh, you could have a whole zoo in there (for instance Harvey's Imperial Stout is noted for its Debaryomyces hansenii), but if you're only adding a single beastie then the overall effect you want is more at the claussenii end of the scale than the full bruxellensis horseblanket.