Imperial Saison/Blonde Barleywine Hybrid Recipe Advice

[TheOriginalDBS]

I'm looking for methods/malts to increase body and malt chewiness for an imperial Saison/barleywine-ish ale for the ladyfriend.

In my mind, I think of this beer as a Saison in the sense of yeast and mid-range hoppiness, but with the body and mouthfeel of a blonde barleywine. I've got some Pacifica, EXP 6297 and Ariana hops in the freezer that I'd use at 10min (Pacifica), FO (the latter two) and dry-hop (the latter two).

In terms of achieving that thicker body, how should I do so?

For a 3gallon BIAB batch, I'm thinking of the following in terms of grain bill (percentages are rough estimations):

5% Flaked Oats
10% Malted Wheat
10% Golden Candi Syrup (5 SRM)
5% Honey Malt
70% Pils and perhaps Vienna or Munich????

10 SRM or lower, if preferable, and the DuPont strain fermented at a hot, steamy 85-90*F with my new thermowell, temp gauge and heat wrap.

Perhaps one way of achieving body would be higher mash temp? Say around 154-156?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!

 

[brewshki]

What starting gravity are you aiming for? I have always thought that a lot of the body of a barley wine came from the high level of alcohol. I don't know much about recipes for blonde barleywines, but my strategy would be to just change the yeast to the saison strain. I also think that you could remove the candi syrup. Simple sugars normally help to dry a beer out and I don't think that would help your goal here.

 

[55x11]

I'm looking for methods/malts to increase body and malt chewiness for an imperial Saison/barleywine-ish ale for the ladyfriend.

In my mind, I think of this beer as a Saison in the sense of yeast and mid-range hoppiness, but with the body and mouthfeel of a blonde barleywine. I've got some Pacifica, EXP 6297 and Ariana hops in the freezer that I'd use at 10min (Pacifica), FO (the latter two) and dry-hop (the latter two).

In terms of achieving that thicker body, how should I do so?

For a 3gallon BIAB batch, I'm thinking of the following in terms of grain bill (percentages are rough estimations):

5% Flaked Oats
10% Malted Wheat
10% Golden Candi Syrup (5 SRM)
5% Honey Malt
70% Pils and perhaps Vienna or Munich????

10 SRM or lower, if preferable, and the DuPont strain fermented at a hot, steamy 85-90*F with my new thermowell, temp gauge and heat wrap.

Perhaps one way of achieving body would be higher mash temp? Say around 154-156?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!

I think you are pulling in all sort of opposite directions. I agree that Candi Syrup lightens the body. Generally for Saison you want a fairly light to medium body, and very dry finish.

Most Belgian Ales are light to medium body. If you want fuller body with Belgian yeast, look at Belgian Dubbel or better yet Belgian Dark Strong Ale.

I have also done belgian porters, just regular porter or stout recipe fermented with belgian yeast.

Barleywine is much more heavily hopped than Saisons/Belgian Ales - 50 to 100 IBUs, relative to ~20 IBU for Saisons. But higher bitterness compliments the residual sweetness from more residual sugars.

For increased mouthfeel, use oats, rye, Carapils/Carafoam, Munich, Vienna. You can also use Crystal Malts but it leads to other consequences.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

So it sounds like thus far, the general consensus is to remove the candi syrup.

In terms of base malt, should I stick with mostly Pils with a bit of Vienna? With a bit of Munich? I'm leaning towards Vienna over Munich since it will allow me to keep the beer paler.

How about an English Pale malt, like Optic (used this for a farmhouse IPA and really liked it) or Pearl to push the beer closer to barleywine status? Would the Optic or Pearl malt be too toasty?

 

[brewshki]

So it sounds like thus far, the general consensus is to remove the candi syrup.



In terms of base malt, should I stick with mostly Pils with a bit of Vienna? With a bit of Munich? I'm leaning towards Vienna over Munich since it will allow me to keep the beer paler.



How about an English Pale malt, like Optic (used this for a farmhouse IPA and really liked it) or Pearl to push the beer closer to barleywine status? Would the Optic or Pearl malt be too toasty?

I think it might help if you narrowed down what you want. Are you going for a barleywine with Belgian character or are you going to lean to what the other poster said about just a darker Belgian style?

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

As I think through this, I definitely want a blonde barleywine with Belgian character rather than a hybrid of a barleywine and a Belgian style. I definitely do not want to do a Dubbel or BDSA, as I'll be brewing that much later in 2017.

 

[brewshki]

As I think through this, I definitely want a blonde barleywine with Belgian character rather than a hybrid of a barleywine and a Belgian style. I definitely do not want to do a Dubbel or BDSA, as I'll be brewing that much later in 2017.

If it were me, and I have no barleywine experience, I would research blonde barleywine recipes and see what I liked and then simply sub out the yeast. From there, you can make adjustments