Barleywine Recipe Help

[GunnerBrewer]

This will be my first Barleywine and first really high gravity beer. Any help on the recipe and tips on scaling this mountain will be greatly appreciated.

Boil Time: 120 minutes
Boil Size: 3.5 Gallons
Batch Size 2.5 Gallons
Expected Efficiency: 65%
OG: 1.097
FG: 1.022
SRM: 22
IBU: 70
ABV: 10%

Malts:
10# TF Marris Otter (91%)
.5# Caramunich I (4.5%)
.5# Crystal 120 (4.5%)

Hops:
1oz Rakau 12%AA 60 Min 63IBU
.25oz Palisade 8.05%AA 15 Min 5IBU
.25oz Palisade 8.05%AA 5 Min 2IBU

Yeast:
1 Pk US-05

Mash at 150* for 60 mins.

Some questions:

1) I enjoy the plumy flavors that some Barleywines have. Jamil said that using small amounts of the 120 and Caramunich will bring out that plum. By using the hops that I am will I be able to accentuate that flavor or will those hops muddy up the beer? If its not a good fit I will just revert back to some English hops.

2) Seems like people never get their normal efficiency on Barleywines, so I planned a drop to 65%. Now I will be mashing my 10 gallon cool mash tun. If I mash at with enough water to get my full boil volume I will at a ratio of about 1.3 qt/lb. which is higher than most people that are filling their tuns right to the top. Will that help give me a higher efficiency and thus should I factor in 70-75% instead of 65%?

3) Will 1 Pk of US-05 be enough to get the beer down from 97-22? Should I add part or all of a second packet?

4) Is the mash at 150* for 60 mins long enough to get up to the 1.097 OG?

Thanks for any help and if you see any other things about the recipe that needs to be changed or anything about the process I am more than happy to hear those too.

 

[Warthaug]

In my experience:

1) Over long aging periods (typical for barleywines) hop flavour and aroma tends to fade. I've never tried the particular combination you have listed, but I wouldn't think there would be an issue. One of the fun things with barleywines is how they change over aging - I'd be quite interested to hear how your hop/malt combo works.

2) Efficiency tends to suffer, simply because the amount of water you'd need to get normal efficiency would then require an insanely long boil to concentrate to barleywine strength. The only time I get normal efficiency is when I do a weaker beer and then add DME. Even with 2-hour boils, by all-grain barleywines typically suffer a 5-10% drop in efficiency.

A good option is to give the grain a second wash, and use that for a lower-gravity brew. This is called a parti gyle, and is a great way to get the most out of a big-beer brewday,


3) No. You will need at least 2.

4) Mash time doesn't change with gravity; mash times are dictated by temperature and the mix of base malt vs. specialty malts. Mash as you would to get the desired degree of conversion and body you desire in a lesser-gravity beer.

Good luck & have fun!

Bryan