Barleywine too dry

[CHans3]

I brewed a barleywine recently and racked it directly onto a yeast cake from a pale ale. Twelve days later I checked the gravity and it is down to 1.018 from 1.098! The sample wasn't bad, but it is too dry to mask the 10.3 abv and the mouthfeel is is not as thick as I would like.

Are there anyways to remedy this? I have racked it onto medium toast Hungarian oak cubes soaked in cabin fever maple whiskey, which has a good amount of sweetness. I am hoping this will help and also add some complexity. What about adding some maltodextran or lactose?

Cheers,

Chans

 

[feinbera]

The boozy heat will probably condition out, at least partially, over a series of months.

Not sure about how to go about fixing the mouthfeel, but, unless I'm totally misreading you, it sounds like you were tasting an uncarbed sample? I would wait until it's carbed up before I made any irreversible decisions about fixing the mouthfeel; of course the mouthfeel's gonna be off in a beer that's warm and flat.

 

[HopHoarder]

Barleywine takes time to mature and mellow out. I have a one year old BW that for the first 6 months didn't taste all that great, but now is pretty darn good.

 

[JonM]

I'd say leave it. Going from 1.9ish to 1.018 is tricky to do and you pulled it off in one shot. 1.018 is a good FG for a BW, and I bet it'll be great after aging. for what it's worth, all of my high gravity beers taste like crap right out of the fermenter but become awesome after a year or so. Leave it and let it sit. Spring 2014 I bet youll have a beautiful barleywine to enjoy.

 

[CHans3]

Ok good points. I am going to age them for a while anyways so ill just let it go and see how it turns out later.

What about the oaking? I have read that the tannins they provide can be good to balance overly sweet beers, but will they do anything for me where it might be a little under sweetened? Maybe the added complexity layer will help?

 

[distributistdad]

Barleywine takes time to mature and mellow out. I have a one year old BW that for the first 6 months didn't taste all that great, but now is pretty darn good.

Amen. My father-in-law and I brewed two barleywines, fall 2011. They started just ok, but every month or two I crack one and they are getting considerably better with time. The last 4 or 5 I've had are incredible, easily the best beers we've made. I always struggle with the patience required of this hobby, but especially for this type of beer you need to just wait. And wait. And wait. Then wait some more .

 

[daksin]

I would take maybe a gallon and oak it if you want, just because in a very dry beer the oak may be too prominent. Then you can sort of see what it will be like if you want to do the whole batch.