How does this barleywine recipe look?

[mrkrausen]

Okay, so my twentieth batch is coming up and I'd like to commemorate it with something big. I know it's not a huge milestone, but in a way I like to celebrate every batch. I'm thinking barleywine. The timing is perfect as I finally got around to catching up on my Sunday Session on the BN and one of them was a barleywine show. I took some tips from HBT as well as the show and this is what I've come up with so far.

B.B.B. - American Barleywine
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Batch Size: 5.500 gal
Boil Size: 7.750 gal
Boil Time: 2.000 hr
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.126
FG: 1.034
ABV: 11.9%%
Bitterness: 108.0 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 36 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
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Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Rahr - Pale Ale Malt Grain 8.000 lb Yes No 79%% 40 L
Simpsons - Maris Otter Grain 8.000 lb Yes No 81%% 3 L
Weyermann - Vienna Malt Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 81%% 4 L
Briess - Munich Malt 20L Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 74%% 20 L
Brown Sugar, Dark Sugar 2.000 lb No No 100%% 50 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 74%% 60 L
Liquid Extract (LME) - Pale Extract 2.000 lb No No 78%% 8 L
Total grain: 25.000 lb

Hops
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Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Chinook 13.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 90.000 min Pellet 50.6
Centennial 10.5%% 2.000 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 38.2
Cascade 6.0%% 1.000 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 8.4
Cascade 6.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 10.8

Misc
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Name Type Use Amount Time
Yeast Nutrient Other Boil 1.000 tsp 15.000 min
Irish Moss Fining Boil 1.000 tsp 15.000 min

Yeast
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Name Type Form Amount Stage
Wyeast - Irish Ale Ale Liquid 0.528 cup Primary

Mash
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Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Infusion 6.563 gal 164.608 F 152.000 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 4.000 gal 200.776 F 169.000 F 15.000 min


I'm thinking I'll add 1lb of brown sugar when it begins to slow down and then the other pound when it slows down on that. On the show they spoke about pitching either a wine or champagne yeast once the first yeast cashed out. I'm thinking about bulk aging this for at least a year. What are your opinions about what to do when going to bottle this? Opinions on anything you see here are appreciated.

 

[daksin]

I think it looks good although I don't personally like the flavor of brown sugar in beer. Brown sugar that you buy in stores is just plain white sugar with a bit of molasses added to it, so you end up with just a molasses flavor in the beer when all the sugar ferments out. Also, I've never had a beer fail to attenuate with the simple sugar added in the boil. You just need to make an appropriate sized starter and properly oxygenate your wort.

 

[JKaranka]

I would simplify the grain bill. You get some residual sweetness with the high gravity to start with. Pale malt, vienna or munich, and brown sugar should be enough.

 

[mrkrausen]

Thank you for the input on the recipe. I was hoping the brown sugar would add to the complexity of the beer. This go round I will try it with regular table sugar. I'll also throw it in the boil and take your advice on extra oxygenation and larger starter. I usually hit my <1.060 beers with a minute and a half of pure 02. Doubling that should do it hopefully. I added the LME to boost the gravity because I don't think I could mash enough grain in my 10 gallon cooler to get in the gravity range I was desiring. I'll take another look at the grain bill and possibly simplify it. Also, what has been your experience on bottling a barleywine? Has extra yeast or sugar been necessary? Thanks again for the help.

 

[daksin]

TI usually hit my <1.060 beers with a minute and a half of pure 02. Doubling that should do it hopefully. I added the LME to boost the gravity because I don't think I could mash enough grain in my 10 gallon cooler to get in the gravity range I was desiring. I'll take another look at the grain bill and possibly simplify it. Also, what has been your experience on bottling a barleywine? Has extra yeast or sugar been necessary? Thanks again for the help.

No need for the extra oxygen. A minute should be fine, although with this gravity I would highly recommend doing ANOTHER minute of oxygen at 12-18hrs AFTER pitching, so oxygenate for a minute, twice. Really helps huge beers like this one.

As for bottling, if you intend to bulk age this for a long time (6mo or more), I would just add some fresh, rehydrated dry yeast when you bottle. If not, just rake your racking cane through the yeast cake to make sure you've got a few cells in suspension at bottling time.