BIG Barleywine Recipe Help? (14-15%)
 

Hi All,

I've been thinking of doing a BIG Barleywine recipe. Around 14-15%. This is one i'm probably going to age for 6-12 months. Does anyone have recommendations on what grain bill/ingredients i could use to produce a more well-rounded beer?

I've seen barleywine recipes with Honey, corn sugar, DME, and huge grain bills to achieve that high of a gravity. What would be a good combination of ingredients to use?

What IBU should i be looking to hit? Etc.

I'd go lotta grain, maybe 18+lbs and then DME, and maybe some honey if you want that character.

You'll definitely want some portion of it to be simple sugar, either dextrose or even table sugar to help dry it out. In that big of a bill, a pound or two would not change the flavor. If your MLT can handle a big enough grain bill to get your volume on pure first runnings, great. If not, sparge and then make up the gravity either by a really long boil or 3lbs of DME.

That's what I'd do - then collect the second runnings and brew something else!

I posed a similar question
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37648

Granted, I only shot for 11%. Transfered to the secondary the other weekend and it was high test city :D

If you do add supplemental sugars to the wort, you might consider adding them *during* fermentation. That way, you don't stress the yeast out too much. Get as many sugars through your grain as you can, do your boil, oxygenate as much as you can, pitch a huge starter. Let the yeast get to work. When they start slowing down, boil up some DME in a small amount of water, chill it, and add it to the fermenter. Do that a couple times - basically step up the beer, so that the yeast are never trying to chow down on 1.150 wort.

Less stressed yeast = fewer off-flavors and a reduced chance of a stuck ferment.

I'll also mash real low and long - like, 148° for ninety minutes. It'll end up plenty chewey just because of all the malt - you're going to be battling to keep it from being syrupy.

Here is what i have so far for a basic recipe. I'm not sure what to do for Hops. IBU or variety.

Assuming 75% Efficiency
3# Amber DME
20# Pale Malt
.5# Crystal 60l
2# Corn Sugar

I'm going to add the DME and Dextrose as the barleywine ferments using the process you guys gave me.

OG 1.156
FG 1.033
Est. 15.6% Alcohol.

This is actually on my bill as well. I'm shooting in the 12-14% range.

One thing that I believe will be truly essential, is to not take a 1.156 gravity right into the fermentor and add your MASSIVE yeast starter. You will need to start off at a lower OG and then as fermentation begins, do supplemental sugar additions/DME additions.

You also want to aerate the living piss out of the wort.

Time for an oxygenating stone if you don't already have one. A good minute will do you on regular brews.... I'd go more on this one. Excited to see how it comes out. I've been thinking along these lines myself. A barley-mead type concoction. Honey is always tasty, Home Brewers Outpost has excellent honey in whatever quant/flavor you need. Pure and great on a peanut butter sammich too!

As others have posted, a HUGE yeast starter is necessary. I would also step it up as others have eluded to. I made Samichlaus back in Dec of 05, with 23# of grain and 2# table sugar. I started fermenting about 3 gallons and when that was completed, i would add about 1/2 gallon more wort at a time. The fermentation took forever, but it didn't stress the yeast too much. By the time this is done, it will be around 18%. I also had to add high gravity yeast (Eu di vie?) from wyeast to get it over the edge.