Barleywine - How to age in keg

Pumori · 03-15-2010, 02:37 AM

Ok, just brewed a rather large barley wine today that won't be cracked until this Christmas. After primary/secondary fermentation and racking into a Corny, how do I age? Just flush with CO2, put on enough pressure to keep a blanket and wait until Thanksgiving to carbonate? It will be sitting in the basement (in the 60s) from now til' then. This is my first barley wine but I assume the volumes of CO2 are on the low side based on my experience in the London pubs during the Christmas holidays.

dirt55 · 03-15-2010, 10:26 AM

You should be fine to do either. As long as it's flushed and sealed with CO2 you should be good to go. There shouldn't be any concern either for you to actually carb it now before aging it because if you think about it...everyone who bottles and ages their barley wine is carbed before aging. Either way it sounds like you'll have a tasty Christmas!

**Bobby_M** · 03-15-2010, 02:01 PM

I'd throw 30psi on it for a 3-5 days, then disconnect and let it ride. It won't fully carb but it will create enough pressure in the head space to keep it sealed.