Monticello Barleywine

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daksin

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Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,613
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Location
San Diego
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP090
Yeast Starter
Are you kidding me?
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.100
Final Gravity
1.018
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
76
Color
8 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
30 days @ 67F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
180 days at room temperature
Tasting Notes
Has taste.
The name comes from Thomas Jefferson's estate, and this beer is like the manor. Something old and classical, but uniquely American. You can feel the British influence, but it's much more of a stepping stone than a foundation. Light and airy, yet solid and architectural.

11lbs American Pale Ale Malt
11lbs Golden Promise
1lb C10
1/2lb aromatic malt
1lb table sugar

Bittering hop charge to ~76 IBU with your choice of clean bittering hop- I used Bravo @14.3% AA

1oz Simcoe 15m
1oz Zythos Blend 15m
1oz Simcoe 5m
1oz Zythos Blend 5m

90 minute boil for a touch of kettle caramelization, but really you want this to stay a nice golden color.

I designed this beer for Christmas gifts this year and it has really turned out to be one of the smash hits of the year. I can't believe how good this beer has gotten with some months on it, and am sure it will keep improving for years.

Notes for making this beer again: Don't use plain old 2-row for this beer- it's a beer that's all about the malt, so go with an American Pale Ale malt. I prefer the Golden Promise over Maris otter, but MO could work if you can't get GP.

Attenuation is everything for this beer. I used the very attenuative WLP090 and got 82% attenuation on this 1.100 OG monster. In order to help the yeast along, they get a big shot of oxygen initially and then again after about 18 hours (when visible fermentation has been going for a few hours). WLP090 really needs that oxygen to perform- I'd almost list pure O2 as one of the ingredients. It's been working a lot harder for me since I noticed that all really hard flocculators like a lot of oxygen, and 090 is definitely that. It's also finicky with temperature- be prepared to babysit it to keep it between 66 and 68F for that super performance. Also, please don't use WLP099- it's not a clean yeast, and would really mess up this beer.

The beer is fairly well hopped, but I'm amazed at how completely the hops have disappeared from this beer after some aging. I would consider upping the hop levels to IIPA ranges to try and retain some of that character. The Zythos was new when I brewed this beer, but I think another blend might be better, 7C's or Falconers, but really the hops are sort of a moot point, as they're alllllll gone now. You could dry hop it, but any aroma you add is going to disappear with some time in the bottle. Not sure how to play that one, actually.

This definitely warrants a rebrew- it was already tasty when it went into secondary, something I would have gladly served to guests, and now with about 6 months on it, it's properly delicious.
 
Im brewing this on Saturday! I dont have the software to calculate the bittering hops. How many ounces would 76ibu be? I know its based on the aa of the hop but what would be a good estimation?
 
Wow! I've never had anyone brew one of my recipes before- thanks! I used 1oz of 14.3% AA Bravo to bitter this beer- what do you have on hand? There are a few online calculators that will do IBU, but you could just plug the whole thing into beercalculus and adjust it for your system. Beercalculus is a free online tool at hopville.com that I use for most of my recipes just so I can access them from work or the LHBS- you should check it out!
 
I'm brewing this, minus the Simcoe because it's so damn difficult to find, over Christmas or January for Christmas gifts next year. I might up it to 1.110 or 1.120 to make an absolute monster. The name is awesome
 
Thanks for the reply! I think Ill use 1.5-2oz of magnum hops to up the bitterness because I dont plan on drinking this until next Christmas. Ill be in the sandbox until then. I will be using 8lbs of the MO that I have and the rest is golden promise. Ill be upping the sugar a bit too to get the abv in the 13%. Im also going with sf-05, I really like the clean flavor profile it has, plus I dont have time for a starter:). Got my oxygen on standyby though!
 
If you're upping the gravity, you may want to go to 2 packs of US-05. Thanks all- I can't wait to get some feedback on the recipe! I'm actually drinking one of these RIGHT NOW, while I'm AT WORK. Life is good.
 
If you're upping the gravity, you may want to go to 2 packs of US-05. Thanks all- I can't wait to get some feedback on the recipe! I'm actually drinking one of these RIGHT NOW, while I'm AT WORK. Life is good.

Nice! I just got done with the brew a few hours ago. My changes were in part due to the fact that I didnt have all the same stuff on hand. I upped the sugar to 2lbs, used 23 lbs of base malt and boiled for 90mins. I also did a single decoction mash just cause I had the time. Ended up at 1.121. The brew shop shorted me 2 oz of the simcoe so I had to use an ounce of magnum at 5 mins and an ounce of centennial at the 15 min. I also used 2 oz of the magnum at 60 since you said that it was a bit weak on hopps. We shall see how this turns out!
 
Nice! I just got done with the brew a few hours ago. My changes were in part due to the fact that I didnt have all the same stuff on hand. I upped the sugar to 2lbs, used 23 lbs of base malt and boiled for 90mins. I also did a single decoction mash just cause I had the time. Ended up at 1.121. The brew shop shorted me 2 oz of the simcoe so I had to use an ounce of magnum at 5 mins and an ounce of centennial at the 15 min. I also used 2 oz of the magnum at 60 since you said that it was a bit weak on hopps. We shall see how this turns out!

Wicked! That sounds about right for the extra malt and sugar. Can't wait to hear how it turns out! As far as being low on hops, I meant more as far as flavor and aroma. The bitterness is actually right where I want it for this beer- it's a little strong right now actually but will continue to mellow out as the beer ages. It's great- your bigger beer should stand up to the added bitterness though. Keep us posted.
 
How did the Simcoe and Zythos hold up over time? I'm trying to get a feel for how Citra and Topaz might hold up to Barleywine aging.
 
The flavor is still there (barely), but aroma is totally gone. I would lose the zythos next time, it doesn't add much to any beer in my opinion, and maybe do something more resinous. Just had a bottle of this last week- aging extremely well.
 
Maybe I ought to switch out the Citra for something safer, like Amarillo. The Topaz may get swapped out depending on how my current IPA turns out.

Thanks.
 

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