Secondary Time For Barleywine

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rodwha

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I'm considering trying a barleywine very soon. I figured I'd give it 3-4 weeks primary, but how long long to secondary? Then I'll do my best to wait 'til next Xmas to open one.

Here's my 4.3 gal recipe:

8 lbs Briess pilsen LME
2 lbs Briess Bavarian wheat DME
3/4 lb crystal 40
3/4 lb crystal 80
1 lb Briess extra light DME (8 oz is starter)
1 oz Columbus (15.2%) @ 60 mins
1/2 Columbus + 1 oz Cascade (6.2%) @ 20/5 mins
WLP 001

1.098/1.023
14* SRM
66 IBU's
10% ABV

Any changes?
 
As long as it takes, or alternatively as long as you are willing to wait.

I'm not following the reason for the extra light DME but you didn't explain what flavor you are looking for in the beer. That would help us look at the recipe from the standpoint of what you want in the final product versus what we would prefer to drink.
 
The extra light DME is both for my starter, as well as to bring the ABV to 10%.

I've only tried 2 barleywines, a local one by Blue Star and the Sierra Nevada Big Foot. I liked the local one much better. I'm not really certain what I'm after...
 
I'm planning the same thing. I'm just going to bottle it and skip the secondary.

The first big beer I did, I did the whole 5 month secondary, add more yeast at bottling, etc. Next time, I bottled after 4/5 weeks in the primary and let the bottles sit for a year. Both turned out great. The second one was much simpler, though.
 
Cool.
Thought there was a need to secondary.

My cousin made a great barleywine. I believe he feremented (not sure how long probably a month?) then he aged them 6 months in growlers. He has not had a problem with them busting, and his was pretty carbonated.

I have not made one, but I think I might have to make one soon and make it as close to 15% as possible and age it a good year before I try it. That will be hard!
 
Cool.
Thought there was a need to secondary.

Depends on your philosophy. I think of a secondary as a place to bulk age big beers like that. So all the flavors mesh together as opposed to individually in bottles. So I do bulk age big beers like that. In fact my 17% barelyine for my 50th birthday has spent the majority of it's 3 years since i brewed it in a tertiary because I did a true secondary fermentation in secondary and added more fermentables and yeast there, so I then racked it into a third vessel, where it sat for over a year, before I racked it into my oak barrel 6 months ago, and will bottle it sometime between now and New Years, and it will sit til August of 2015.

It really is up to you. Me, I would rack it to secondart after a month or so in primary, and leave it for a minimum six months. Then I would add fresh yeast at bottling and let it sit til Christmas.
 
Depends on your philosophy. I think of a secondary as a place to bulk age big beers like that. So all the flavors mesh together as opposed to individually in bottles. So I do bulk age big beers like that. In fact my 17% barelyine for my 50th birthday has spent the majority of it's 3 years since i brewed it in a tertiary because I did a true secondary fermentation in secondary and added more fermentables and yeast there, so I then racked it into a third vessel, where it sat for over a year, before I racked it into my oak barrel 6 months ago, and will bottle it sometime between now and New Years, and it will sit til August of 2015.

It really is up to you. Me, I would rack it to secondart after a month or so in primary, and leave it for a minimum six months. Then I would add fresh yeast at bottling and let it sit til Christmas.

Everytime I hear about this beer... I salivate! lol
 
If a long secondary is quite helpful then I'm all in! I have too many buckets anyway!
 
I brewed my first BarleyWine on 10/27, and it's still fermenting away (cooler temps to get something great from WLP099). Target is in the area of 15.3% (maybe higher) ABV. My plan is to leave it in primary until I know it's 100% finished fermenting. Then, transfer to one of my aging vessels, onto oak cubes, for X months before transferring to corny kegs to carbonate. I'm planning to bottle some once carbonated, to both age that way and give people (375ml Belgian bottles). While I could carbonate with priming solution, I don't want the extra sediment in the bottles.

I might transfer to a second aging vessel for this batch. It all depends on how it is when I check on it.
 
"...I did a true secondary fermentation in secondary and added more fermentables and yeast there..."

Why an actual secondary fermentation? What exactly did you do?
 
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