A good (and somewhat quick) HG recipe

I was out with at the bars with a class last night and told everyone that I was gong to make a barleywine or other high gravity beer for us to drink after the final.

Now it was $1 beer night and I've never made a HG beer. I know that they can take a while to ferment out and then to age properly.

I have from now till December 10 to go from grains to a drinkable product. I'd like an all grain recipe, anyone have something they recommend? I'd like to hear a recipe alot of folks have had luck with in this timeframe.

Three months??? You want a Barelywine that is drinkable, and won't tear your guts out in three months.



Dude, my normal grav beers take a minimum 2 months before they are drinkable.

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....



The beer you want to make is in the "long time" category, so go brew something else that will be ready in a few weeks.

I'm brewing a barley wine that is going to sit in secondary for at least 6 months, and will not even be opened for 5 years.

If you really insist on having a high grav beer that won't taste like crap in three months...spend the money on some nice commercial version instead.

If you want to brew a beer that is drinkable in three months to make it special, then settle on a recipe that is a lot less high gravity than a barelywine.


Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up and condition.I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up and needed another 3-6 before it was even drinkable.

Think of something a little lower down the gravity level if you want it to be ready in three months.

AND brew a barleywine for next December's finals. You won't regret it...(Though you may if you try to drink a 3 months old barleywine.)

Sorry to burst your bubble......But, I think maybe you had too many of those dollar beers.

You could probably make a stronger beer like an IIPA or something in that time frame. Barleywine? It does have the word "wine" right there in the title. That ought to tell you something.

Pivovar_Koucky said:

You could probably make a stronger beer like an IIPA or something in that time frame. Barleywine? It does have the word "wine" right there in the title. That ought to tell you something.

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But IIPA has the word imperial in it...that's not a heck of a lot different. Except maybe referring to year instead of years.

Methinks...a regular ipa would be more appropriate to the timeframe we're looking for. Maybe a cascadian IPA, or an Indian Brown Ale.

Revvy said:

But IIPA has the word imperial in it...that's not a heck of a lot different. Except maybe referring to year instead of years.

Methinks...a regular ipa would be more appropriate to the timeframe we're looking for. Maybe a cascadian IPA, or an Indian Brown Ale.

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BJCP guidelines for IIPA say OG 1.070-1.090. Certainly anything over 1.100 should age for a long time. Maybe a 1.090 should go that long, but do you really think that a 1.070 should take a year? I feel like you could have a beer in the 1.070-1.080 that would get big compliments ready in 2-3 months. Though maybe your year-aged beer would be better.

Shoots, has anyone else ever said something they shouldn't on $1 beer night?

Just make it and mention that it will get better with more aging.

Why wouldn't you be able to drink an IIPA in the next few months? I think you have plenty of time for one of those.

Right now I have a Pliny clone on draft that's maybe 6 weeks old and is phenomenal. The OG was 1.072. I think maybe the key is kegging. It would be tough to bottle an HG and have it carb in time. I have an imperial stout that i brewed in January and bottled that still isn't carbed.

A slightly higher HopSlam clone that we brewed in March was ready by June, IIRC.

Just make a common stout and tell them it's an 11% RIS Then dump a half bottle of Grey Goose into the keg. They'll never know

I've said much, much worse. . . we have a bar here that does 10 cent drafts every Wednesday during the college semester. I've lost many a bet.

yeah, or dump some bourbon in and tell 'em it's a bourbon-aged imperial stout!

would you be lying? well, except for the aged part!