Is 10 weeks in secondary too long for my first brandy wine?

Made my first attempt at a barley wine and had it in the primary for seven weeks and then transferred it to a glass carboy secondary. This was back in early December and it is now mid February. Is 10 weeks in secondary too long for my first barely wine? If not, is there anyting I should do at this point before I bottle it?

Thanks,

Just a question but is a brandy wine a barley wine with brandy oak chips or brandy? I'm not familiar with that style.

No...I just had a typo. SWMBO was asking about baby names and what I thpught of the name Brandy when I was typing this. Should have read barely wine.

@17 weeks in the fermentor I'd bottle that stuff.

It's up to you. Bulk aging helps keep uniformity in the flavor the beer vs Bottle Aging(I believe). The Barley wine we're going to brew will be bulk aged for a year then keg conditioned for another before serving.

I always find Barley Wines that are 5+ yrs old to be the best tasting.

I've been bulk aging my 5 year barleywine in secndary for 6 months so far, and really don't have any plan on bottling it any time soon. I mean it's not going to be opened til 2015, so I'm in no hurry.

Revvy said:

I've been bulk aging my 5 year barleywine in secndary for 6 months so far, and really don't have any plan on bottling it any time soon. I mean it's not going to be opened til 2015, so I'm in no hurry.

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Should be a most delicious brew Revvy. I've read the threads for it and it inspired me to do my own big Barley.

I've had my barley wine in the primary for 3 weeks now. Next weekend, I'm transferring it to my secondary where it will sit for at least 6 months before I think about bottling.

The general consensus about barley wines is that they get better the longer they age. If you made a hoppier American style barley wine like I did, it may taste a lot like an overgrown IIPA if you drink it early. Letting it age will develop that maltiness you normally associate with barley wines.

You could always bottle it & let it age that way for an extended period of time, but I think it makes more sense to bulk age. I have a second 5 gallon glass carboy & a pair of 2.5s though, so I can afford to have one tied up for another 6 months.

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what was your OG?

Depending on the length of secondary you may add back some fresh yeast at bottling time if you're bottle conditioning...although this is dependent on OG and time in secondary.

CTownBrewer said:

You could always bottle it & let it age that way for an extended period of time, but I think it makes more sense to bulk age. I have a second 5 gallon glass carboy & a pair of 2.5s though, so I can afford to have one tied up for another 6 months.

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Plus if you bulk age, and you want to attempt to have some hop aroma retained in it, you can always over dry hop down the line, just before bottling time. That's what I'm contemplating doing with mine...just liked I intentionally over hopped it (Og 1.150 with 150 ibus) with the hope that in 5 years there will be some hop profile still there down the line.

strat_thru_marshall said:

what was your OG?

Depending on the length of secondary you may add back some fresh yeast at bottling time if you're bottle conditioning...although this is dependent on OG and time in secondary.

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Hey Strat, I asked about adding more yeast before bottling a strong beer I made and was told I couldn't or shouldn't, don't remember and was recommended to keg carb it and then bottle from there, I would much rather yeast carb in the bottle.
might you have a little more input on this?

Doug

Revvy said:

Plus if you bulk age, and you want to attempt to have some hop aroma retained in it, you can always over dry hop down the line, just before bottling time. That's what I'm contemplating doing with mine...just liked I intentionally over hopped it (Og 1.150 with 150 ibus) with the hope that in 5 years there will be some hop profile still there down the line.

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I was thinking something along those lines for mine. My IBUs came out to 123 & the plan is to dry-hop with 3 oz Cascade for a week before bottling.

To the other poster wondering about adding yeast at bottling, I'll be adding another pack of Wyeast 1056 at bottling time after the long secondary. From what I've read, you can add it without smacking the pack to release the yeast nutrient. You just need fresh yeast to eat the priming sugar since the yeast you used initially will be dormant.

I'll need to do more research to see if the amount of yeast makes a difference. That's the only thing I'm unsure of. I would think the biggest factor in carbing it would be the amount of priming sugar used.

Dawas said:

Hey Strat, I asked about adding more yeast before bottling a strong beer I made and was told I couldn't or shouldn't, don't remember and was recommended to keg carb it and then bottle from there, I would much rather yeast carb in the bottle.
might you have a little more input on this?

Doug

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It depends on the strength of the beer and the length of time aging in secondary. If you put a 9% abv barley wine in a carboy and age it for a year, almost all of the viable yeast cells will have dropped out and be dormant and weak from the high alcohol content and long time period. You can rack the cleared beer off of this tired old yeast and add a small amount of fresh yeast just so you can be sure that carbonation happens in the bottle. If you dont, you're running the risk that you wont have enough healthy yeast left to achieve carbonation.

There are lots of sources online about how to determine what amount to pitch for bottling, for a 5 gallon batch I think it's between 1/4 and 1/2 of a tube, if even that much. I have never personally done this as I keg condition everything and then bottle off the keg, but I have read and heard a bunch about the process. I would search this site and others to get a recommended pitching rate for bottling.

Thanks for the input everyone. My wife has been telling me she wants another baby so i may let this go in the secondary for 3-6 more months prior to bottling. It will be over a year before she will be able to drink it anyway and this is for her.