Holy ABV and Attenuation Batman!

I just racked over my Barleywine '06 to the secondary with a ton of hops and took a gravity reading. The OG came in around at a big 1.111 and so I was expecting the FG to come in at somewhere near 1.030. The FG reading on my hydro right now is 1.022! 79% attenuation, ABV is just shy of 12%!

Even though fermentation temps were lower than normal, the yeast cake was huge. I used the yeast cake from two 2 gallon brews on this one. I racked over my Cascade and Amarillo single hop brews during the boil for the barleywine. Each of those had White Labs CA Ale yeast from a starter. The hops I used in the barleywine were also Cascade and Amarillo so that the flavors wouldn't really be a factor either. I let it sit for 2 weeks in the primary, but I didn't really see any activity for the last week.

From the hydrometer jar, the color is a nice amber color. Aroma is fruity, with citrus notes from the cascade and amarillo hops. No real alcohol aroma. First taste is sweet, with hop flavor coming right through. The bitterness follows, cutting the sweetness. No alcohol flavors detected. It's a little rough, but after a little aging it should mellow out just nice.

That California Ale yeast attenuates well but I never knew it would perform under those conditions. I guess the high pitch rate helped.
I bet that will be a good barley wine when it is done.

It says it goes to 80% and I've had it go there before, but not at that high gravity. That's why I was expecting it to be a little higher on the FG. Plus temps were getting close to below 60. I was hoping it didn't stall. Guess I was wrong!

Sounds like the colony was very healthy. You must be doing things right.

It's been tough keeping the temps good in my garage. The las few weeks have been slightly cooler than normal, even for Los Angeles standards. I had a small heater going in the garage near the fermenters to keep the temp up, while the opposite wall of the garage has been getting below 40. Tonight when I got home from work I noticed that the heater wasn't on. It's plugged in but not working . And it's only about a month old! I'm glad primary fermentation is about done on everything.

That really is amazing attenuation for a barley wine. I didn't do one this year. I decided one for drinking (2003) and one aging (2005) was plenty. I need to take a growler or two of the 2003 to the January club meetings, 'cause I like the 2005 better.

Sounds like you've got a great beer on your hands. Good job, man!