Help with Barleywine Recipe

So, I'm coming up on my 1 year brewing anniversary which is in early March. I want to make a Barleywine recipe, but need some help from you experienced brewers. I plan on aging this for several months...maybe even until the Christmas season or New Years Day 2010. Here's what I've got so far...


Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 9.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.102 SG
EStimated FG: 1.024 SG
Estimated Color: 16.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 94.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 72.73 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 13.64 %
2.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %
0.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %

1.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 31.3 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (45 min) Hops 20.5 IBU
1.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 24.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (15 min) Hops 11.1 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.7 IBU

Pitch onto Nottingham cake from Pale Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 22.00 lb
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Mash in with 6.82 gal @ 164F
Mash for 75 minutes @148F

Fermentation:
Primary: 3 weeks @ 68F
Secondary: 2 months
Cold Condition in Keg: >= 6 months

I find when I do bigger beers my efficiency drops of markedly. You may want to have some DME on hand and take a pre-boil gravity and adjust with the DME so your bittering is correct.

GT

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I normally get 78-85% efficiency with my barley crusher, so hopefully 70% should be about right. However, if I hit 60-65% it should still make a good barleywine...but about 1-2% lower ABV. Not so concerned about the ABV, just want a good tasting barleywine.

Anyone else have comments on the recipe itself? That's what I really would like input on.

Thanks!

I usually get 78% and on a 4 gallon batch of the 999 boiled 90 minutes I picked up 68% @ 1.114OG.

I'd mash at 148 or 150 to make sure it can get dry enough in the end. Beers that big just need more help. Adding some sucrose can help as well.

I like the hopping. Nothing to add there. Looks tasty.

A cake of Notty might be too much yeast, though. I use 2 packs of re-hydrated US-05 and my 1.114OG batch got down to 1.020 in 20 days.

mmb said:

I usually get 78% and on a 4 gallon batch of the 999 boiled 90 minutes I picked up 68% @ 1.114OG.

I'd mash at 148 or 150 to make sure it can get dry enough in the end. Beers that big just need more help. Adding some sucrose can help as well.

I like the hopping. Nothing to add there. Looks tasty.

A cake of Notty might be too much yeast, though. I use 2 packs of re-hydrated US-05 and my 1.114OG batch got down to 1.020 in 20 days.

Click to expand...

Too much yeast?!?! So in essence pitching this on a cake of notty would be overpitching? I've heard many other people doing this with their BWs and strong ale. What's the result of overpitching?

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Too much yeast?!?! So in essence pitching this on a cake of notty would be overpitching? I've heard many other people doing this with their BWs and strong ale. What's the result of overpitching?

Click to expand...

Overpitching would lead to a decrease in ester production.

IMO, using the cake is almost always over pitching and since it doesn't take long to wash the slurry, get rid of foreign matter and get the proper amount it's what I go for.

For some more information

Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

Wyeast Laboratories : Commercial : Breweries : Technical Info : Pitch Rates

Well, I haven't ventured into yeast washing yet so maybe I'll just pitch two packs of Notty or S-05 in there as you suggest. Anyone have input on the grain bill?

I think your grain bill is fine. I would second mmb about a lower mash temp +/- replacing some of the pale malt with sugar so you don't end up with a cloying sweet, poorly attenuated beer.

Also in terms of hitting your preboil gravity it will be crucial for your hopping so you end up with a balanced beer. You can either adjust the gravity upwards with DME or cut back on your hops to match the lower OG you will have.

GT

I was talking with Caspio, who is another brewer here and we were thinking about doing this as combination mash and partigyle brew for a 10 gallon batch. I'm not sure if people have done this before, but we were thinking:

1. Mash in with both of our MLT's with 7.8 gallons
2. Drain tuns, and sparge with an additional 3-4 gallons each to reach volume
3. Boil down to correct gravity (hopefully this is around 10 gallons, but if not no big deal).
4. Sparge with another 7 gallons and collect this in a second boil kettle for the partigyle beer.

Should be interesting considering there will actually be 2 separate mashes going on, and two sparges taking place. And hopefully since we will contributing all of our first runnings and just partial second runnings the gravity will stay pretty high. What do you all think of this?

Beastly grain bill. You should also extend your mash to 90 min at least to ensure conversion. There's always the ole iodine test too. Just did it for kicks the other day and was pumped to see no color change. Like a magic trick I say. I like your hop regiment too, I prefer mine barleywines to be on the bitter side as opposed to a sweeter, more malty recipe. Would you consider a dry-hopping or perhaps a little First Wort Hop action?

count barleywine said:

Beastly grain bill. You should also extend your mash to 90 min at least to ensure conversion. There's always the ole iodine test too. Just did it for kicks the other day and was pumped to see no color change. Like a magic trick I say. I like your hop regiment too, I prefer mine barleywines to be on the bitter side as opposed to a sweeter, more malty recipe. Would you consider a dry-hopping or perhaps a little First Wort Hop action?

Click to expand...

Interesting you mention that, I was think about FWH for some additional hop aroma. With the amount of malt this thing has, I definitely don't want to drown out the hops. How much, and with what hop would you FWH?

Got Trub? said:

I think your grain bill is fine. I would second mmb about a lower mash temp +/- replacing some of the pale malt with sugar so you don't end up with a cloying sweet, poorly attenuated beer.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. Simple sugar is crucial in a barley wine, IMO.

If you couple some simple sugar, US-05 yeast, and a relatively low mash temp, you will not have to worry about the beer being cloyingly sweet.

Don't be afraid to throw a pound of table sugar into the boil while you're at it. Also, dropping 2oz of bourbon soaked oak chips into the secondary worked very well for me.

I've got about 1-2# of turbinado sugar, would this work fine? As I understand it's just raw unrefined cane sugar.

You could. I just use regular table sugar to save money.

I have had really good results with adding some sugar later in the primary as fermentation slows. If you are planning on using it, it may help the yeast not be too shocked when you pitch, and it makes sure the yeast get through the maltose before they get lazy and get into the simple sugars.

Well, the wheels are turning....I'm going to be brewing up a batch of Pale Ale this weekend in anticipation for ye olde Anniversary Barleywine! I plan on a nice healthy 1.056 beer fermented with Nottingham that should develop a nice yeast cake by the time I brew the BW. Should be right at 4 weeks, and I'll rack the pale ale to keg during the mash. Can't wait...this is going to be good! Thanks all for the recipe advice, don't hesitate to throw some more ideas at me!

I've been FWHing one-third of my bittering regiment. My reasoning is that the traditional flavor and aroma additions are good as is, and FWHing gets you extra flavor/aroma from the typically less-flavorful and aromatic bittering addition.