First Big Beer Recipe...

Please critique my first All Grain Barley Wine / IIPA recipe. I augmented what I had around with what the LHBS had in stock... Any suggestions or recommendations?

malt & fermentables
LB Malt or Fermentable
6# American Two-row Pale
5# Marris Otter (Crisp)
3# Flaked Rye
2# Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
1# Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L

Batch size: 5.0 gallons


Original Gravity
1.100 / 23.7° Plato

Final Gravity
1.020 / 5.1° Plato

Color
8° SRM / 15° EBC
(Gold to Copper)
Mash Efficiency
72%

hops
60 mins 2.0oz Warrior pellet 15.0
30 mins 0.5oz Cascade pellet 5.5
30 mins 0.5oz Palisades pellet 9.5
15 mins 0.5oz Cascade pellet 5.5
15 mins 0.5oz Palisades pellet 9.5
5 mins 0.5oz Cascade pellet 5.5
5 mins 0.5oz Palisades pellet 9.5
1 min 0.5oz Cascade pellet 5.5
1 min 0.5oz Palisades pellet 9.5



Bitterness
125.9 IBU / 30 HBU

yeast
099 Super High Gravity Ale x 2 with starter
ale yeast in liquid form with low flocculation and 80% attenuation



Alcohol
10.7% ABV / 8% ABW
Calories
327 per 12 oz.

90 Minute Mash at 150ish
60 Minute Full Boil

I'd add dry hops, personally. Maybe 3-4oz total for a week or so.

What you might do instead of two vials of 099 is make a batch of pale ale (with appropriate starter, of course), and then rack onto that yeast cake for this batch. That will give you more than enough healthy yeast to get this one going on the right track.



I would recommend something like 148F for 90-120 minutes if you want more of an IIPA thing, or maybe a bit higher, like 150-152 (an hour should do the trick) if you want a bit maltier barleywine thing going on.


EDIT: whoops missed mash info at end of post

I agree with weirdboy. If you want a hoppy flavor you'll need to dry hop (or add a bunch more hops post 30 min). And if you don't want to/have time to make a "starter beer," just make a big starter of a yeast with a double digit alcohol tolerance. I know most "British Isle" yeasts can handle this (Wyeast's Scottish Ale is particularly hearty), and I've made 11.5% beers with US-05 and Wyeast 1056. So a 1.100 beer won't need the WLP099.

But I think you have a bigger problems. First, plugging this into beersmith, I get that you'll need to hit 76% efficiency to hit your target. But if this is the first time you've done a big beer, you can usually expect lower than typical efficiency. Not sure what you usually get, but keep that in mind.

But the biggest problem is 2lbs of corn sugar. If you want a big IPA, some simple sugars to dry it out may be acceptable, but not 2 lbs! You'll be left with a cider-y mess. Drop it down to .5 lbs, and make it up with base malt. If mash size is an issue, replace it with malt extract, either dry or liquid. And if you want more of a golden colored rye-barleywine, drop the sugar entirely! Either way, I think to make this enjoyable and balanced you'll need more late hop additions. You may be able or want to lower the amount of Warrior you use at 60min, then.

Thanks guys...I agree with you about dry hopping, I will pick up some more hops and throw an once or two in the secondary.

I generally don't care too much about efficiency or hitting the exact numbers. I am much more concerned with it ending up somewhat balanced.

Also, I read somewhere that corn sugar being a simple sugar will completely ferment out and leave no taste behind, and that it is a myth that it will create cider... I will do some more research on the best amount to use.

what do you suggest for a dry hop. Also, is there something wrong with 099 yeast?

Ok, you are right, I shouldn't use the term "cider." I'm guilty on that charge. But you still don't want simple sugar to be nearly 12% by weight of a 17 lb bill. Because it will ferment out, and leave the fermented sugar taste behind, which is pretty clean and not noticeable in small amounts, but at 2 lbs it certainly will be noticeable. Further, you'll be lacking the flavors the grains should be contributing for a big beer like that-- it may be acceptable (desired) in a Belgian, but not an IIPA or barleywine.

As far as dry hopping, with your hops so far, any citrus-y, fruity hops will do. (Citra, Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, all spring to mind).

And nothing is wrong with WLP099, but many people report some off flavors that are more noticeable in "lower" gravity beers (and by lower that is low in comparison to 099's alcohol tolerance).

I disagree on the cidery thing with 2 lbs of corn sugar. That is pretty common in IIPAs of this size. I have done it before several times and not gotten "cidery" notes. In fact most recipes for Belgian Tripel have up to 20% of the grain bill as simple sugar additions. I usually boil up & add the sugar after primary fermentation is starting to wrap up, however, because I want the yeast to eat all the maltose and other more complex sugars first before I give them a bunch of dextrose.


That is not to say that I haven't run into any issues at all in recipes of this magnitude. What I have found is that I get a pretty notable amount of fusel alcohol, which thankfully goes away over time, but it's something I plan for now. It certainly is less prominent when I ferment at lower temps, but it's definitely still there. What I do nowadays is let primary & sugar addition finish fermenting, and then let it sit for another 4-6 weeks in primary before racking onto the dry hops in secondary. That gives the fusels time to dissipate, and lets me get the maximum hop aroma into the beer when it's ready to serve.