1st Barley Wine...input appreciated.

A buddy and I are brewing a BW over thanksgiving, and I would like some input as I have not brewed this big a beer yet. Thanks in advance.

18# american 2 row
7.5# american wheat
.5# crystal 10
.5# crystal 80
.25# chocolate malt
.25# spec B

OG 1.118
FG 1.03

Nugget/columbus/cascade to hop to around 70 ibu. Cascade/amarillo to dry hop

Mash at 154
Have a wyeast 1056 yeast cake ready.

Any input would be great. Cheers.

I have to get my grains on monday, so I am really wanting someone to chime in.

Not sure about the wheat. Seems like a lot if you are just looking for head retention. I'd mash close to 149 for a 1.100+ beer. Plan for lower eff, my first beer like that and I hit 50s.. I'd change out some grain for simple sugars instead, up to 10% IIRC., a nice technique is to let your ferm go for 3 or 4 days and then add your sugar, mix it in with a cup or two of water, boil for a few minutes, cool to ambient and pitch. If you can, rouse the yeast by swirling the carboy. This will allow your yeast to work on the longer proteins.

I'd also look at a 90 min boil for some nice melanoiden flavors even if you only bitter from 60.

I'm brewing my first barleywine Saturday.
I am going to mash at 150° to try and get a more fermentable wort.
I also think your wheat is to much.
Going to boil for 90 min.

Mash low, oxygenate beyond belief, ramp up temp.

ne0t0ky0, thanks for the response. I plan on at least a 90 min boil, and would not be shocked if I end up needing more.

That is one of the reasons I went with the wheat. I read that it lightens mouth feel(perhaps helpful after a long boil), and aids in yeast productivity. Do you think it unhelpful, or off the mark? What would you change.

What does IIRC stand for?

I have decided to change the crystal 10 for carapils, in an effort to avoid getting too much caramel. Agree?

I like the idea of adding more sugars, as it helps keep fermentation strong. What would you use? LME? Corn sugar? How would you take that out of your grain bill, as it will effect your mash percentages? or will it not matter in the long run?

Thanks ALOT for chiming in. I have alot of brewing under my belt, bet have never approached this size grain bill, or gravity. Also, sorry for the slew of follow up questions, but I really want to get this right, as it represents a year of work/waiting.

Cheers

I guess I can see why everyone is saying to mash low, for feremtables. I was thinking it is already going to be high in sugar, and was hoping to increase efficiency. I bet you guys are right. Thanks.

Make sure your mash tun can handle that big of a grain bill.

As said earlier, oxygenate a ton and use pure O2 if you can. I would oxygenate before pitching and again within the first 24 hours.

I dumped my bw on a yeast cake and it still stalled at 1.035 or so, so make sure your yeast cake gets fully mixed in and again, pump it full of oxygen.