American Barleywine recipe/brewing questions

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To start off my 1st post, hello everyone, thank you all for the information i have already read here.

I am about to do my 1st AG batch, have only done extract with steeping grains before.

I just splurged and got all new equipment, my extract brewing equipment happens to be on the other side of the country, and like anything you can never have too much stuff.

My equip consists of:
crankandstein 320D adjustable 3 roller mill
70qt 5day cooler
15 gal brewpot with siphon
therminator with march pump for whirlpool recirculation chilling
bayou classic turkey fryer kit for the burner....40-50k btu
well i think thats all the pertinent stuff anyways,

I am a BIG fan of HUGE beers, and don't really see much point in brewing under 10%.

Here is a recipe I came up with, merging Old Stoner, and The Jamil Show barleywine recipes, and using ingredients (hops) that i can find.

barley wine
American Barleywine


Type: All Grain
Date: 11/16/2008
Batch Size: 12.50 gal
Brewer: Luke
Boil Size: 16.21 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: my 1st setup
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
50.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 90.91 %
3.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.45 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.64 %
4.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 40.9 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (55 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (50 min) Hops 9.7 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (45 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (40 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (35 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (30 min) Hops 7.9 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (25 min) Hops 7.1 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (20 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
3.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 9999 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 9999 days) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.135 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.135 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.029 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.030 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 14.05 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 13.88 %
Bitterness: 108.5 IBU Calories: 661 cal/pint
Est Color: 17.7 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 55.00 lb
Sparge Water: 9.06 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 52.00 qt of water at 164.3 F 148.0 F
30 min Step Decoct 11.48 qt of mash and boil it 158.0 F



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Dried Malt Extract Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 13.2 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Notes


Created with BeerSmith


OK, now here come the questions

1. What gap should I set my mill to, the 1st gap is fixed at .070, what should the adjustable one be set to?
I was thinking about .030-.035, but will have to do a few 1lb test runs.


2. will this fit in my cooler?
I used volume for 1KG grain = .652L
55lb/2.2=25Kilos*.652=16.3Liters of space that my milled grains will take up
hopefully leaving me with ~1/2 gal headspace in my cooler

3. how badly will my efficiency drop by only putting .95Qt/lb of water to mash in and only .73qt/lb sparge water? Also, how much more would i need to sparge to get to 85% efficiency?

4. Is this recipe even close to being realistic?, or tasty?....suggestions/additions?

5. Is it ok for me to boil ~13.5 gal of wort and add the remaining 3 gal as the kettle boils off?

6. how big of a starter should i make, and how long should i let it ferment?

7. Will a 240 min boil change the character of the wort?

Well, i'm gettin sick of typing, so thats all the ?'s for now....I'm sure i'll still have alot.

Thank you all for your help in advance,

Cheers,
Luke
 
I think you'd be better off scaling down the batch size. In theory your grain and water would barely fit in your cooler but you'd have trouble stirring it in. .95qt/lb isn't too bad but I think your sparge volume is too low. I used this calculator and came up with 17 gallons for sparge which is 1.25qt/lb.

A four hour boil would likely cause some changes but not necessarily bad.
 
I think you should probably not be so ambitious and large scale on your first recipe. Firstly, if it doesn't turn out, you're going to have a crapload of beer you might not want. Secondly, you're going to have to make an ENORMOUS starter. You'll need 1300 billion yeast cells at the outset, which means either 13 vials pitched directly, or a simple starter that is 9 gallons with three vials of yeast. With a stir plate, you can get away with a 13L starter with 3 vials of yeast. No matter what, this is a huge amount of yeast and you will need a significant investment of time and money to culture enough yeast to make this bad boy work well.
 
wow A lot of questions

I would also assume that your efficiency is going to be low simply becasue it is your first all grain..but adding in that it is such a large beer it will be even lower. My efficiency is 75% for average beer and 65 to 70 for big beers...I would fine tune your system before taking on such a big beer..or have lots of DME on hand. I would make a 5 gallon or 3 gallon batch other wise..U need a huge starter..step up the starter several times and put in fridge and pour off the top. boiling for that long will not affect anything...leave in primary for 3 to 6 weeks and secondary for another 3 to 6 weeks.

That all being said I would make a smaller beer..get your system down before u make a big beer such as this..I have only made a few big beers all grain...since than I always make with DME to up my system, I do not enjoy boiling for days..in my Barley wine I only use 15# base grains and use DME to get me to my gravity(believe u when I tell u it does not change the flavor..and most large scale Microbrewerys will do the same to get high gravity).



J
 
Thank you for your responses...
that's exactly what i was looking for...
more sparge water, lots o yeast, bigger cooler, test everything out 1st...DME i want to stay away from, i bought all grain gear, i wanna brew all grain. But good point.

i think i will start a (and i hate to say it) middle of the road 1.045 beer and then pitch right on the yeast cake to take care of the yeast problem

also, I just found the 9/9/09 thread and learned alot thru there...sofar...1 long thread

Cheers,
Luke
 
I wouldn't be so worried about having so many additions. If this was an IPA I'd say go for it, but this big of a beer should be aged about a year before it's really drinkable. I'd decrease the 60-20 minute additions to just a couple additions, maybe max 3 and just increase the quantity of each to keep the IBUs the same. After that go ahead and make late hop additions for more flavor and aroma within the last 15 minutes, maybe 15, 5 and at flameout at say 1-2 oz each.
 
Thank you for your responses...
that's exactly what i was looking for...
more sparge water, lots o yeast, bigger cooler, test everything out 1st...DME i want to stay away from, i bought all grain gear, i wanna brew all grain. But good point.

i think i will start a (and i hate to say it) middle of the road 1.045 beer and then pitch right on the yeast cake to take care of the yeast problem

also, I just found the 9/9/09 thread and learned alot thru there...sofar...1 long thread

Cheers,
Luke

I understand u have gone all grain and want to make all grain..but by cutting back to say 30 # base malt and 10# DME you will have the exact same beer with a few hours less of a boil. Believe me I made an Imperial stout this big all grain and that boil is such a pain in the ass....the flavor and beer will not change one bit..I am not saying make a partial mash becasue that is not a partial mash it is still all grain with a boost to get to the gravity desired..most big Imperial stouts and Barley wines u find on the stores are done this way...

this is my suggestion..or you can go out and buy an even bigger system to make this beer but that seems like a waste..I will never make that Imperial stout with out extract again...understand that this big a beer you will have just a fresh and good beer with a bit of DME than without..

this is my suggestion and I have been brewing for 5 years and done over 50 batches all grain....if you want to take this big beer on go for it..but it sounds and looks like an all day brew event...

J
 
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