Ghost of Christmas Future Barleywine

I know the name is kinda lame, but it has a point. I bottled it in champagne bottles, and the plan is to give these away as Christmas presents this year. Brewed it in June, so the idea is everyone gets 2 bottles, 1 to open this year 1 to open next Christmas.

I just opened 1 of the 12 oz. bottles I had for a taste test and it is great. The maltiness is INTENSE, but in a good way. Well-balanced with the hops, but not over the top. The flavor of the Goldings cuts through great in the end and the bourbon flavors are very mild.

It seems like people have been looking for barleywine recipes a lot lately, so here is what I did. Next time I might simplify the grain bill a little, I was throwing a little of this and a little of that in there since I had it around.

Ghost of Christmas Future Bourbon Barrel Barleywine (2006)

Selected Style and BJCP Guidelines
Strong Ale-English Barleywine

Min SG: 1.080 Max SG: 1.120 Gravity in SG
Min IBU: 35 Max IBU: 70
Min Color: 8.0 Max Color: 22.0 Color in SRM


Recipe Overview
Pre-Boil Wort Volume: 5.50 US gals Post-Boil Wort Volume: 5.00 US gals
Pre-Ferment Batch Volume: 5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.086 SG Expected OG: 1.094 SG
Expected FG: 1.027 SG
Expected ABV: 9.1 % Expected ABW: 7.0 %
Expected IBU: 49.7 Expected Color: 17.3 SRM
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 % Approx Color:
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF


Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % When
US Pale Ale Malt 12.00 lbs 73.8 % In Mash/Steeped
Extract - Light Dried Malt Extract 2.00 lbs 12.3 % In Mash/Steeped
US Flaked Barley 0.50 lbs 3.1 % In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 60L Malt 0.50 lbs 3.1 % In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 80L Malt 0.50 lbs 3.1 % In Mash/Steeped
US Victory Malt 0.50 lbs 3.1 % In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Special B 0.25 lbs 1.5 % In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount Form When
UK Target 8.5 1.0 oz Pelletized Hops All Of Boil
UK Fuggle 3.3 1.0 oz Pelletized Hops 60 Min From End
UK Golding 6.2 1.0 oz Pelletized Hops 30 Min From End
UK Fuggle 3.3 0.5 oz Pelletized Hops 5 Min From End
UK Golding 5.5 0.5 oz Pelletized Hops 5 Min From End
UK Fuggle 3.3 0.5 oz Pelletized Hops Dry-Hopped
UK Golding 6.2 0.5 oz Pelletized Hops Dry-Hopped

Yeast
White Labs WLP004-Irish Ale


Others
1 oz. of oak chips (soaked in bourbon) added with dry hops

It would make sense to go with a pound of 60L OR 80L and drop the Special B. A barleywine is a good way to use up leftovers. They age long enough things blend together.

I might try EGK & Fuggles in my next one, I like both of them.

Cool, I have been trying to nail down a good BW recipe for a little while now. Do you think you would up the IBU's next time? 49 seems really low to me for such a big beer.

After calculating the IBUs the way I calculate them the IBUs for this particular BW is ~74. The only hops I considered were the hops that were in boil for more than 10 minutes. In my experience those added with 10 min or less to go for the boil may contribute ~1 point.

This is the formula I use to arrive at IBUs - I beleive taken from JP.

Target = 8.5 AA x 1 (weight in oz) x .4 (% utilization of time (90min))
= 3.4 AAI (Alpha Acid Isomerization)
= 3.4 AAI / .01335 (constant #) / 5.5 (batch volume) = 46 IBUs

Fuggle = 3.3 AA x 1 (weight in oz) x .3 (% utilization of time (60min))
= .99 AAI (Alpha Acid Isomerization)
= .99 AAI / .01335 (constant #) / 5.5 (batch volume) = 14 IBUs

:fro: Goldings = 6.2 AA x 1 (weight in oz) x .15 (% utilization of time (30min))
= .93 AAI (Alpha Acid Isomerization)
= .93 AAI / .01335 (constant #) / 5.5 (batch volume) = 13 IBUs

Adding them all up you arrive at 73 add 1 for the rest of the hops added at 5 min and 0 for the dry hops and you get 74 IBUs - 14 points higher than the expected.

If applied to other recipes I am consistantly above their expected IBUs. I beleive it is because the isomerization rates used. However, the rates are an estimate and believe them to be very close to actual extraction rate of hop oils.

Thoughts?:rockin:

- WW

I put all that in promash and it only gave me 46IBUs. Could it be you're not compensating for the gravity of the wort? The higher the gravity, the lower the utilization of the hops.

Also, 74-49=25 Where did you get 14 from?

I meant 24. Could be the gravity too.

I will look into and get back.

Thanks

- WW

Yeah, I think I would up the IBUs next time. Its not bad right now. As I said, It's going to be given away as gifts, so I didn't want anything too intense. The hop flavor and aroma is there and its great. The bittering hops are there, but I think I will up them if I do it again next year!