English Barleywine Water

For the water pros out there I have a question. What would my best option be for a perfectly balanced English Barleywine water be? Some say use the Burton profile but I truly shy away from that high of a sulfate. This is going to be a 15% beer and I am looking at aging this for a very long time. Say about 20 years. I will have a tester every year so in case I vapor lock before it is done I will have at least tried it.

Another thing this is going in to a bourbon barrel for about 4 months before I bottle so that will alter the flavor profile a bit. I want all of this to match with the water to get the best beer possible. I am starting with RO water and building up from there.

While sulfate is a welcome element in a malty english ale to aid in drying the finish, I wouldn't go so far as using a Burton or pale ale profile. A much lower sulfate content is called for in my opinion. I don't think I would exceed much more than about 100 ppm sulfate. So the Balanced or Bitter profiles in Bru'n Water would be OK for creating this beer.

Although this is a malt focused beer, there will be NO problem with sweetness in this big beer. So including a modest sulfate content will be beneficial to the end product. The balanced or bitter profiles will be suited. I would not use a Malty profile due to its low sulfate content.

By the way, I've made pale ales with 100 ppm sulfate and they were far from presenting a 'bitter' perception. So that sulfate level will be fine for a barleywine.

Thank you mabrungard. The help is greatly appreciated. I will go with the amber bitter and that should give me the profile I need without going overboard on salt additions.

Cheers and Merry Christmas

A barley wine is just a big ale. As such it can be anything you like which is rich in flavor and includes some of those associated with sherries or vermouths i.e. oxidized flavors, raisin and cherry, vanilla etc. It can be dry if you want it that way (I wouldn't) or as sweet as you like (without being cloying - I wouldn't like it that way either) or nasty bitter (the way most people like it) or with balanced bitterness. IOW you have lots of flexibility in what you do with water, hops, grain bill, saccharification temperature, boil, how you age it etc. If you don't have ideas as to what you want the BJCP guidelines will tell you what you should like.

Given the diversity of potential outcomes I usually recommend a pretty neutral starting water: something like RO with perhaps 3 grams of gypsum and 3 grams of calcium chloride per 5 gallons treated.

Aging on wood can have profound flavor effects. If the barrel contains residual whisky (and some contain quite a bit i.e. a cup or so) that can dominate the flavor of the beer completely so it doesn't taste like barley wine - it tastes like whisky. Wood can contribute some lovely flavors like vanilla but it can also contribute harsh tannins which I guess will eventually complex and fall out.

If you are using a barrel fresh from a distillery do not lower a sulfur candle into it to sterilize it.

ajdelange said:

If you are using a barrel fresh from a distillery do not lower a sulfur candle into it to sterilize it.

Click to expand...

Said Gordon Strong!

Thank you both on the input. This will definitely help. I was probably over thinking my water strategy but from both AJ and Martin's advice I think simple wins the day.

We will know in about 20 years.