Recipe Crit : Barley Wine

This is my fist Barley Wine recipe - All opinions and advise welcome.
Believe it or not I have never tasted a BW as they are simpy not available here (like most styles) but from what Ive read Im sure they're tasty

I plan on pitching 2 packets of Nottingham to start and then another packet a week later.
Will this be enough ?
Do I need to re-hydrate ?

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Nottingham (2 to start followed by 1 a week later)
Yeast Starter: ???
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.111
Final Gravity: 1.026
IBU: 82.8
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 9.2 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 weeks @ 65 F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 months @ 72 F
Bottle Condition : 6 months
Mash Temp : 149 for 90 mins (single infusion)

Recipe :
8.5kg Pale 2-row (77.27%)
1 kg Flaked Barley (9.09%)
0.75kg Munich 10L (6.82%)
0.75kg Vienna (6.82%)
plus: vitaferm and Irish moss for 10 mins

Hops (all 8.5% Northern Brewer) :
2oz 90 mins (FWH)
1oz 60 mins
1oz 30 mins
1oz 15 mins
1oz 5 mins

Looks tasty to me, nice simple recipe.

2 packs of Nottingham should be enough, rehydration is probably a good idea given the high OG of the wort.

Good luck.

I don't see any need to pitch a 3rd packet of Notty after a week of fermentation. I agree, rehydration is probably a good idea.

Thanks guys.
Rehydrate by mixing yeast with warm water about 30 minutes before pitching ? or do I need to make a proper starter ?

You are right with the rehydration technique. Use about 95*f/ 35*c water. Personally, if you have never made this big of a beer I would go smaller. Barleywine starts at 1.080 and so starting right off at 1.110 is a huge step. Especially if you are having questions with your process. Might I suggest going with a 1.090 or 1.100 OG so that you don't end up with something that is overtly sweet. It being summer where you are, do you have fermentation control so that you can keep it about 20c for the first week and then up to about 25c for the next couple? This will greatly improve your chances of a clean and well attenuated beer.

Either way, good luck and let us know what you go with.

Good point on the gravity, I may reduce the recipe to 1.100.
You're right about the heat - its been cooking here lately - 35C+ and 85% humidity. That said, my swamp cooler keeps temps around 18C.

I brewed this on Saturday. I forgot I was only making 22L and not my usual 44L batch and only remembered when I had sparged 40L. At that point the wort was 1.068. I boiled for 2.5hrs to get it to 1.108 and pitched 2X notty. All day yesterday fermentation was going crazy. I had to clear the blowoff several times. Bucket lid popped open a few times.

What effect will the 2.5hr boil have on the final product ? I know colour is affected - what else ? I adjusted my hops to get the same IBU.

You will get more melanoidin production which is resposible for the color and some of the more rich malt notes, if anything a longer boil will help the flavor of the finished beer. I've done a couple big beers with 2-3 hour boils with good results.

Excellent - thanks.

Keep the fermentation as close to 20c as you can for a week and then get it up to about 22-23c for the rest of primary. I found that by doing that on my barley wine, I got my FG to 1.025, which is right in the range I was aiming for. This beer will ferment heavy for the first three to four days and then really slow down, and that is the main time to make sure that it doesn't fall in temperature. Again, summer, probably not going to have the problem with less than 20c

Aerate the piss out if it

I checked yesterday (three days) - its down to 1.026 (74%) already. Im very happy with that. Its still in the swamp with ice packs. I will leave it there 'till the weekend. 1.022 will be nice.

From 1.108 to 1.026 is a damned fine accomplishment already. Be happy if it stays there. Well done sir

Thanks ! I'll report back again in three weeks when it goes to 2ndary - no sample 'till then.

Into 2ndary today - 1.023 / 11.2% abv / 76.9% attenuation.
Tasted great. Now its secondary for 5 months, then bottle for 5 months.