Barley Wine..

I was wondering how hard it is to make a Barley Wine.? I am new to brewing and my brother in law told me I should make him some. Is it like making any type of Ale, but with just more ingredients..? I have been checking online for some recipes, so I think I might try it.. I also read that guys let it age in the bottles for 1-2 years before drinking... I dont think I can wait that long with every bottle, but I might be able to keep a few out to age...

Thanks
AB

It isn't hard to make a barleywine. It's my understanding that a barleywine is just basically a beer that has an ABV over 10%. Usually they increase the ABV by adding more fermentables than your average beer. You just need to find a recipe that catches your ineterest and make it. There are extract kits available too. I picked one up from Midwest Supplies and will make it probably tonight or tomorrow night.

Like Diver said a Barley Wine is merely a big beer so it's not much different especially for extract. One thing to consider is yeast pitching rate which such a big beer you need to increase the amount of yeast you pitch substantially from your typical 1.040-1.050 beer.
Other than that Barley Wine is the same process it just takes longer to ferment, secondary and bottle age to get the most out of a Barley Wine.

Yes, a barley wine can be a trying event if you do not know want you're getting into. I tried a imperial stout when I first started brewing (similar strength to a barley wine) and it was a cluster f***. I'd make sure to get your brewing practices down (especially in regard to yeast) before you end up dumping $50+ worth of ingredients like I did. Here are some tips:

1. Pitch a huge starter. I'm talking 4 liter+ for a lot of these beers. If you do not have this capability, using 2-3 packs of US-05, or US-04 would be a good place to start.

2. Aerate more than you normally would. High gravity wort has a tougher time getting oxygen into solution. Count on doing twice what you normally would.

3. Do all grain mashed low (148-149) and long (90 minutes +) to ensure a very fermentable wort. You can supplement with extract to get your gravity up there. I wouldn't do a beer like this with 100% extract because in my experience it is simply not fermentable enough to hit a low terminal gravity.

4. Use simple sugars (ie table sugar) for up to 10% of your fermentables. I like to hold this out of the initial fermentation and then slowly add them as the fermentation slows. This allows the yeast to work on the big malt sugars first and then finish up with something easy.

5. Watch your fermentation temps. Ferment cool (mid-60s) to start during the yeast growth phases and slowly ramp up to 70 or so at the end to get it to finish out. This will help keep the beer from get too harsh and solventy.

6. Be prepared for carbonation issues. If bottle conditioning, pitch fresh yeast at bottling time.

7. Watch the amount of crystal malt you use (I'd keep it less than 5%). With that much gravity there will be plenty of residual sweetness without added too much crystal. You want to focus on making the most fermentable wort you possibly can.

8. Use a blowoff tube....high gravity worts tends to go crazy and clog up airlocks.

I have made one so far and after 6 months in the botle it is fantastic. It was no harder than a regular brew BUT my efficiency was way low so be prepared for that. Rather than making a starter and worrying about pitching rates I just made a centenniel blond and transferred it to secondary then racked the barleywine right onto the yeast cake. I did add a pound of corn sugar in secondary to get my ABV up a bit but other than that just loke a regular beer except way more grains. I will be making another one soon.

Is there any real difference between an imperial beer and a barley wine?

Thanks for all the information. I might try one.. Stay tuned in case I need some pointers as Im making it..

AB

Aging will definitely help your Barleywine. I made one in Oct. 09. It tasted really sweet and too malty 3 months after I kegged it. I just chilled it down and carbonated it last week and it is starting to taste much better. I'm going to let it continue to condition til this winter before I really start letting people drink it. So in my case, aging it is a necesity not just a luxery. It really was hard to drink when it was younger. I also don't consider Barleywine a good style of beer to drink in the hot months anyway so waiting til this winter should be pretty easy.

If you are doing extract I would do a late addition with at least half of the extract. In my experience it will finish a little more on the dry side this way. I started doing this on my big beers. Plus you get more IBUs out of your hops this way. Patience, above all else, is the key with barley wines.

Brewer_Bob said:

Is there any real difference between an imperial beer and a barley wine?

Click to expand...

Imperial is just a word that people have been using currently to describe high alcohol beers. I'm pretty sure that the Russian Imperial Stout is the only official beer to use this word to describe it's high alcohol content (I think Imperial IPAs might also be legit, but I don't know).

I tend to think of a barleywine as an imperial pale ale, a very strongly hopped, very malty beer.

Side note: Has anyone else noted a sort of milk chocolately flavor in barleywines? Not the same as in porters and stouts, which I consider more like bittersweet chocolate. I had a smuttynose barleywine and I swear that it had melted Hershey's bars in it.

I haven't had any chocolate come through, but that sounds delicious. I'll have to look for that brew.