Greetings, HBT'ers. I am working up a Barleywine to brew this coming weekend- have been doing research and looking at sample recipes and techniques for going on three years now. I am just about ready to throw down- here are my goals:
Inspiration/Goal: Somewhere between FW Sucaba and SN Bigfoot- yes, I know that is a wide range of Barleywines, I love the oak aged aspects of sucaba, but appreciate the hoppyness and drier nature of Bigfoot. I used some notes from Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles.
I bottle condition, and the last strong brew I did took more than a year to carb- it was a 13% BDS. It is drinking nice now, 2 years later, but is bigger than I want to go on this brew, in terms of booziness. I realize that some boozy notes are inherent in a BW, but I would like to tone this down, and am therefore shooting for something about 9.5-10%, still a respectable ABV, IMHO.
Here goes:
Water: 11 Gallons RO water, CaCl2 and Gypsum per Gordon Strong's Recommendation (which should I use- his malty recommendation or hoppy?)
Grain/Fermentables:
17 lbs 2Row, US
0.5 lbs Crystal 20
0.5 lbs Crystal 80
0.25 lbs Chocolate Malt (Belgian?)
0.25 lbs Special B
1 lb Turbinado (@ Flameout)
Mash @ 149, 90 Minute Boil
OG: 1.090
Hops:
2 oz Magnum @ 60 (my typical bittering hop- or should I use something with a little more character like chinook or nugget?)
1.5 oz Amarillo @ 5
1.5 oz Centennial @ 5
1 oz Chinook @ 5
Misc:
Whirlfloc @ 10 min
Yeast Nutrient (3 tsp) and DAP (1 tsp) @ 10 mins
IBU:
80.1
BU/GU:
0.918
Yeast:
WLP 007, Dry English Ale Yeast, 2 L Starter + 1 Vial for good measure, I don't want a lack of yest to lead to a lack of attenuation.
Cool to 62, Pitch, Pure O2 through sintered stone for 60 seconds
Set fermentation chamber to 65 and let it ride! Raise temp to 70 once fermentation is slowed to encourage finish.
Primary for 3 weeks, minimum.
Rack onto Bourbon Oak: I have some cool stuff- pieces of a used bourbon oak barrel, that I have been soaking in Makers Mark for almost a year now. Could use guidance on how much. Pieces are bigger than cubes, smaller than staves. Picture attached. I was thinking between 3-5 ounces for about a month, then package/bottle to bulk age. Should be ready by next holiday season.
Thoughts?
I really would like to hear from the community. Your thoughts/criticisms/ideas? These types of brews are not every day numbers, so I am hoping to put this out to the community to get feedback in hopes of the best possible outcome the first time out, as I don't plan on rebrewing this often. I know this is a long post- I hop you find it interesting enough to offer some advise or opinion! Thanks!
Inspiration/Goal: Somewhere between FW Sucaba and SN Bigfoot- yes, I know that is a wide range of Barleywines, I love the oak aged aspects of sucaba, but appreciate the hoppyness and drier nature of Bigfoot. I used some notes from Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles.
I bottle condition, and the last strong brew I did took more than a year to carb- it was a 13% BDS. It is drinking nice now, 2 years later, but is bigger than I want to go on this brew, in terms of booziness. I realize that some boozy notes are inherent in a BW, but I would like to tone this down, and am therefore shooting for something about 9.5-10%, still a respectable ABV, IMHO.
Here goes:
Water: 11 Gallons RO water, CaCl2 and Gypsum per Gordon Strong's Recommendation (which should I use- his malty recommendation or hoppy?)
Grain/Fermentables:
17 lbs 2Row, US
0.5 lbs Crystal 20
0.5 lbs Crystal 80
0.25 lbs Chocolate Malt (Belgian?)
0.25 lbs Special B
1 lb Turbinado (@ Flameout)
Mash @ 149, 90 Minute Boil
OG: 1.090
Hops:
2 oz Magnum @ 60 (my typical bittering hop- or should I use something with a little more character like chinook or nugget?)
1.5 oz Amarillo @ 5
1.5 oz Centennial @ 5
1 oz Chinook @ 5
Misc:
Whirlfloc @ 10 min
Yeast Nutrient (3 tsp) and DAP (1 tsp) @ 10 mins
IBU:
80.1
BU/GU:
0.918
Yeast:
WLP 007, Dry English Ale Yeast, 2 L Starter + 1 Vial for good measure, I don't want a lack of yest to lead to a lack of attenuation.
Cool to 62, Pitch, Pure O2 through sintered stone for 60 seconds
Set fermentation chamber to 65 and let it ride! Raise temp to 70 once fermentation is slowed to encourage finish.
Primary for 3 weeks, minimum.
Rack onto Bourbon Oak: I have some cool stuff- pieces of a used bourbon oak barrel, that I have been soaking in Makers Mark for almost a year now. Could use guidance on how much. Pieces are bigger than cubes, smaller than staves. Picture attached. I was thinking between 3-5 ounces for about a month, then package/bottle to bulk age. Should be ready by next holiday season.
Thoughts?
I really would like to hear from the community. Your thoughts/criticisms/ideas? These types of brews are not every day numbers, so I am hoping to put this out to the community to get feedback in hopes of the best possible outcome the first time out, as I don't plan on rebrewing this often. I know this is a long post- I hop you find it interesting enough to offer some advise or opinion! Thanks!