3 year bottle conditioning

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pd230soi

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Greetings,

I am looking for an extract ale that would do well to bottle condition for three years. I will be gone for three years and my collection of 22 oz bottles will be staying with a kind friend. I have a porter brewed for him that will take up about 4 cases, but was looking for something I could brew in the next week or so, bottle in the middle of June (4 or 5 weeks in primary), and then enjoy in the year 2013.

Currently I have brewed about 35-40 gallons with good results, but sticking with extract (plus steeping grains) and so far all dry yeast. I could make a starter, but maybe I should stick to what I know.

Almost any style would please my taste buds.. I was thinking Belgian, but can you use dry yeast?

I will of course be bring the rest of brew gear along with me, just not 8 cases of bottles....

Thanks!
 
Greetings,

I am looking for an extract ale that would do well to bottle condition for three years. I will be gone for three years and my collection of 22 oz bottles will be staying with a kind friend. I have a porter brewed for him that will take up about 4 cases, but was looking for something I could brew in the next week or so, bottle in the middle of June (4 or 5 weeks in primary), and then enjoy in the year 2013.

Currently I have brewed about 35-40 gallons with good results, but sticking with extract (plus steeping grains) and so far all dry yeast. I could make a starter, but maybe I should stick to what I know.

Almost any style would please my taste buds.. I was thinking Belgian, but can you use dry yeast?

I will of course be bring the rest of brew gear along with me, just not 8 cases of bottles....

Thanks!



https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f73/dark-belgian-trappist-style-ale-173349/
 
You don't want to make a belgian with dry yeast. The guy above me (or above Revvy who posted while I was) was actually promoting bottle harvesting...not sure if you want to do that.

I am thinking Barleywine might be your best bet. You can make it with S-05 and it will age nicely over 3 years with an abv of 11-12%. Alternatives would be a wee heavy, but with S-04 instead of irish yeast or some type of imperial stout.
 
Well, I actually brewed this IIPA with no dry hop and intense hop flavor additions with the sole purpose of cellaring it in mind. I bet after three years, this beer would be amazing. Maybe even oak it before you bottle.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/hopburst-imperial-ipa-173348/

I feel like after 3 years this beer would just be very bitter. Most of the hop flavor, if not all, would be gone and you would be left with just a very bitter beer.

If you want to achieve a huge IPA effect, I would brew it up with the desired bitterness and then dry hop it at the end of the aging process. Note that this would tie up a fermenter or keg for the aging process but would allow you to dry hop very late in the aging process and then drink it while the flavor and aroma is fresh.

But who knows, I have never tried to age a hopbursted IPA so I am only basing this off of conjecture. Although my pliny turned into something pretty bitter with little hop flavor after only a few months.
 
Thanks everyone. I was actually thinking about a barleywine, but know so little about them. Maybe a bit of reading this evening is in order.

I could use a smack pack and make a starter - I just have not done it yet. If I was to use a vial would a Trippel or a Farmhouse Ale hold up well after 3 years? I am not sure what the Belgian style have my attention today...

I will search the recipe section and maybe ask opinions later.

Thanks all!
 
Thanks everyone. I was actually thinking about a barleywine, but know so little about them. Maybe a bit of reading this evening is in order.

I could use a smack pack and make a starter - I just have not done it yet. If I was to use a vial would a Trippel or a Farmhouse Ale hold up well after 3 years? I am not sure what the Belgian style have my attention today...

I will search the recipe section and maybe ask opinions later.

Thanks all!

A larger tripel would probably do pretty well. I would look into Belgian Golden or Dark Strong Ales or perhaps a Quad, though.

Oh, and a Barleywine depends on whether its English or American, but it basically tastes like a more balanced, less hop flavor, much larger IPA with a slight alcohol burn taste (kind of like cognac to my pallete) that fades over time.
 
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