Brewing for deploying friend - Long Aging

So a very good friend of mine will be heading to Afganistan for a tour of duty in a month or 2. We decided to brew a big beer to age while he was gone and open it when he returns. I have absolutly no recipies for anything that would take advantage of that kind of aging and was hoping i could get some to show him as i'm letting him choose. I'm primaraly an extract brewer but i'm sure most recipes can be converted from AG to extract. Thanks!

a big barley wine should work nicely.

You could check the recipe section of this forum for big beers, or if you have decided on a style, listen to The Jamil Show (The Brewing Network.com - Shows and Podcasts: The Jamil Show) for that style and you'll get a really good recipe out of it.

I've never brewed a big beer, so I can't help with specific recipes.

-Steve

I would agree with the barley wine. Also look into Belgian brews. How long is he going out for? I'm assuming in the 6-8 month range?

He'll be gone for 12-18 months. So it will age the whole time. Not breaking this baby open till he comes back.

+1 Barley Wine

Also as long as you are at it make up a batch of Apfelwein should be great in that time frame. My first 6 months I did not enjoy it but all of a sudden it just got much better.

And wish him well from all of us brewers!

+1 Apfelwein, if that's the kind of thing your friend likes. I have one that's over a year old and it tastes great.

-Steve

Why not the Barley Wine AND the Apfelprisonhooch?

He deserves it!

We are going to do some style "sampling" this week and pick a style. He'll only be in town for a week so we're brewing next weekend. I wanted to get some recipes together so we can get started as soon as he chooses.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

Why not the Barley Wine AND the Apfelprisonhooch?

He deserves it!

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Why not Barley Wine AND Apfelwein AND Mead??? go ahead, plan to get him good and drunk when he gets back home, by then he will definitely deserve it.

(btw, thats my new favorite name for apfelwein!)

OR you could brew a really BIG stout that would be delicious by the time he got back.
-Me

I vote for a Big American Barleywine, nice and hoppy, with a couple additions of Dry Hops before he heads home. Or just call it a Triple IPA.

Please do wish him well for us. I hope his deployment is uneventful.