Grendel, English Barleywine

Type: Partial Mash
Date: 1/29/2011

Batch Size: 5.5 gal
Brewer: Milk
Boil Size: 8.32 gal
Boil Time: 240 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 62.00

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 25.00 %
4 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
4 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 7.50 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 7.50 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 5.00 %

1.75 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 58.6 IBU
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (45 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
0.75 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (30 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
1.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
1 lbs Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 5.00 %
2 Pkgs Thames Valley Ale (Wyeast Labs #1275) Yeast-Ale


Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 14.00 lb
Sparge Water: 5.00 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH


Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
45 min Mash In Add 21.00 qt of water at 160.6 F 151.0 F

Muscovado sugar not located. Used 15oz Brown Sugar and 1oz Blackstrap Molasses instead.
Too much wort. Ended up collecting around 8.5 gallons. Boiled down to target of 6.41 before starting my hour boil.

I ended up boiling this sucker for 4 hours to get it down to the desired level.

I wish I would've used a LOT more yeast for this guy or re-pitched. I didn't have enough yeast left alive to bottle condition so my bottles have very low carbonation right now (even after 6 months).

I also got really low efficiency but I'm still working the kinks out of my system.

I named this beer Grendel because it was intended to be entered at a homebrew contest at the Heorot bar in Muncie, IN but I didn't think it was competition worthy given the level of carbonation. I plan on brewing this again in the future and making some minor adjustments, like simplifying the grain bill a bit and using a giant starter.

I think even given the low carbonation this is still an excellent barleywine. I was going for something like a Hardy's and I think I hit it damn close on aroma and flavor. I have a case of these I'm going to let sit for a few years to see how they mature.

I would tend to agree with simplifying your grain bill. You've got two different Crystal malts, plus the Cara-pils. Why not just use 1.3 lbs of the Crystal 60? Also, I would make the molasses substitution for the brown sugar permanent -- I think it gives a more interesting flavor.

Hop-wise, since you are shooting for a pretty traditional English strong ale flavor, why not stick with traditional English hops? Load up on the Fuggles.

hercher said:

I would tend to agree with simplifying your grain bill. You've got two different Crystal malts, plus the Cara-pils. Why not just use 1.3 lbs of the Crystal 60? Also, I would make the molasses substitution for the brown sugar permanent -- I think it gives a more interesting flavor.

Hop-wise, since you are shooting for a pretty traditional English strong ale flavor, why not stick with traditional English hops? Load up on the Fuggles.

Click to expand...

I like the idea of Crystal 60 and Fuggles. I haven't mastered the art of recipe creation yet so I've been pulling from different sources. As for the molasses, I found a recipe that called for muscovado sugar, which is a darker brown sugar found in England. Since I couldn't find it anywhere, someone (on the internet) said I could add molasses to my brown sugar to make it darker and more "muscovado-like."

Thanks for the feedback!