another barley wine question

I'm thinking of brewing a barley wine now, so that it might be ready to drink next winter. I'm not yet sure what I'll use for a recipe, but I used BeerSmith to put something together that included mostly Maris Otter, some honey malt (or perhaps some biscuit), and some brown sugar along with a series of traditional UK hops (Northdown, EKG, Challenger). Does that sound "right"?

My main questions however have to do with the fermentation process. I assume I let it ferment just as I would any other beer? In other words I let it ferment at room temp for a few weeks (until SG plateaus). Do I then rack to a secondary and stash it away in my cellar? Or do I bottle it and then stash it away? If I bulk age it in a carboy, when do I bottle? Related, if I bulk age it in my cellar what will happen when the temps increase this summer (as they surely will, even in my cellar)? Will this be a problem?

Thanks for any and all feedback.

I say try it. I personally would ferment it in the cellar, maybe start it in June, then it will be ready to "cellar" when the temp drops again. We ferment everything in the cellar, lagers in winter, ales in summer, etc. temp gets down to 38F in winter, up to 68F in summer. Oh yea, don't forget to cask age it for a couple years too.

bump -

anyone else?

JLem said:

My main questions however have to do with the fermentation process. I assume I let it ferment just as I would any other beer? In other words I let it ferment at room temp for a few weeks (until SG plateaus). Do I then rack to a secondary and stash it away in my cellar?
Thanks for any and all feedback.

Click to expand...

This is what I did. I made mine last August and bottled it about six weeks ago. It tastes great.