What to brew for 6mo to 1 year

I have a mr beer container sitting around and im thinking of doing a 6 month to one year ferment... the higher the abv the better in this one... so what should I make? A barley wine is probably the most obvious answer right? Any recipes that were AMAZING that you would LOVE to make but don't wanna wait another 6-12 months? (its only 2.5 gallons as a side note)

Look at barley wines, Belgian Quads and Trippels, Ever try a sour? Might be a good experiment.

i dunno, i look at it from the other side. if you're gonna put the care into fermenting something for a year and it turns out great, don't you want to have at least five gallons of it? remember it'll be another year before you get any more.

i use my small fermenters (1 gal glass jugs) for smaller experimental batches, or for when i need to brew on my stovetop for whatever reason. but when i'm betting big on a beer (in both time and dollars) i want as much of it as i can get.

i have considered trying a small batch of mead (i've never been a huge mead fan) and just forgetting about it, but even with that you want to transfer it off the yeast after awhile.

Beau815 said:

I have a mr beer container sitting around and im thinking of doing a 6 month to one year ferment... the higher the abv the better in this one... so what should I make? A barley wine is probably the most obvious answer right? Any recipes that were AMAZING that you would LOVE to make but don't wanna wait another 6-12 months? (its only 2.5 gallons as a side note)

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I'd do a lambic, along the lines of a Cantillon Framboise. Or any other sour, as long as you're ready to commit that Mr Beer to your permanent "sours only" fermenter.

No never did a sour... and not too versed on lambics, i did try one and i am not a sweet person. Its too much for me and i offer my wife lambics at the local brew pub because she likes sweet drinks more... i dont want to wait a year for that. id rather have a REAL deal barley wine or maybe the Belgian Quads and Trippels mentioned... i need to read up on doubles trippels and quads because its new to me although ive had a trippel before.

Beau815 said:

No never did a sour... and not too versed on lambics, i did try one and i am not a sweet person

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Lindeman's is by far the most common "lambic" in the US and it's very sweet (they back-sweeten with Splenda from what I understand). But it's not really very lambic-y, to the point where a lot of people don't really consider it a real lambic at all.

Most lambics are not sweet like that. Cantillon's particularly dry, which is why that's what I'd pick.

Is a Mr. Beer compatible with long storage?

Beau815 said:

No never did a sour... and not too versed on lambics, i did try one and i am not a sweet person.

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I love lambics and flanders ales but can't stand Lindemann's. Those beers are heavily sweetened and they taste like they use flavorings instead of real fruit. Real lambics including Lindemanns Cuvée René Grand Cru are dry, tart/sour and funky. Not like the rest of the Lindenmanns line.

I think a real good candidate for a 6+ month brew is a good russian imperial stout. The 08-08-08 recipe was excellent and made an outstanding beer. This one will be great at 6months and continue to improve with age.

Craig

CB i didnt think of that... I think an RIS would be a good idea. Thanks for mentioning a recipe, ill check it out. Oh, and I dont know if a mr beer is suitable for a 6 month ferment... i heard thats what people use them for after they go bigger... so not definite.

Check out Lord Fatbottom, from Northern Brewer