Spiced English Barleywine

I've brewed up a 1 gallon batch of English Barleywine that I would like to spice and have ready for next Christmas.

My recipe is as follows;

1.5 lbs Maris Otter
1.5 lbs Mild Malt
0.5 lbs Crystal 75
0.25 lbs Honey Malt

0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @45 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @30 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @15 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @5 min

Yeast: Nottingham

IBU: 37.8
OG: 1.091
Ex FG: 1.022
Ex ABV: 9.2%

I'm thinking of racking to a secondary onto some spices and dried fruit.

What I'm thinking is;

2 oz cinnamon
1/2 whole clove
pinch of nutmeg
handful of split raisins

Am I on the right track in terms of spices/fruit? If not, what are your suggestions?

Anyone done a spiced barleywine before? I'd appreciate some guidance.

jharres said:

0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @45 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @30 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @15 min
0.25 oz Williamette (4.5) @5 min


IBU: 37.8
OG: 1.091

Click to expand...

What you have here will be really, really sweet. You probably should have 1.5 to 2 oz or so of Willamette at 60 mins to balance out the high gravity, and sweetness. This would be waaaay to sickly sweet for my tastes. I would have aimed for an IBU in the 60s for a more balanced barleywine, or about 100 IBUs for a bold, hoppy barleywine. Remember that the hoppiness fades with time. The hop-mad Bigfoot that I get each spring fades to a mellow, sweet barleywine by Christmas.

I don't think the raisins will affect the taste too much, nor will a small amount of nutmeg. Some Ginger perhaps... slice the fresh stuff and throw into the mix... should work out well given your sweetness.

You could also add some more hoppiness and make a hop tea... basically boil a small amount of water with hops for 60 mins and then add back into the beer. This would really help with the balance.

Good luck!

Ah, ok, thanks. I'm not a huge fan of really hoppy beers, so I was staying on the conservative side with the hops.

Should I do a 60 minute boil on a whole ounce of Williamette to help balance this, or will a shorter boil or smaller amount of hops suffice?

Hmmm....ginger, that is interesting. What about the cinnamon, is 2 oz too much? Basically, I was thinking of just breaking off about a quarter of a stick and throwing it in there.

Also, if I do the hop tea thing, would I just add that into secondary as well? If so, I've about an inch of sediment on the bottom of the carboy, so this would help round it back out to a full gallon in secondary.