BIAB Barleywine feedback

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kmos

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Hey folks,

I am brewing a barleywine for my buddy and his wife as a wedding gift -- I plan to bottle it and "vintage" it, the idea being they open a bottle on their anniversary each year for the next few years. I've only done one barleywine and it was an extract version. I plan to do this BIAB and so have replaced a lot of the base malt with extract.

Would welcome any suggestions or feedback -- thanks in advance!

6 Gal batch
120 min boil
Mash at 152

13# Maris Otter
6# Extra Light DME (late addition)
8oz Crystal 60
4oz Special B
4oz Chocolate malt

2.5 oz Target at 60

Pitch about 2L WLP005 slurry from a Brown Ale currently in primary.

Bulk age, then add 1.5oz medium plus french oak 3-4 wks before bottling.
 
Good call on partial extract. I've done BIAB barley wine twice with 19lb grain and it's not fun. Had efficiency and lifting issues. I think I would've gotten close to the same OG using a few lb less grain. Next time I try it, I'll probably do 15lb grain with extract to bump it the rest of the way. I see your recipe does just that.

Why 120 min boil? With BIAB, I squeeze and don't need to boil off water to hit target volume and OG. I believe mash temp could also be a bit lower if you want, since it'll gain body from the large amount of grain.

2.5 oz hops seem low IBU for barley wine. Mine used 8oz total: 60, 15, 5 min and dry hop additions. It really mellows out over time. Maybe it doesn't matter so much since you're not even trying for flavor/aroma additions?

Lots of healthy yeast is good. I used washed US-05 my first batch, and a cake the second. Between mash issues and the cake, I believe my 2nd batch didn't quite live up to the first.
 
Why 120 min boil? With BIAB, I squeeze and don't need to boil off water to hit target volume and OG.

The long boil is not so much to lower volume as it is to enhance flavor complexity. I've done it before on big beers and it seems to pay off.

2.5 oz hops seem low IBU for barley wine. Mine used 8oz total: 60, 15, 5 min and dry hop additions. It really mellows out over time. Maybe it doesn't matter so much since you're not even trying for flavor/aroma additions?

2.5 of Target gets me roughly 60 IBUs, which seems plenty to me (I prefer English Barleywines to American examples). I decided for a single charge at 60. Might add a 5 minute charge, but I'm not terribly worried about it.

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it.
 
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