20% ABV Imperial English Barleywine

[Quadzilla93]

Hey Folks, I've been developing this recipe for awhile now, and I finally was brave enough to actually brew it. First batch is still fermenting, but I'm open to discussion!

First off, here's the grain bill for a 5.5 gallon batch:

Mystic Cat - Imperial English Barleywine

• 35 lbs United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (78.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 3 lbs American - Munich - Light 10L (6.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 3 lbs American - Munich - Light 10L (6.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 2 lbs Flaked Barley (4.5% Total Grain Bill)
• 0.75 lbs American - Caramel 80L (1.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 0.75 lbs Belgian - Special B (1.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 3 oz Magnum (Pellet) [14% AA] 90 min 78.37 IBUs
• 1 oz UK Fuggle (Pellet) [4.5% AA] 15 min 3.89 IBUs
• 1 oz UK Fuggle (Pellet) [4.5% AA] 5 min 3.89 IBUs
• White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity Ale Yeast

Link to full Brewer's Friend recipe

For those of you skeptical of the ABV, I'm using the White Labs WLP099, which supposedly has a tolerance of 25%! It's an English derivative, and from the beautiful smells I'm getting when I open the fermenter (65ºF), it's got some Belgian fruitiness too.

I brewed this bad boy 5 days ago and had TERRIBLE efficiency- even though I brewed it on our SABCO BrewMagic RIMS System. I got 40 points below my goal OG of 1.192, which at 1.151 SG and the quoted attenuation rate, should still give me a 16% Barleywine, but I'm still disappointed (I REALLY wanted to hit that 20%!!!) My hypothesis is that since the SABCO was maxed out (literally full to the brim in the mash), there was no room for good circulation for the RIMS system. Plus my sparge sucked.

I've calculated this recipe at a 2.75 gallon batch volume, so my system can handle it. I'm going to try to brew it again at this volume in about a month or so:

Mystic Cat - Imperial English Barleywine (2.75 Gallon)

• 17.5 lbs United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (78.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 1.5 lbs American - Munich - Light 10L (6.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 1.5 lbs American - Munich - Light 10L (6.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 1.5 lbs Flaked Barley (4.5% Total Grain Bill)
• 0.38 lbs American - Caramel 80L (1.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 0.38 lbs Belgian - Special B (1.7% Total Grain Bill)
• 1.25 oz Magnum (Pellet) [14% AA] 90 min 78.37 IBUs
• 0.50 oz UK Fuggle (Pellet) [4.5% AA] 15 min 3.89 IBUs
• 0.50 oz UK Fuggle (Pellet) [4.5% AA] 5 min 3.89 IBUs
• White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity Ale Yeast

Link to full Brewer's Friend recipe

Here are my prewritten notes that I have in Brewer's Friend:

"First off, you'll notice that I calculated this with 60% efficiency. I only did this because our RIMS system (SABCO BrewMagic for all those interested) probably won't handle this beast as well as it does for a "normal" brew (around 78% efficiency). If you're using a cooler mash tun, you're going to want to pick up another cooler and split the mash between the two. If you do so, you can recalculate this recipe at your brewhouse efficiency, and change the grain bill accordingly (using the lovely Brewer's Friend calculators!). Note: Obviously I didn't even come close to my goal on trial one, but I'm going to take another wack at it with a 2.75 gallon batch.

Don't go with the standard 1.5 qt/lb water/grain ratio with this one. This is meant to be a chewy beer, so let's go with 1 qt/lb in the mash. We'll do a full hour at 144°F to make sure the beta-amylase is happy. Still want some palatable malty sweetness, so raise it up to 158°F for 25 minutes and let the alphas do their thing. Mash out at 168°F for some body.

Don't rush any of the processes or cut back on any expenses when you brew this beer. If you're going to attempt something like this, go hard or go home. Water chemistry, pH stabilizers, yeast nutrient, etc.; she deserves it all!

Note the 2-hour boil time (90 min for 2.75 gallon batch. Maillard reactions, homies. This beer is darker than the style guidelines, but then again, we're coloring outside the lines with this one.

You'll want to make two 2 Liter starters with the White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity Ale Yeast. It's an English Ale that has fruity notes that shine through better at higher gravity points, so have fun with it.

*Pro-Tip: Make your second starter out of the boiling wort and dilute it down to 1.040 SG. It'll make the starter environment closer to the one you're pitching into*

Pitch the first starter slurry at 65°F after you aerate the crap out of the wort (for you carboy-shakers, that means 5 minutes of vigorous shaking). If you're worried about over-oxygenating your wort (which is pretty hard to do with a brew of this size), use the olive oil method by dipping the tip of a sanitized sewing pin into olive oil and stirring it into the chilled wort (sounds crazy, huh?).

After 48 hours, hit this bad boy with another dose of oxygen to ensure maximum yeast reproduction and full attenuation (if you used the olive oil method, skip that step), then immediately pitch the second starter slurry (still at 65°F).

*Note: It's important to yell "SEND IN THE CALVARY!!!" when you pitch your second starter*

After primary fermentation starts to slow down a bit, melt 3 lbs of dextrose down into a simple syrup/caramel (DON'T BURN IT!), then pitch directly into the fermenter. You don't want to use too much water to make the syrup. Don't add the sugar at flame-out (like many recipes call for), because you want the WLP099 to chew through the maltose first, then let it get to the simple sugars. If you pitch the yeast after the dextrose, it will chew through the simple sugars first, and then be too tired to get through all of the maltose.

Primary fermentation at 65°F for 3-5 weeks. After you think it's done fermenting, warm it up a few degrees to see if any activity picks up. Once you're sure it's done, go ahead and move onto secondary.
Secondary fermentation at at 68-69°F for 2-6 months (use a CO2 blanket if you want to be safe)

If you're bottling, use a priming solution made of 3.5 oz of priming sugar. Pitch this solution along with another 1/2 package of WLP099. This yeast is supposedly tolerant up to 25% ABV, but it's better to be safe than sorry on a beer like this.

Give it a few months to condition before preliminary tasting. Don't babysit; let her do the work for you. Trust me, you'll reap the rewards in the end. Use the good stuff on this beer: Belgian beer bottles, beer corks/cages, wax beads, etc. She'll pay you in kind with age.

Save a few bottles by cellaring at 55°F (lay the bottles on the side). Try to plan it out so that you open one bottle each year for the next 10 years, and watch the flavors develop. Save them for a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, your biannual air filter changing, etc.)

Happy Brewing and Cheers!"

I would love some constructive criticism on this hypothetical grain bill. I'm going to post some pictures and readings from the brewday in the comments, and keep you posted as it ferments/ages. I'll also post results from trial 2, which should be happening in about a month.

I plan on opening the first bottle of each trial for tasting/comparison on Christmas of 2017

Happy Brewing and Cheers!

 

[imasickboy]

your biannual air filter changing

I change my air filters monthly.

I would've used significantly more Special B, just because I love what it brings to the table in a barleywine. Personal preference.

Efficiency will always suffer on big grain bills because of the huge amounts of water needed for sparging. Using proper amounts of water to hit normal mash efficiencies would cause a huge increase in boil time. So, we generally just take the efficiency hit, because no one wants to boil for four hours.

Step feeding 099 is best if you don't want the fruity flavors. But that usually requires canning portions of the wort, which creates additional nuisances, but is worth it to me.

 

[Sleepyemt]

You could do sugar feedings to get closer to 20%, if your still interested. My Imperial stout is at 19.5%