Barleywine help/advice

[MaddBaggins]

6 weeks ago I brewed a big barleywine. 1.118 OG, pitched 2 packs of rehydrated US05 and let it ride. Checked gravity at 4 weeks, 1.024.
Checked gravity again 1 week ago, 1.024. I pitched a rehydrated pack of EC1118 hoping to get it closer to 1.01. After 4 days, it's at 1.022.

I had planned on bottling it 2 days from now (mostly because I have time that day, time is very scarce right now). Should I let the EC1118 ride a week or two? Or pitch something else? Or if gravity stays at 1.022 just bottle it? Seems a little sweet to me for bottling.
Thoughts?

 

[BigPerm]

1.022 isn't out of line for a beer that big. I doubt you're going to drop much further. I don't see any need to rush to bottle though; i might give it a few weeks at least to bulk age.

 

[PhillyMike]

Why would you want a Barleywine to drop to 1.01?

 

[MaddBaggins]

Why would you want a Barleywine to drop to 1.01?

Closer to 1.01, not necessarily all the way(1.018 would be perfect, pushing it over 13%). I do want to dry it out some.
But, if it's done, it's done.

Time wise, I'm running out of time to deal with homebrew. I'm working fulltime and also working fulltime on opening my craft beer bar. The plan is to take it easy this weekend, so I have time to bottle things I have at home and I think I should brew something for keg also. My HB pipeline is getting thin.

 

[xcdarrel17]

I wouldn't be too upset with that FG, sounds about right to me. I brewed a similar barleywine, just to give you a heads up, it's going to be a little while before all that alcohol settles down and it becomes drinkable. Mine are drinking nicely now about a year after brew date. The first few months they were way to boozy.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I wouldn't be too upset with that FG, sounds about right to me. I brewed a similar barleywine, just to give you a heads up, it's going to be a little while before all that alcohol settles down and it becomes drinkable. Mine are drinking nicely now about a year after brew date. The first few months they were way to boozy.

I don't generally drink barleywines in the summer. These will ride in the bottle for at least 6 months before drinking.

 

[Calder]

I think it is done. EC1118 is not going to bring it down much (if any ... but I see you got 2 points). EC1118 will not work on the complex sugars that are left.

Not sure what is right, but there is an alternate abv calculator for high gravity beers, which would probably put you at 14% or higher (see Brewers friend).

1.022 would be too sweet for me, there are a lot of sugars in a BW, and 1.022 in a 13% beer is a lot sweeter than 1.022 in a 1.080 beer (which would also be too sweet for me).

I don't know how much simple sugar you used, but that is the only way to bring a monster down to a low FG. Need to design the beer from the start to get a low FG if that is what you are after.

Either bottle in a few days, or leave it a few months. The beer will be fine.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I think it is done. EC1118 is not going to bring it down much (if any ... but I see you got 2 points). EC1118 will not work on the complex sugars that are left.

Not sure what is right, but there is an alternate abv calculator for high gravity beers, which would probably put you at 14% or higher (see Brewers friend).

1.022 would be too sweet for me, there are a lot of sugars in a BW, and 1.022 in a 13% beer is a lot sweeter than 1.022 in a 1.080 beer (which would also be too sweet for me).

I don't know how much simple sugar you used, but that is the only way to bring a monster down to a low FG. Need to design the beer from the start to get a low FG if that is what you are after.

Either bottle in a few days, or leave it a few months. The beer will be fine.

Bummer about the EC1118. I haven't used it before, but the guy at the LHBS thought it would get the gravity down. I guess I should have used WLP099. The samples aren't too sweet for me, so I'll roll with it. I don't usually brew anything above 9%.
I had about a 15# grain bill and 6#DME. Next time, I'll pull back some of that DME and use cane sugar.

 

[GrogNerd]

brewed a batch of Imperial Pumpkin Ale with WLP007 Dry English, took it from 1.125 to 1.008

re-aerated 24 hours after pitch
added maple syrup and yeast nutrient on day 4
add 11 oz jar of Lyle's Golden Syrup and an additional pitch of yeast on day 6
add 1/2 lb sugar on day 8

it was sitting at 1.018 right before that last sugar addition and now I wish I had left it alone at that point

was way too boozy to begin with, after 6 months it mellowed out. still too dry which over-emphasizes the spices, and that was only a teaspoon for a 2.5gallon batch. after 1 year it got much better. it's at a year & 1/2 now, I might have to try a bottle

bottled with CBC-1, rehydrated & added it to priming solution in bottling bucket as I racked

 

[MaddBaggins]

Just took another sample. 1.022 still. I think I'll hit it with WLP099 and let it go a little longer. Or maybe just let it go, sans extra yeast. Hmmm

 

[fsr_racer]

I had a similar issue recently, had one stall out at 1.030 after 4mos bulk aging, through some 1118 shortly before bottling w/ brown sugar for priming. After about a month in the bottle it carbed up nice and dried out quite a bit.

 

[Calder]

Just took another sample. 1.022 still. I think I'll hit it with WLP099 and let it go a little longer. Or maybe just let it go, sans extra yeast. Hmmm

EC1118 is a 'Killer' yeast. . That means that when added to a fermenting ale will kill off the ale yeast already present. I would be concerned that the EC1118 yeast that is already in the beer would kill the WLP099, and you would get very little if any from it.

WLP099 is not a 'Super-attenuating' yeast, it is just a high alcohol tolerant yeast. If you just have complex sugars left, which I suspect is what you have, it may do nothing.

I had a similar issue recently, had one stall out at 1.030 after 4mos bulk aging, through some 1118 shortly before bottling w/ brown sugar for priming. After about a month in the bottle it carbed up nice and dried out quite a bit.

I assume it only worked on the priming sugar, and had little impact on the 1.030 FG, otherwise you would have gushers, or possibly bottle bombs. The dryness perception is probably from the carbonation, and not a result of a lowering of the FG.

 

[MaddBaggins]

EC1118 is a 'Killer' yeast. . That means that when added to a fermenting ale will kill off the ale yeast already present. I would be concerned that the EC1118 yeast that is already in the beer would kill the WLP099, and you would get very little if any from it.

WLP099 is not a 'Super-attenuating' yeast, it is just a high alcohol tolerant yeast. If you just have complex sugars left, which I suspect is what you have, it may do nothing.

Well, that settles it. I'll let it sit a few more weeks then bottle with simple sugar for priming.

 

[cjgenever]

barley wine will do best kept out of the pipeline. Brew something else and let that puppy age!

 

[GrogNerd]

barley wine will do best kept out of the pipeline. Brew something else and let that puppy age!

that's a good point

guess I overlooked it because I make my barleywines as a parti-gyle

 

[MaddBaggins]

Still at 1.022 taste is sweet and hot. I'm going to transfer to a secondary and bulk age for a while.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429119667.359194.jpg

 

[BierGut]

Nice color and clarity on that. Hope it ages well for you. That will be a nice beer to sip on while wrapping up the kids Christmas gifts.