Bjorn - Smoked Barley Wine

[Brewster2256]

Bjorn

Brew Type: All Grain Date: 4/7/2010
Style: Smoked American Barleywine
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Volume: 6.20 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Efficiency: 69.7 %


Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.2 %
4.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 18.4 %
2.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 11.5 %
1.00 lb Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.6 %
0.25 lb Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 1.1 %
3.00 oz Northdown [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 66.8 IBU
2.00 oz Tettnang [4.50%] (15 min) Hops 11.7 IBU
2.00 lb Honey (50.0 SRM) Sugar 9.2 %
California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter 2000 ml] - throwing the barley wine on an amber ale yeast cake.

Original Gravity: 1.113 SG
Final Gravity: 1.023 SG
Color: 20.3 SRM
Bitterness: 78.5 IBU
Alcohol by Volume: 11.8 %
Calories: 538 cal/pint

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Protein Rest Add 17.78 qt of water at 132.1 F, 122.0 F 30 min
Saccrification Add 15.80 qt of water at 183.2 F, 148.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 17.28 qt of water at 211.0 F, 168.0 F 10 min

Typical light bodied mash. Honey would be boiled and caramelized in a separate kettle until dark brown, and added during secondary fermentation.

Trying to think of spices to throw in. Black pepper or all-spice came to mind, but I was hoping for something more Scandinavian in origin. Juniper berries maybe, but how would that taste?

Any recommended changes/suggestions/ridicule would be appreciated.

 

[Brewster2256]

Might soak some toasted oak chips in bourbon for a couple weeks and throw em in secondary for some additional tang.

 

[Brewster2256]

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.1 %
3.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 16.5 %
3.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 14.1 %
2.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 11.8 %
0.25 lb Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 1.2 %
3.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 69.8 IBU
2.00 oz Tettnang [4.50%] (15 min) Hops 12.2 IBU
2.00 lb Honey (50.0 SRM) Sugar 9.4 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale

So they didn't have flaked rye, or Munich malt at my LHBS, so I changed the recipe around. Mashing as we speak.

Update:

O.G 1.103 Brewhouse efficiency: 77%- 2# honey yet to be added.

 

[Brewster2256]

(4/07/10-4/10/10)- Burst the airlock 3 hours after adding the yeast. Lack of insight on my part. Quickly installed a overflow tube leading into a sanitized growler. Fermented hot, up to 79F for a short period of time.

4/11/10 -Racked into secondary with a gravity reading at 1.025. Added in ~2 ounces of molasses, and fermentation picked renewed. Added fresh yeast from a previous WLP 001 cake. Gravity reading tasted great!

4/12/10- I caramelized the orange blossom honey over the stove for ~20 minutes. Turned a dark brown color and smelled of toffee and marshmallows. I cooled the honey in the sink for a bit, until I noticed that it was hardening at an alarming rate, so I rushed it to the fermenting barley wine and began scooping out the dark sludge. In retrospect I should have added RO water before attempting to cool it or make the addition to the fermenter, as to keep it from hardening mid-attempt.

As of now, an hour later, fermentation is strong. (1 bubble a second?)

 

[Oldsock]

Sounds like a tasty idea, but it sounds like you have a lot going on in there. Might be worth giving the wort a stir to make sure the caramelized honey dissolved, a friend of mine tried something similar and ended up with some big lumps of sugar at the bottom of his carboy when he racked to secondary.

Good luck, hopefully the hotter than ideal ferment doesn't make for a boozy beer.

 

[Brewster2256]

Tasted a sample yesterday. The barleywine has been on oak now for about 2 weeks now, and is starting to taste amazing. I'll be racking it once again in the coming days for a week or so before I bottle condition it and hide it away.