I have the bulk of my ingredients for an old ale. As this needs a little bit of bulk aging, and I don't have a proper sized Better Bottle I figured I could use brown sugar like a priming solution and rack on top to create a small fermentation to give me a new blanket of CO2 for protection from oxidation. But I'm uncertain as to how much brown sugar/CO2 I'd really need.
Using a calculator I see that ~ 1/2 lb will give me about 4 vol of CO2. Is that enough to create a large enough blanket in a bucket?
I'm also uncertain as to how long I'd need/want to bulk age, as well as bottle condition this before I can put some in the fridge. This is what I have:
5.5 gal batch 4.5 gal boil partial mash/partial boil:
7 lbs golden light LME (FO)
2.25 lbs 2-row
1 lb crystal 40
1 lb crystal 60
1 lb brown sugar
0.75 lb soft white wheat berries
0.75 lb Special B
6 oz carapils
1 oz Warrior @ 77 mins
2 oz Liberty @ 21 mins
US-05/S-04 mix
1.082/1.016
8.6% ABV
19 SRM
51 IBU's
So far my shot in the dark is to bulk age for 2-3 months followed by another 2-3 months conditioning, and then I'd give it a full week or two in the fridge. I'll also be fermenting it for 4 weeks. So my first thought is to do a 1/2/2 mo ferm/age/cond with 1 wk in the fridge for one or two beers and see how it does. But if a barley wine needs about 9 months and only has a slightly higher ABV I'm wondering if that time frame is cut a bit too short, that maybe I ought to aim for 1/3/3 giving it 6 months of sitting before I try one. What say you?
I'm thinking I'll also prime with brown sugar.
Using a calculator I see that ~ 1/2 lb will give me about 4 vol of CO2. Is that enough to create a large enough blanket in a bucket?
I'm also uncertain as to how long I'd need/want to bulk age, as well as bottle condition this before I can put some in the fridge. This is what I have:
5.5 gal batch 4.5 gal boil partial mash/partial boil:
7 lbs golden light LME (FO)
2.25 lbs 2-row
1 lb crystal 40
1 lb crystal 60
1 lb brown sugar
0.75 lb soft white wheat berries
0.75 lb Special B
6 oz carapils
1 oz Warrior @ 77 mins
2 oz Liberty @ 21 mins
US-05/S-04 mix
1.082/1.016
8.6% ABV
19 SRM
51 IBU's
So far my shot in the dark is to bulk age for 2-3 months followed by another 2-3 months conditioning, and then I'd give it a full week or two in the fridge. I'll also be fermenting it for 4 weeks. So my first thought is to do a 1/2/2 mo ferm/age/cond with 1 wk in the fridge for one or two beers and see how it does. But if a barley wine needs about 9 months and only has a slightly higher ABV I'm wondering if that time frame is cut a bit too short, that maybe I ought to aim for 1/3/3 giving it 6 months of sitting before I try one. What say you?
I'm thinking I'll also prime with brown sugar.