Christmas 2011 Barleywine

[rcrabb22]

I brewed my first barleywine Saturday and it is fermenting like gangbusters. When it is finished fermenting I plan to age it until next year for Christmas cheer, 2011. I was going to age it in a corny in my basement. Could I prime it and let in carbonate during aging? I will purge with CO2 after sealing it up either way.

 

[Ace_Club]

Yes, you can bulk age in either a carboy or a keg. Doesn't matter. Just make sure the keg seals correctly if you go that route. If you're unsure at any point, feel free to send me a sample and I'll do an analysis for you...free of charge.

 

[wonderbread23]

I'm going the same route for a barley wine to be brewed this weekend. I was going to try and prime the keg, but have concerns about the yeast being up for the task with my high ABV. I plan to basically hit the keg with 30 psi to seat the lid, and then leave it hooked up to the tank for a week or so with the proper psi to get 1-1.5 volumes of CO2 into solution. This way the lid should stay nice and tight during cellaring. My concern with hitting it with 30 psi and then forgetting it is that eventually the beer will absorb the CO2, pressure will drop, and my seal might be lost. Next year when it becomes time to drink, I'll chill it and put it on pressure to get the carbonation I desire.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I don't keg yet, but FWIW. I wouldn't necessarily carb it up while it is aging because(if it were me) I would think that you would want to transfer it to a fresh keg before you want to start serving it. There will be a lot of gunk at the bottom of that keg that it has been aging in, and it seems that transferring it to a new keg would minimize/prevent pulling that gunk into your glass. Just a thought

 

[AnonyBrew]

I too recently brewed a Baryleywine for next year. I plan to let mine age in a keg. I'll put it on CO2 for a couple weeks to get it carbed before letting it sit. Also, I plan to purge the yeast from it with a picnic tap after a couple months. I might even shake it a little after that & purge the yeast a 2nd time after another couple weeks. Then it sits until the holidays.

 

[rcrabb22]

Thanks for the suggestions, anecdotes, and opinions. I had been doing some searching and someone suggested that it might carb on it's own without priming given a bit of yeast activity during aging and the fact a corny will contain any CO2 produced rather then let it escape through an airlock.

I will not prime and use the picnic tap technique around Thanksgiving 2011 to check/clear gunk, check carbonation and get a taste as well
On Dec 1, into the kegerator and on the gas at serving pressure until Dec 22 for tapping (it's my Bday )