Chaos_Being
Well-Known Member
I've been thinking about brewing up a barleywine that I can age for a while and start drinking next winter- I've been looking at various recipies here as well as kits from retailers, and have decided that NB's barleywine looks to be a good deal for the ingredients you get (compared to buying the same ingredients at my LHBS.) This is what you get in the kit (pasted from their site):
Kit Inventory
Specialty Grains
0.5 lbs. Briess Caramel 90
Fermentables
3 lbs. Munich Malt Syrup (1/2 jug - boil for 60 min.)
9 lbs. Munich Malt Syrup (boil for 15 min.)
Boil Additions
2 oz. Cascade (60 min)
1 oz. Willamette (15 min)
Yeast
Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast. Used commercially for several classic American ales. This strain ferments dry, finishes soft, smooth and clean, and is very well balanced. Flocculation: lowmedium. Apparent attenuation: 73-77%. Optimum temperature: 60-72.
The only thing is, well, it seems a little weak on it's own for a barleywine (OG 1.082 according to them), but I'd think that it would be a good place to start. First, the hops- I'm no expert yet, but that looks like a small amount of hops for a BW. I think I'd move the 2oz of Cascade to 30 or 20 min, move the 1 oz of Williamette to say, 5 min, and add a high AA bittering hop (like Nugget) to use for the 60 minute boil.
I'd also want to increase the fermentables- I'd be aiming at around 10% ABV at the minimum for a nice big BW. I'm not sure if I'd just add more malt, some sort of sugar (like honey or maple syrup) to ensure that the final product isn't too cloying, or a combination of both (probably the latter.) Maybe a pound or two of additional LME/DME, and a pound of some sort of sugar.
Lastly, after upping both the hops and the malt/fermentables, I'd wonder if just 1/2 lb of steeping grains would be enough for a good flavor/character. Maybe at least another 1/2 pound of say, a lighter crystal (like 40 or 60) to make it more interesting
I like the fact that they give you a liquid yeast (especially considering the price of the kit.) This would be my first time using a liquid yeast, so that would be a good experience for me I think. I'd make a starter, and probably "step up" the beer as well (begin with the original ingredients, and then add my extra fermentables later.)
Your thoughts?
Kit Inventory
Specialty Grains
0.5 lbs. Briess Caramel 90
Fermentables
3 lbs. Munich Malt Syrup (1/2 jug - boil for 60 min.)
9 lbs. Munich Malt Syrup (boil for 15 min.)
Boil Additions
2 oz. Cascade (60 min)
1 oz. Willamette (15 min)
Yeast
Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast. Used commercially for several classic American ales. This strain ferments dry, finishes soft, smooth and clean, and is very well balanced. Flocculation: lowmedium. Apparent attenuation: 73-77%. Optimum temperature: 60-72.
The only thing is, well, it seems a little weak on it's own for a barleywine (OG 1.082 according to them), but I'd think that it would be a good place to start. First, the hops- I'm no expert yet, but that looks like a small amount of hops for a BW. I think I'd move the 2oz of Cascade to 30 or 20 min, move the 1 oz of Williamette to say, 5 min, and add a high AA bittering hop (like Nugget) to use for the 60 minute boil.
I'd also want to increase the fermentables- I'd be aiming at around 10% ABV at the minimum for a nice big BW. I'm not sure if I'd just add more malt, some sort of sugar (like honey or maple syrup) to ensure that the final product isn't too cloying, or a combination of both (probably the latter.) Maybe a pound or two of additional LME/DME, and a pound of some sort of sugar.
Lastly, after upping both the hops and the malt/fermentables, I'd wonder if just 1/2 lb of steeping grains would be enough for a good flavor/character. Maybe at least another 1/2 pound of say, a lighter crystal (like 40 or 60) to make it more interesting
I like the fact that they give you a liquid yeast (especially considering the price of the kit.) This would be my first time using a liquid yeast, so that would be a good experience for me I think. I'd make a starter, and probably "step up" the beer as well (begin with the original ingredients, and then add my extra fermentables later.)
Your thoughts?