ageing in corny question

[Cardassian]

Hi all,

So in a couple of weeks I plan to brew a RIS for drinking in the winter (from nz so we're about to head into summer).
This has made me think about brewing other winter beers that need ageing and logically I am thinking of a barleywine.

Now if I brew 5 gallons of barleywine I will struggle to get through it in a year and I would also like to see how it evolves over time. So I have come up with a plan. If I brew the barleywine and then naturally condition in a corny can I bottle of few beers with a beer gun and then leave the rest to bulk age for another year, maybe repeating this process over the course of a couple of years?

Is there any reason that this wouldn't work?

 

[burdbrew]

That will surely work. Just make sure you keep CO2 in the empty space in the keg, which shouldn't be an issue.

 

[JLEEFELDMAN]

cut some off your beer out tube so you don't fill bottle with yeast.

 

[Cardassian]

Cheers guys, thought that should work but was scared I was missing something.

 

[RM-MN]

Hi all,

So in a couple of weeks I plan to brew a RIS for drinking in the winter (from nz so we're about to head into summer).
This has made me think about brewing other winter beers that need ageing and logically I am thinking of a barleywine.

Now if I brew 5 gallons of barleywine I will struggle to get through it in a year and I would also like to see how it evolves over time. So I have come up with a plan. If I brew the barleywine and then naturally condition in a corny can I bottle of few beers with a beer gun and then leave the rest to bulk age for another year, maybe repeating this process over the course of a couple of years?

Is there any reason that this wouldn't work?

There isn't any reason that you have to make 5 gallons. Recipes for beer are totally scalable. Also, your barleywine may still be changing at a year so you probably want to store some (most?) of it longer. That means tying up a keg for a long time. I'd bottle the whole batch and use the keg for something with a shorter turn around.

I have a RIS that is at 2 years in the bottle and I think it is hitting its prime. Much better now than at 6 months.