Aging a Barleywine

[Strecker25]

Hey all, I'm getting married in august and as part of the reception we want to have a bottle of booze on each table for guests to sign. This will mean 20 bottles, and the plan would be to drink one a year for 20 years.

While we both like wine, we're really beer people (engagement photos inside a local brewery, hops for boutonniere's on the guys, homebrew for favors,...) so when she came up with the idea I immediately thought about an English Barleywine instead of regular wine.

How long can a barleywine really age? I'm assuming oxygenating is the real problem when we're talking about a decade or more of aging. The idea would be to keg carb, and bottle with a bottling gun to 1.5l wine bottles and cork them.

It may be easier to just buy 20 bottles of wine, but i look forward to hearing what everyone's thoughts are on this.

 

[JimRausch]

A bottle of Barleywine on the table, THAT THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED TO OPEN?
Bummer..
No personal experience with aging that long, as I'm just two years into this obsession, I mean hobby.
But the reading I've done seems to indicate that Barleywine is designed for long bottle aging. I would say bottle with the O2 scavenging caps, and wax the top. Store under controlled cool conditions and she should get better every year, just like your wife-to-be. Mazeltoff!
Oops- I see that you were going to use corks. I recently bottled a Belgian Tripel in Belgian bottles with corks and wire cage, then waxed the tops. I'm planning on leaving these alone for awhile- although not 20 years.

 

[Strecker25]

corks are not necessarily a requirement, but we have a corker and I figured they would hold up the longest. I like the idea of the wax tops, we're going to be doing that for the 12oz favors we're handing out as well. It will help discourage people from drinking them at the reception (Casino told us that's a big no, can't be cutting into their profits)

I did get some interesting input from some other guys saying a mead may be a better choice. hmmm

 

[cluckk]

I think that will be an excellent choice. Be careful while bottling and use quality corks and bails and you should be able to enjoy them for some time. Barleywine will age nicely. I haven't aged them that far myself. I have tasted some others have done that were over 10 years and they had a nice quality to them.

 

[sasky7777]

I am doing a similar project for my kids, pick a temp and leave it. Temp control is key. I use 50 F. The up and down is what will cause more damage to the beer. I upped the hops to the top of BJCP specs, used oxygen caps and wax.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Weezy]

I'd recommend cap and wax before Belgian cork and baskets. Corks let air through, albeit slowly.

I'd also consider bottle conditioning with Brett instead of regular sacc yeast. Brett will survive a long time and feed of any oxygen intrusion for a long time.

I'd also consider an American barleywine, hopped heavily. The hops will help with preservation and will show a lot of character change over the years.

+1 on the temp control also.

 

[JimRausch]

I did get some interesting input from some other guys saying a mead may be a better choice. hmmm

Did you ever read Charlie P's 1st book where he says he has buried bottles of a Prickly Pear mead on top of a mountain, and climbs the mountain to dig one up every year? Now that sounds interesting.
I guess, do you prefer the taste of mead vs. wine vs. beer?

 

[opiate82]

Something I have considered trying for long term aging was, in addition to oxygen scavenging caps and waxing, was to vacuum seal bottles inside a vacuum-sealed bag. I've seen a lot of conflicting information on whether food-sealer bags are an adequate oxygen barrier or not, but it could be another layer of redundancy to help prevent possible oxidation. Maybe you can even go with quadrupole protection by throwing in an oxygen absorber into each vacuum seal bag.

But yeah, the other thing to consider is making sure you are able to keep them at a consistent, cellared temperature.

 

[Strecker25]

I definitely prefer the taste of barleywine over mead, but we do like oaked red wines just as much.

Thanks for all the good ideas on the oxidation remedies. I'll have to think about this for a big before making a decision.

 

[broadbill]

Aging aside, I think the bigger trick will be to make sure the bottles don't disappear from the tables during the wedding reception!