American Barleywine recipe and aging

[cmillsLA]

I am putting together my first American Barleywine recipe based on others I have seen, style guidelines, etc. I am looking to get around 11% abv, use oak chips and produce a beer capable of aging for a year or ideally longer, but I and had some questions. Here is what I have so far for a 3 gallon batch:

Grain:
8lbs 13oz American 2 Row
2lbs 11.8oz Munich 20L
2lbs 11.8oz Caramel/Crystal 60L
8oz Oats, Flaked

Hops:
0.5oz Magnum @ 60min
0.5oz Warrior @ 60min
0.35oz Magnum @ 30min
0.35oz Warrior @30min
0.3oz Fuggles 4.5% dry hop @ 3 days
0.3oz Hallertauer 4.8% dry hop @ 3 days

Yeast:
WLP099

Misc:
- 2 tbsp lactose sugar
- ? belgian candi sugar
- ? oak chips
- 1 whirlfloc tablet

Now without sugar beersmith estimates my gravity at 1.126 or 13.4% abv. I usually just add a few tbsp of lactose sugar for flavor but I doubt that will effect gravity too much.

1. Should I even add belgian candi sugar, if so how much?

2. Will WLP099 be able to work in 13.4% abv or should I also add a secondary yeast such as a Chardonnay yeast?

3. I want a light oak flavor, what weight of oak chips should I add during fermentation and do I leave these in the entire time or add them after x days?

 

[mdindy]

099 will work fine on it's own with a normal yeast starter. I have had great luck with it in the past.

 

[giraffe]

1. Invert would be more traditional. But belgian candi would be fine. You can use amber (or a light dark) instead of the crystal for color/flavor and to lighten the body. Use up to 10% by extract. I wouldnt add lactose, Its already at that gravity to have residual sweetness.

2. Dont add a wine yeast. 099 can be fussy but should work. 090 should be able to get there as well. 007 can if you treat it kindly, but 090 is safer bet if you dont care about yeast esters.

3. You need to taste it every week until you get enough oakiness, and then remove the chips (or rack off of them) . Add them in the secondary, or primary after fermentation is complete.

 

[giraffe]

Also, I dont know your projected ibus, but you want it to be high. Remember after a year of aging, the IBUs are going to fall by half-ish. Id aim for around 100.

 

[cmillsLA]

Thanks for all the info.

The projected ibu's is around 80, I'll increase the hops a bit.

 

[fantomlord]

I would suggest dropping your crystal 60 by a lot. With that much crystal malt in a beer that big, you've got a good chance of ending up way too sweet. I would keep it under 3% crystal malts. You'll still end up with a lot of character, and complex flavor. Oh, and I'd probably ditch the oats, too...you'll have plenty of body and mouthfeel without them.

 

[Calichusetts]

I like my American Barleywines on the sweeter side. So I'd say the recipe looks pretty good. I prefer flaked barley but no biggie. Consider layering caramel malts instead of using just one. C20, C60, C120 in even amounts will get you a lot more depth and complexity with very little change to color.

My most recent one, I swapped out Munich for rye and I really am impressed. Its damn close to one of my best. Just a thought