Barley wine bottling

[jeffjjpkiser1]

I bottled my Barley wine at 1.032 since it hadn't changed in 3 weeks with some Champagne yeast and the usual corn sugar for carbonation. How long should this take to be fully ready? I've read 6-8 weeks but I'm hoping for sooner. Thoughts?

 

[arch1tect]

how high was the OG?

 

[pm5k00]

Yes we need to know the OG too, also how long was it in primary and secondary (if used)? I would say a typical barleywine needs at least 8 weeks to age plus a bare minimum of 3 weeks to carb up.... this is not a style you want to rush.

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[jeffjjpkiser1]

OG was 1.092. Primary lasted 8 days, secondary was 21 days. FG was 1.032

 

[Ringmaster]

i thought Barley wine was supposed to go for a year?

 

[rico567]

My barleywine (Midwest's Bigfoot) has been in the bottle a year this month. Prior to that, it was in the primary for a month and bulk secondary for 4 months. It started to get really nice after about 4-5 months in the bottle, and it just keeps getting smoother.

 

[JonM]

All my 1.080 and up stuff gets at least 6 months but that's a combination of bulk aging and bottle conditioning. The main reason is that they mellow out over time. I'd sneak samples early and the beers were drinkable, but they'd have lots of alcohol hotness and a sharp boozy flavor. Over time that fades.

So, bottom line, you can drink it after a month or so in the bottle, but it'll get soooooo much better after many months.

 

[bmick]

Agree with a lot of points here, I'd rather wait 6 months to drink good beer than hurry up and drink bad beer. I have a Barleywine that's been in secondary aging for 6 months, and I'll be bottling it this weekend to age for probably another 6 months. The key with these brews, to me, is to slip them in the schedule in between other beers that will be ready faster, so you're not watching each airlock bubble waiting to secondary/bottle/drink.

 

[JonM]

On second thought, 1.092 to 1.032 = 6.4% ABV. Most of my 6-7% ABV brews are ready in 4-6 weeks.

 

[JonM]

Ugh. Disregard that last post. Its 6.4% ABW and 8% ABV.