Barley Wine done (primary) already!!! Really???

[cmoewes]

On Saturday I brewed my first barley wine. The OG was 1.110 (though I am suffering from notus-missingus so I have to rely on my memory). Tonight I grabbed a sample to take a reading and do a forced fermentation test on to see how much lower it could/might go.

My sample measured 1.010... in 3 days.

I pitched the wort onto a saf-05 yeast cake from a pale ale so it had a good strong pitch of yeast, but 3 days seems really fast.

Plus my calculated final gravity should have been in the 1.020 range.

My recipe was

22# pale
1.5# golden naked oats
2.5# lyle's gold syrup
1# D-190

Mashed @153

Can my primary be done already?

I'm wishing I had mashed higher because it's really thin right now, is there any additions I can make in secondary to add some sweetness back in? I know it's going to need a long aging to smooth out the est. 11-12%ABV

 

[Brettomomyces]

If you pitched onto a fresh/healthy yeast cake that would totally be possible, and you don't have a ton of non-fermentables in that grain bill, so the 1.010 seems possible too. How long was the mash for?

As far as adding some body/sweetness, you could consider adding lactose (the stuff used for sweet/milk stouts) or possibly brewing a deliberately thick beer and blending the two together.

 

[cmoewes]

If you pitched onto a fresh/healthy yeast cake that would totally be possible, and you don't have a ton of non-fermentables in that grain bill, so the 1.010 seems possible too. How long was the mash for?

As far as adding some body/sweetness, you could consider adding lactose (the stuff used for sweet/milk stouts) or possibly brewing a deliberately thick beer and blending the two together.

Mashed for 60 minutes recirculating the last 20 then batch sparged for 10 minutes.

Seems like using lactose would be easier (and more precise).

Could I brew a really sweet beer (e.g. 50% pale & 50% crystal 10) and then just add that wort into the fermenter?

Still seems like using lactose would be easier.

 

[Brettomomyces]

That mash seems normal, I think you just had a really fast fermentation.

50/50 would be way too extreme I think. Blending would probably be a pita, but it would be a cool "beer thing to do". If you brewed a beer with a target FG of say 1.020 and then blended those two you would theoretically get something around 1.015.

Adding lactose would be really easy, but it would change the character of your beer. You could try dosing just a cup or so of your beer with some lactose and see how that tastes/feels. Or do a line up of 3 or 4 with varying amounts.

 

[cmoewes]

That mash seems normal, I think you just had a really fast fermentation.

50/50 would be way too extreme I think. Blending would probably be a pita, but it would be a cool "beer thing to do". If you brewed a beer with a target FG of say 1.020 and then blended those two you would theoretically get something around 1.015.

Adding lactose would be really easy, but it would change the character of your beer. You could try dosing just a cup or so of your beer with some lactose and see how that tastes/feels. Or do a line up of 3 or 4 with varying amounts.

Yeah, I was just kind of shooting from the hit. I was kind of thinking on the lines of a 1-2 gallon batch try to get something with some fermentable sugar in it to give the yeast a reason to wake up but lots of unfermentable in there to sweeten it up.

This was my first attempt so I might just leave it as it is. I don't feel like I spent much on the batch since I used grain from a 50# bag (yeah I bought it but I brewed three batches for the price of one by buying in bulk for the first time) and reused some yeast so I might just let it age for a month or 2 and then bottle it up.

 

[Indian_villager]

That yeast does not mess around. And pitching a full cake will cause the gravity to tear down fast. Congrats! I hope she is tasty.

 

[cmoewes]

That yeast does not mess around. And pitching a full cake will cause the gravity to tear down fast. Congrats! I hope she is tasty.

It's really hot right now which is why I was a little concerned. And having expected the gravity to be 10pts higher I'm worried about the final product.

Do you think 1.010 is to low a FG for a barley wine?? It's 6pts lower than style guidelines.

But like I said maybe I'll just let this go, see how it ages and just RDWHAHB and make adjustment on my next try.

 

[cmoewes]

I wonder if that's a first someone telling themselves RDWHAHB on the forum?!?

 

[Darwin18]

What temperature did you ferment it at? "Hot" tends to = fusels.

 

[Brettomomyces]

I would just forget about it for 6 months and then come back and try it then. It'll be thinner than "normal", but probably very drinkable and tasty

 

[PseudoChef]

I would suggest maltodextrin rather than lactose.

 

[Brettomomyces]

That's a better idea, you could brew like 1/2g with some malto and LME and blend it in.

 

[cmoewes]

what temperature did you ferment it at? "hot" tends to = fusels.

19c / 66f . I've used it for pales and IPA in this range and usualy ferments nice and clean.


I think I will add some maltodextrine that sounds like the ticket.

 

[solbes]

Agree on malto being a good add here. 4 oz for a noticable change, 6 might be more to your liking, but first taste at 4 maybe.

 

[cmoewes]

Well I added 6 ounces of maltodextrin last night. Reading all the barley wine recipes many say leave in primary for 4 week then secondary (bulk) age for4 months. Since I'm already down to my final gravity is there any reason to leave it so long in primary? I'm not in any rush but it seems like 2 weeks should be plenty since I've already (probably) achieved terminal gravity.

On the up side, I think I have decided to make use of my christmas present from last year a 5L oak barrel

http://oakbarrelsltd.com/5-liter-oak-barrel-with-black-steel-hoops.html

I think I will fill up the barrel and then put the rest in a carboy.

Since this means I will only have gallons or so in my carboy, what should I do about all the headspace during secondary aging? If I go get a 3 gallon better bottle that leaves me with a gallon needing a place to live. Can I just purge the 5 gallon carboy with co2 before I rack into it?

 

[cmoewes]

If you pitched onto a fresh/healthy yeast cake that would totally be possible,...

That yeast does not mess around. ...

What temperature did you ferment it at?...

I would suggest maltodextrin rather than lactose.

Agree on malto being a good add here. ...

Just for the hell of it, if you guys will PM me your names and addresses I'll send you a bottle for the new year.

 

[solbes]

I don't think you want all of that headspace in a carboy (1 gallon or 3 makes no matter). If it was me, I would rack all to a 5G carboy for a month. Sometimes people go longer because it assures consistency within a batch and it helps keep you from stealing bottles when the batch will taste so much better anyway from 6-12 months from brew date.

Keeping it all in a carboy for a month should assure the yeast is all done with cleanup activities. Then I would rack to the oak barrel for part of the batch and bottle the remainder. Jealous on your oak barrel, sounds really cool!