Barleywine questions

[DSorenson]

Cheers, man! I've been waiting for this day. Just a heads up, mine is taking MUCH longer to bottle carbonate than I would have expected. It's already been a month...

 

[MetalMan2004]

Good to know. So at the 1 month how carbonated is it?

Holy krausen! On Sunday morning there was barely any but I could tell the yeast were working on it. By Sunday night it was about an inch thick. This morning it has filled the carboy with about 1 inch of room at the top left to grow. I've never seen such a vigorous fermentation. It's got our guest bedroom smelling glorious!

 

[DSorenson]

It wasn't carbonated a lick. Not one bubble and no hiss. It was discouraging until I read a thread or two that mentioned it can take up to 3 months.

I hope you have a blow off setup!

 

[Inkleg]

Congratulations on the brew day. Looking forward to the follow up in 21 years.

 

[syd138]

I made a Belgian Dubbel in 2009.. so over 5 years ago. I cracked a bottle open the other day and it was fantastic. I didn't even have it sealed in wax.

I would think that as long as you dipped the caps in wax, you should be fine.

Have you given thought to doing something that might have more flavor though.. ie. a Belgian Dark Strong?

 

[MetalMan2004]

Good luck with the carbonation. I was reading about he possibility of rep itching a small amount of yeast before bottling, don't remember the recommendations that I read but I figured I would worry about that when I get to the bottling phase.

Regarding the style, I went with barley wine for 2 reasons, quality in long term aging and my own taste. I love the flavors associated with barley wine. I suppose I could do a yearly batch of something to age. Could be a fun yearly project although I don't think I have that kind of room right now.

 

[MetalMan2004]

I made a Belgian Dubbel in 2009.. so over 5 years ago. I cracked a bottle open the other day and it was fantastic. I didn't even have it sealed in wax.

I would think that as long as you dipped the caps in wax, you should be fine.

Have you given thought to doing something that might have more flavor though.. ie. a Belgian Dark Strong?

Congrats in the dubbel by the way. Have you tasted it over the 5 years or was that your first one to taste? 5 years is quite a goal, I don't know how I am going to manage 21 years.

 

[syd138]

Congrats in the dubbel by the way. Have you tasted it over the 5 years or was that your first one to taste? 5 years is quite a goal, I don't know how I am going to manage 21 years.

I have periodically been tasting it for the past 5 years.. the same with a Belgian Tripel I did 4 years ago.

The Tripel tasted like an ale with a shot of vodka in it for the first year.. very hot. By about year 3, it was amazing.

I did a blind taste test a few months ago with some friends who know nothing about beer.

I put my Tripel against a Chimay that I have been aging for about 6 months (and I think Chimay ages it 6 months before selling it).

Hands down they all said that the Chimay tasted like vodka and my Tripel was awesome and tasted fruity.

Aging does wonders.

 

[MetalMan2004]

Well I checked the gravity on Tuesday (9 days of fermentation) and I am at 11%! Those yeast were some beasts. I did use a starter but only 1 package and about 24 hrs of headstart. The yeast was a 1056 American Ale yeast smack pack.

It didn't taste "hot" or alcoholic but it didn't taste good either. There was a lot of stuff still floating in it and it basically tasted like wort with a lot of trub. Lots of time left in the carboy though.

 

[MetalMan2004]

Barley wine update! Well it had a month in the fermenter and got to 14%. Then it went into secondary and has been on French oak for 3 months.

Well it tastes fantastic! Reminds me of maple syrup. A little bit of alcohol heat but really less than I expected from 14%! After 3 months on oak there is no oak flavor yet so needless to say it'll be sitting for a long time.

So my current questions:

I opened the carboy to taste of course. It's a 5 gallon carboy and I ended up with maybe 4 gallons so there's a good bit of headspace in the carboy. Since I opened it I'm afraid there is a lot of oxygen in the carboy and it isn't being displaced because there is no more fermentation. Earlier a can of gas was suggested for bottling, should I do that for the carboy too? It may be sitting there another year and I don't want it getting too oxidated...

Any label suggestions? There was a label company on here earlier in the har doing a label give away that looked cool. Obviously I didn't win and I don't remember the brand name.

I have more questions but we'll go a couple at a time.

 

[rodwha]

Oxygen should certainly be an issue.

I recently brewed an old ale that I wanted to bulk age but only had an empty 3 gal Better Bottle. My first thought was to transfer to another bucket with a priming solution much like bottling figuring it would create a new CO2 layer. I was told it wouldn't be enough to help for the 6 months I intended on allowing it to sit. I just bottled it.

 

[MetalMan2004]

Thread revive!

In case people don't want to read this whole thread before they answer here is a quick summary.

Wife was pregnant so i made a 13% barley wine for my kid with the intention of drinking it when he is old enough. Here we are a couple of years later and the beer has been on oak for at least a year if not longner (and I've had a second kid that also has her own beer. Thats another story though.). Its bottling time and Inhave new questions!

I bought White Labs super high gravity ale yeast wlp099 for bottling. I made a starter with about 650ml of water and 1/2 cup dme. I feel like I should step it up a couple of times since the barleywine its going into is 13%. Should I step up the OG of the 2nd step? Should I step up the wort volume of the 2nd step? Should i do both?

 

[Rhaop]

Can't speak much for the bottling aspect but this has been a great read looking forward to future updates, just recently did a barley wine myself

 

[bnglcat]

Thread revive!

In case people don't want to read this whole thread before they answer here is a quick summary.

Wife was pregnant so i made a 13% barley wine for my kid with the intention of drinking it when he is old enough. Here we are a couple of years later and the beer has been on oak for at least a year if not longner (and I've had a second kid that also has her own beer. Thats another story though.). Its bottling time and Inhave new questions!

I bought White Labs super high gravity ale yeast wlp099 for bottling. I made a starter with about 650ml of water and 1/2 cup dme. I feel like I should step it up a couple of times since the barleywine its going into is 13%. Should I step up the OG of the 2nd step? Should I step up the wort volume of the 2nd step? Should i do both?

I did this same exact thing for my son last year on his first birthday. I made a massive english barleywine (~17%) and pitched some proofed champagne yeast at bottling time.

My plan was to drink a bottle every year, get a pic with my son, and then eventually we will crack a bottle together on the birthday I deem appropriate.

Anyhoo, it did not carb as much as I wanted it too. I get a slight hiss opening the bottle, but you can still taste the residual sweetness. I used the WLP099 yeast as my finishing yeast to get to the ~17% so I think you should be good to go at 13%. I wish I would have gone the starter route or saved some of the 99 for bottling time.

Side note, the bottle I opened this year (first bottle I tasted) was really good. I think the extra sweetness actually works in my favor with the alcohol and roast levels the beer has. It will be interesting to see him taste his first "official" beer and have it be a pitch black, smokey, oaky, raisin-y 17% barleywine.

 

[zombiepiratemonkey]

Honestly I think you're fine without stepping up. You are just asking the yeast to ferment some simple bottling sugar. I usually just add some dry champagne yeast when bottling an older beer.

I am doing a similar project for my son who is almost two, but it's an imperial milk stout and a sour version of the same recipe. I am rebrewing the same recipe every year so that each year on his birthday, I'll open a bottle of each from each year to have an epic vertical.

 

[Zythophile]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned my blog post on 21-year-old "coming of age" ale from six years ago ... http://zythophile.co.uk/2011/09/23/the-lost-art-of-extreme-aged-cask-ale/