Barleywine recipe advice

[lnhoskins]

Hey all, wanting to brew a big one to be ready for Christmas time, wondering what you think about what I have. (I'm still kinda new)

10 lbs xldme
6 lbs gold lme
1 lb victory malt
8 oz Carmel 80L

2 oz warrior (90 min)
1.5 oz centennial (60 min)
1.5 oz centennial (10 min)

11 grams Nottingham dry

My plan is to add 3 lbs dime up front and the rest of the malts at 10 mins or so, to avoid darkening and get the most out of my hops. I'll leave it in primary for a month and then rack into secondary for some bulk aging unroll probably August, then bottle and let it cold condition until the holidays. What do ya think? One of my big questions is also if I will need to repurchase more yeast at bottling time because of the abv?

 

[bschoenb]

My recomendations

Since all DME; I'd boil all the Sugars for 60-90 minutes. You want that Melanodin formation and concentration w/Barley wine.

You will need to repitch yeast for bottling; the yeast will be toast after fermentation.

You don't have enough yeast; go to Mr Malty to calculate your yeast requirements http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Im not sure about a 90 minute boil on the hops; I hear they get harsh w/long hop boils. I'd go 60 on them and boost the hop level

I just finished fermenting a Barley wine from 1.100 to 1.022 in six days. You need allot of yeast to get it all done, and then the whole secondary thing is not required wrt "bulk Aging" I'l let it sit a month, repitch bottling yeast, and bottle it up for aging.

 

[Calder]

Comments:

The victory malt is a waste of time if you are not mashing.

Your OG is going to be 1.130 - 1.135. You might kill the yeast pitching straight into that. You probably want to plan for a 1.090 start and feed the yeast as fermentation progresses.

Assuming 75% attenuation you would have an FG of around 1.035. Way too sweet. That would also give you an abv of over 13%. Notty probably would drop out before getting there.

1 pack is too little.

Yes, after a year you would need more yeast. I would suggest using champagne yeast due to the abv, but you would need to ensure the beer was finished before bottling.

All-extract will probably mean you will end up with a high FG. You might want to try replacing a couple of pounds of dme with simple table sugar to help lower the FG.

Sorry, I think you probably need to re-think it.

Suggestion: Figure where you would like the beer to end (about 1.020). What abv are you looking for? 12% = 90 points; that would mean you need to design your beer for a 1.110 OG. To get from 1.110 to 1.020 you will need over 80% attenuation, that means you probably need some simple sugars. I would suggest using your favorite yeast, start around 1.090, and feed 2 lbs of sugar during fermentation. If the yeast doesn't make it, rack onto a cake with a high alcohol yeast (example Belgian strain) to finish it off. Using a Belgian strain second will limit any Belgian flavors.

 

[lnhoskins]

Good stuff to know. I'm shooting for 12-14, and had someone tell me that they used notty in a 16, and it worked fine, that's why I chose it. I usually use us-04 or 05. I'm think I'm wanting to end up between 1.024 and 1.030, on the sweeter side. I have used warrior for 90 minutes in a DIPA, and thought it worked great. If victory is a waste, what else could I throw in to put a little complexity in the malt profile?

 

[Calder]

For steeping malts, you are pretty much stuck with various crystals, Special B, Choc, Roast, and Black. I added a half pound of Special B in my last BW.

 

[fezzman]

Good stuff to know. I'm shooting for 12-14, and had someone tell me that they used notty in a 16, and it worked fine, that's why I chose it. I usually use us-04 or 05. I'm think I'm wanting to end up between 1.024 and 1.030, on the sweeter side. I have used warrior for 90 minutes in a DIPA, and thought it worked great. If victory is a waste, what else could I throw in to put a little complexity in the malt profile?

I have had success in steeping victory, specifically with brown ales. It was my understanding that victory can be steeped, biscuit cannot. There was no mistaking the nuttiness in the final brew.

Would WLP099 be a bad yeast choice?