Big non-dark long term storage beer - which one?

[Miraculix]

Good evening/morning dearest Madams and Sirs of the house of homebrewtalk.

I am thinking about brewing something big, around 9-11abv. Which I would fill into 0.33 litre bottles, wax the cap and put it into the basement for at least a year.

Question is, what am I going to brew? Nothing dark please, I love stouts but only up to a certain abv range, not a fan of Imperial stouts at all.

I was thinking about maybe a classic British beer? Maybe a barley wine? Maybe a historic ipa and bring Brett into play as well? Would need to buy an extra fermenter though, for the long term Brett fermentation time....

What else comes to mind thinking about non-dark big beers? I have zero experience with big beers so please let me know what else you can think of. Not limited to British styles, everything goes as long as it is not a stout/porter!

Thanks!

 

[thehaze]

Barleywine, just as you mentioned could be a great choice: Maris Otter, Imperial malt and a 2-3 hour long boil + English yeast and English hops. Or maybe just a pumped-up English Pale Ale ( 6-10 SRM ), with 70-100 IBU, lots of English hops and see what happens after a year. Most likely a bit of oxidation and some big time malty notes, but if you hop it right, you should still experience enough bitterness after 1 year, to balance those malty flavours.

Belgian Saisons, Tripels and Quadrupels are also fine choices, if you like them.

Maybe an Imperial Amber Kellerbier: Vienna + Munich malts only, lager yeast, German hops, hop it higher and store dark and cold for one year.

Dark Weizenbock, Doppelbock, Baltic Porter ( lager ), Imperial Red and Brown Ales are also choices, that can be aged and are definitely not as dark and intense as Imperial Stouts.

 

[Miraculix]

Barleywine, just as you mentioned could be a great choice: Maris Otter, Imperial malt and a 2-3 hour long boil + English yeast and English hops. Or maybe just a pumped-up English Pale Ale ( 6-10 SRM ), with 70-100 IBU, lots of English hops and see what happens after a year. Most likely a bit of oxidation and some big time malty notes, but if you hop it right, you should still experience enough bitterness after 1 year, to balance those malty flavours.

Belgian Saisons, Tripels and Quadrupels are also fine choices, if you like them.

Maybe an Imperial Amber Kellerbier: Vienna + Munich malts only, lager yeast, German hops, hop it higher and store dark and cold for one year.

Dark Weizenbock, Doppelbock, Baltic Porter ( lager ), Imperial Red and Brown Ales are also choices, that can be aged and are definitely not as dark and intense as Imperial Stouts.

Thanks, great suggestions!

I am not the biggest fan of the Belgian ones. I had some triples that were considered prime examples and it wasn't just my taste. Huge carbonation and big abv just doesn't work for me.

If I will brew a barley wine, I will surely only use one malt, which is pale chevallier, if I can get it. Otherwise I would go for mo and maybe a dash of medium crystal.

Looooong boil seems to be necessary, I agree.

Maybe I could turn that one into an old school ipa type of beer? Let's say, about 9 abv. And Brett into secondary? How does that sound? Or maybe not the long boil if it should be more on the historic ipa side of beer?

Or was that also a thing for historical ipas, the long boil?

And how about bocks? Are these beers that also improve with prolonged aging?

 

[TheMadKing]

Wheatwine! Really interesting as it ages

 

[Dave T]

I'm a fan of belgian triples &quads. Most need a bit of aging And can be tailored easily If you don’t specifically like the class. There’s some decent wee heavy recipes too -

 

[Steveruch]

Back in the 1800s British IPAs were very highly hopped (200 IBUs) and aged up to a year before they were shipped to India.

 

[Dave T]

Hm forgot about ipas, generally don’t recommend them as heavy beers, but I brewed a dogfish head 90 min about a year ago, half were gone in a month, other half I just started drinking, outstanding. a little less hoppy, but still there.

 

[emac813]

Belgian Tripel