Blending vs. Dilution for stuck Wyeast 9097 Barleywine

[lelmore]

A year ago this week I brewed a barleywine, using Wyeast 9097 Old Ale Blend. The OG was 1.122 (yeah, I was going for glory here). I wanted a very full bodied mouthfeel so I chose to mash at at 156. Yes, this was much too high, leaving way too many unfermentables. After 2-3 weeks, it had only gone to 1.038 so I brought it upstairs and babied it at above 70 degrees F for a couple of weeks, overpitched some more yeast, oxygenated, and tried everything I could to get it down to below 1.030. Finally, I just stuck it in a corner and waited, hoping the Brett would eat up something over time that the Sacc yeast would not. I got around to sampling it again today and it's now down to...(wait for it)...1.035 (*sigh*). The smell is wonderful but the taste is still too sweet. I have no confidence that it will go any lower so now I'm contemplating how to make lemonade out of my lemon.

The remedies I'm weighing are Blending vs. Dilution. Is either a viable option? Anybody been here before?

 

[JLP]

If you have not bottled it you can research using Champagne Yeast to drop that last little bit. It was described in the Classic Brewing Barley Wine series. I'm out of town, and do not have the book with me or I would tell you myself. It is supposed to assist you with dropping the last few points without adding any flavors.

 

[lelmore]

An update. I have taken a third way, choosing neither dilution nor blending. After reading Michael Tonsmeire's article, "Mashing for Sour Beers" in the May/June 2014 issue of Zymurgy, I decided to introduce some bugs to chew down the remaining long chain sugars that the sacch yeast couldn't handle. Brett, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus are all now happily (I hope) swimming in the beer. I'm going to give it at least six months before another gravity/taste test.