I just brewed Austin homebrew supply's American Barleywine from extract, only nine days ago. It had great reviews, and I live in Austin so was easy to get, and a pretty simple recipe for a beginner like me. OG was 1.084 (instructions said 1.087) from 10 lbs LME and 1 lb DME, pitched 2 vials of WLP001 (no starter, but aerated the crap out of it first), started airlock activity going strong between 12-18 hrs, weakened after 4-5 days, and just got a SG of 1.022 today (instructions said 1.025 - so at least I was off by the same amount on each end). I used a swamp cooler, keeping water temps between 62-67 (would've liked better control, but that was all I had time for). I also did the late malt additions, knowing that the extract would be sweet already - 4 lbs at the beginning of the 4 gal boil, other 7 lbs at end of boil (wondering if that made the SGs slightly lower than recipe called for? I did top up to 5 gal before pitching, of course).
I tasted it today from my sample for the hydrometer, but unfortunately I just had sinus surgery last week, and can't smell (and therefore taste) worth a damn with my nose plugged up right now. What I did get out of it was: sweetness/maltiness up front, boozy/hot alcohols in the middle, and a bitter-ish finish/aftertaste. Had a thick, not-quite-(but almost)-syrupy mouthfeel. Copper-amber color. Again, my sense of taste is jacked up right now, but it didn't taste good to me at this time. I know it'll improve with age, so am thinking leaving it in primary (6.5 gal bucket) for 3-4 wks total, then secondary (5 gal bb carboy) for 2-4 months more to bulk age, then bottle (with more yeast, I've heard is a good suggestion) for as long as I can hold out (at least 6 months, hopefully longer) before trying one... This one definitely needs to mellow!
Sound like a decent plan? Other suggestions/advice? Thx...
And to the OP - sorry about the slight hijack, but AHS American Barleywine is an easy extract recipe, in answer to your question. Haven't actually tasted a finished one, yet, but it does have positive reviews...
Cheers!