Has my American Barleywine become a DIPA?

[mrphillips]

My intended goal was a nice, hoppy American Barleywine, but my yeast must have come with a tiny superhero cape that I didn't see. It's been fermenting for 10 days, is at 1.024...and still chugging along happily. The starting gravity was 1.110.

If it continues to ferment down to, say 1.015, would it be better placed as a DPIA in a competition? It tastes like a Dogfish 60 min. on steroids - nice amber malt profile with simcoe/amarillo hops on the middle and back. It doesn't have the "chewiness" that Barleywines are supposed to have. Is that something that comes with age?

I plan on aging this for a year - month in primary, month in secondary, and 10 months in the bottle.

Thanks for any advise.

 

[ktblunden]

From 19C. American Barleywine:
"Differs from an Imperial IPA in that the hops are not extreme, the malt is more forward, and the body is richer and more characterful. "

From 14C. Imperial IPA:
" Less malty, lower body, less rich and a greater overall hop intensity than an American Barleywine. Typically not as high in gravity/alcohol as a barleywine, since high alcohol and malt tend to limit drinkability. A showcase for hops. "

Forget about the numbers and go by what the finished beer tastes like. Both categories read pretty similar, those two statements really distill the differences. If it tastes more like a DIPA skip the long term aging. 1.015 is only just below the bottom limit on American Barleywine, so it's not necessarily out of style based solely on that.

 

[bobbrews]

Just look up 19c and see if it fits.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style19.php

 

[SmCranf]

Sounds like you plan on letting it age like a barleywine...why not call it how you treat it?

 

[Beerbeque]

From 19C. American Barleywine:
"Differs from an Imperial IPA in that the hops are not extreme, the malt is more forward, and the body is richer and more characterful. "

If that's true then Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine must be mislabeled.
My point is that there is lots of overlap here depending on interpretation and I love Bigfoot.

 

[mrphillips]

We're down to 1.021 and falling!

 

[mrphillips]

Took another gravity reading, and she's holding steady at 1.021, putting my abv at 11.7%. I was hoping for an even 12, but I'm quite happy with how well the yeast attenuated. She's a barleywine for sure!