Help with a Barleywine! Anyone have a recipe they love?

[Wes440]

Does anyone have a great 5 gallon AG Barleywine recipe that they have brewed and love?

I want to get one started as I know they need time to age. Also I read that with the new understanding of yeast and the ability to make yeast starters, aging requirements are shorter if the right amount of yeast is pitched...(as these barley wines were traditionally under pitched) <--- this info came from a John Palmer podcast.

What are your opinions on the aging time?

I'm using a glass carboy to age, and will bottle condition in bombers or 750ml's.

Thanks!

 

[Braufessor]

I don't brew them very much. But, I have brewed Denny's Old Stoner and was quite happy with it. A fellow brewer makes it regularly and I have had some bottles that were absolutely great. It is a good recipe that lots have brewed. Just google it and it will come up.

 

[Calichusetts]

Love me some barleywines. PM me for some of my favorite recipes. Be forewarned...I like them big. 12-14% I got a few in the 9-11% range. Grab a really nice bottle of bourbon and some oak spirals or chips in the meantime. I got some hoppy recipes that are drinkable right away and transform amazing over a few years and others that should be tucked away for at least 6-9 months.

 

[Wes440]

Thanks and PM'd.

 

[IslandLizard]

Pm'd you too.

I had a barleywine at the PA Renaissance Faire about 12-14 years ago, and it was strong alcohol, malty and fairly light in color and incredibly bitter (good!) with great floral hoppy notes. Took me an hour to finish a pint. Never came across anything like that since. Most are not hoppy and bitter enough, too much malt forward to my taste.

 

[fsr_racer]

Pm'd you too.

I had a barleywine at the PA Renaissance Faire about 12-14 years ago, and it was strong alcohol, malty and fairly light in color and incredibly bitter (good!) with great floral hoppy notes. Took me an hour to finish a pint. Never came across anything like that since. Most are not hoppy and bitter enough, too much malt forward to my taste.

I was going to attempt a clone of Stone's Old Guardian in a couple weeks, and was surprised that it only called for a little under 4oz of hops total. I have some extra and was contemplating adding it in, but might stick to the original recipe to see how it comes out before attempting to modify. Just get impatient thinking about the long fermentation w/ a few months to age added on.

 

[fsr_racer]

I was going to attempt a clone of Stone's Old Guardian in a couple weeks, and was surprised that it only called for a little under 4oz of hops total. I have some extra and was contemplating adding it in, but might stick to the original recipe to see how it comes out before attempting to modify. Just get impatient thinking about the long fermentation w/ a few months to age added on.

So have you brewed the OG clone yet? I am in the same boat with the extra hops on hand, but like you thought of sticking to the original before attempting to modify. If you have brewed, any advice on handling the large grain bill? I'll be using a 10-gal Igloo for mashing & batch sparging. Should be fun.

 

[stu4stew]

I brewed my barley wine this weekend. Only used 4 oz. (1.5 60, 2.5 5)

 

[smithmd4]

As far as handling the large grain bill, you will lose a fair bit of efficiency due to such a big mash. I would have some extract handy to make up the difference or adjust hopping as needed if you undershoot. My 1st thought when I started making up a recipe was to overshoot by 10% on the malt, but my mash tun wasn't big enough to do that for the gravity I wanted.

I ended up doing a SMASH barleywine with Maris Otter and Magnum. Collected 3 gallons of 1st runnings and boiled it for ~2hrs until it had reduced to a little more than a gallon. Too high gravity/thick to get a reading. Then I combined it with 6 gallons of second runnings and boiled for another 2hrs. Ended up with a starting gravity of 1.118 from 24.5lbs of Maris Otter. 1098 finished it at 1.032 but I feel like I could've gotten to the upper mid 20s with a little more babying.

 

[chezhed]

I just opened mine a few weeks ago from a 12 gal brew in March. (who once said, "who needs 10 gallons of barleywine?" ) Took it to homebrew club meeting and it was well received....it's almost mostly Maris Otter also...added a bit of Caramunich II for a different malt characteristic and roasted barley to knock some sweetness and provide color. It worked out to about the same hop proportion, 4 oz to 5 gal, but they were Summit and Bravo so IBU came in way up there at 120....barely in style guidelines, but then so are most of my brews---pushed to the limit. 1.117 OG 1.028 FG...about 12%