High OG Barleywine - Cold crash before extended conditioning?

[MikeyClem]

Hi all...

My friend and I brewed a 1.105 OG Barleywine about 3 weeks ago. We are planning on racking to a new carboy next weekend where we will let it condition for the next several months until it's ready.... We aren't sure if we should cold crash it first or skip that so that we have enough yeast left in the beer to clean it up while it ages. It seems like dropping all of the yeast out would defeat the purpose of extended conditioning, but we aren't sure. Also, may be helpful to know that the extended conditioning will not take place in a temperature controlled environment. We only have a small Snapple fridge so we will be leaving it out while it conditions.

All thoughts are appreciated!!

 

[smizak]

My advice would be to bottle, carb, then cold condition. You will have much less oxygen exposure.


PS: months old barleywine isn't necessarily better...

 

[Cyclman]

I would let it hit FG in primary, then bottle it. Age it in the bottles, and you can try some every month or so, determine when it is best. I have drunk excellent young barleywines, they were too good to find out how well they aged.