Ideal Barleywine Fermentation Schedule?

[Bisco_Ben]

Hello everyone, so here's the deal... I brewed an American Barleywine about 3 weeks ago that hit an OG of 1.099. It is a 6 gallon batch and has been sitting in the primary carboy since brew day. I would think that this sort of beer will need some long term aging, so I am trying to think of what would be the best way to approach this. Should I buy a 6 gallon carboy to use as a secondary for long term bulk aging and rack it over in a week or so? Should I just leave in primary for like 6 months and then bottle? This is by far the biggest beer I've made yet and is my first Barleywine, so I could really use some insight on how to best handle this sort of beer. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Calder]

Do not leave it in primary for 6 months. Certainly not with a big beer.

Either rack to a 6 gallon secondary when fermentation is done, or rack to a 5 gallon right to the top, bottle the rest and add sugar straight to the bottles - drink these soon to see what it is like. Or leave in pimary for a couple of mobths and bottle.

 

[Matteo57]

Leave a big beer like this in primary for at least 4-6 weeks but not a LOT longer than that. A beer like this needs time to really ferment out and clean up.
After that, if you don't keg, I would yes transfer to another 6 gallon glass carboy and then let that sit for 4-6 months and then bottle. Also a beer like this is going to take a good while to really bottle carbonate due to high alc. Make sure to bottle with fresh yeast and let sit at around 70F for a few weeks to really carbonate it.
Just brewed my first barleywine myself on Monday! OG: 1.120! Should be fun!

 

[Bisco_Ben]

Thanks for your valuable input Matteo. I will be picking up a 6 gallon carboy soon. On another note, what volumes of CO2 do you guys think is best for an American Barleywine? The Northern Brewer priming calculator suggest 2.1 but I feel like that might be a bit low? I would like to aim for a carbonation level similar to Sierra Nevada's Big Foot, if that helps.

 

[Matteo57]

Bisco I meant 5g carbon, not 6 unless your batch size is 6g. You want as little oxygen And headspace in the carboy as possible

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[Matteo57]

Also be careful whenever you do carbonate if you do so with priming sugar. Definitely add new yeast. Cow level is based really on what you want. I like the low carbonation thick barleywine myself. Up to you though!

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