I'm Thinking... 09/09/09 Barleywine

[FSR402]

If you really want to rise that temp just pull some wort out and heat it up then add it back in.

 

[Couevas]

If you really want to rise that temp just pull some wort out and heat it up then add it back in.

Isn't that what I said?

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

Isn't that what I said?

It doesn't count unless it has been sugested then seconded by another party

So in that frame of mind, I too say drain a little wort, warm it up on the stove, and add it back if you want to raise the temperature. Otherwise everything Couevas said about it having more fermentables in it from mashing at a lower temp is true.

 

[Stratotankard]

Thanks for the suggestions. I went ahead and drained some out and and added it back after heating. Never did quite make it on the temp, but 148F will probably do. I mashed 75min and my cooler held the temp really well. Finished at 145F. I pulled 6gal of first runnings at 1.080 and sparged another 2.5gal of 1.060. I would love to have gotten another sparge out of this, but I was out of containers. As it is I boiled for nearly 2 hours in three pots to get down to 6.5 gallons in one pot. Another 60 minutes and I was left with 5.25 gallons of yummy goodness.
I managed to cool this down in 30 minutes using an icebath and 4 bags of ice. Then my auto siphon broke. I tried using the spigot in the bottom of my turkey fryer kettle, but it clogged with hops so finally had to call for SWMBO to help with pouring onto my waiting yeast cake (Cry Havoc). OG after the boil (before pitching) was off my scale, but looks like 1.154 if the scale continued past 1.150. :rockin:
So as I understand it, the lower temp means more fermentable sugars or a drier finishing beer, right? Any ideas on what FG this should finish out at? Edit: just saw the 25-30 points.

Terje

Edit: Just did the math and it looks like 3 hours of boiling brought me in just over 95% brewhouse efficiency! of course I used over half a bottle of propane

 

[jmulligan]

Woo - just finished this monster a few hours ago. Came in at 1.124, but who knows if that is even close to right, considering how much suspended gunk there was in the sample. This grain bill definitely maxed out my 10-gal Igloo. I also melted/caramelized the granulated sugar before I added it to the wort. I boiled 2 pots (probably 10 gallons between them both) down to the desired 5.5 gallons (or so) over several hours. Pitched the starter and it's already bubbling away. Got it sitting in a water bath to try to keep temps down.

Some pics:

 

[KingBrianI]

My 999 fermentation is slowing down so I decided to take a gravity sample to see where it stands. I'm down to 1.021 and very happy with that. My long, low mash seems to have paid off. I expect it to still drop a couple points but it tasted great where it is. I was worried about a too sweet beer which I would have found unpalatable, but the balance was just right. There was a definite alcohol presence, but not at all unpleasant. There was no hotness to it and it blended into the flavor really well. I'm very excited about this beer and can't wait to try the finished and aged product.

 

[Poppy360]

I bought the ingredients for this over the weekend. It'll be brewed before the end of the month.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Pics of my 9-9-9 brew day.

First I had to upgrade my MLT. Think 17.5 gallons is big enough??

Crushing 24 pounds of grain by hand with a Barley Crusher is a good workout.

After stirring out all the dough balls... nailed my rest temp!

Let it sleep for 75 minutes...

 

[Saccharomyces]

First runnings.

Collected 7.75 gallons at 1.078. Need to boil for .. 150 minutes to hit OG. Hot break was wicked!!

Finally. Time to add the bittering hops.

Resting in the fermenter after a LONG brew day. Pitched 2 packages of US-05 and a half package of S-04. The other half package went into the 2.5 gallon partigyle ale.

Had just under 4.5 gallons at 1.119 at pitching. Today I will add 2 pounds of sugar in a 1.119 solution along with some Fermaid which will bring me up to 5 gallons in the fermenter. More food for the yeast!!

 

[korndog]

First wort hopping is kind of a fine tuning tool for me. I'm not sure a beer this big...aged this long will gain any benefit from it.

I did not FWH mine.

I think I am going to FWH some Chinook if nobody objects.

KD

 

[KingBrianI]

I think I am going to FWH some Chinook if nobody objects.

KD

As long as you adjust amounts to get the right IBU I think it will be a nice addition. How long are you planning on boiling to get it down to your final volume? I only see problems if the hops start to release weird flavors or something after 2 hours of boiling.

 

[korndog]

As long as you adjust amounts to get the right IBU I think it will be a nice addition. How long are you planning on boiling to get it down to your final volume? I only see problems if the hops start to release weird flavors or something after 2 hours of boiling.

I have it setup for a 90 minute boil in pro-mash. Yes, I will adjust IBU accordingly.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Prepared a 1.119 sugar solution this morning with Fermaid and added it to the fermenter three days in. It's like I just gave the yeast a bag of crack, an hour later the fermenter is going crazy.

 

[conpewter]

So how do you all plan to age this? I fermented in a corny so I'm planning on "racking" off of that using a shortened dip tube. My first thought is to just go back to my bottling days and bottle the whole batch in a week or so (with priming sugar). I've also thought of just racking it over to another cornie (I have a jumper, two liquid out QDs connected together), purge with Co2 and put it in a corner of the basement. Or I could do the same thing but force carb it for a week and then let it sit outside the fridge.

Either of the cornie methods I'd probably carb at some point and use the BMBF to bottle.

 

[FSR402]

So how do you all plan to age this? I fermented in a corny so I'm planning on "racking" off of that using a shortened dip tube. My first thought is to just go back to my bottling days and bottle the whole batch in a week or so (with priming sugar). I've also thought of just racking it over to another cornie (I have a jumper, two liquid out QDs connected together), purge with Co2 and put it in a corner of the basement. Or I could do the same thing but force carb it for a week and then let it sit outside the fridge.

Either of the cornie methods I'd probably carb at some point and use the BMBF to bottle.

My plan is to ferment for 6-8 weeks then rack to a glass carboy with oak and let sit for 8-10 weeks then rack to a keg. It will sit in the keg until 2 weeks before shipping then I'll force carb, bottle, and ship.

 

[wildwest450]

What would be the ideal temp for longtime keg storage? My house stays about 70-72f in summer and about 65-68f in the winter. I also have a freezer I use for conditioning (54f), but I would like to make a lager someday and was going to use the freezer for that.

 

[FSR402]

What would be the ideal temp for longtime keg storage? My house stays about 70-72f in summer and about 65-68f in the winter. I also have a freezer I use for conditioning (54f), but I would like to make a lager someday and was going to use the freezer for that.

The 65-68 will be fine.

 

[McKBrew]

I was going to skip this brew, but I think I still might take a stab at it a bit later this year/early next. Based on the last few posts, it looks like something that should be saved for my planned Coleman 70QT MLT upgrade.

 

[BierMuncher]

Brew Tracking as of 9/18

Once you've completed your brew session, PM me so I can track the progress of all the participants.

Here's what I have so far. If I've missed your session, let me know.

I've highlighted individuals who have been absent from HBT for three weeks or more.


Air Pirate7-24
Alamo_Beer - (Brewed 8/16)
Amiaji - (Brewed 9/8)
BakerStreetBeers 8-16
Beerrific - (Brewed 9/6)
beerthirty - (Brewed 9/7)
BierMuncher - (Brewed 8/27)
Bike N Brew
Brewpastor
Brewsmith
BuffaloSabresBrewer
CBBaron
chriso
conpewter – (Brewed 8/24)
Couevas – (Brewed 8/4)
DeathBrewer
deathweed – (Brewed 8/26)
Displaced MassHole
Doog_Si_Reeb - (Brewed 9/7)
eddie - (Brewed 8/31)
EdWort
Evan!
EvilTOJ - (Brewed 9/8)
FSR402 - (Brewed 9-7-08)
Glibbidy
hagbardceline
Hagen – (Brewed 8/23)
HarvInSTL
jds
jfrizzell
jmulligan - (Brewed 9/13)
justbrewit 8-18
Kai
Kilted Brewer - (Brewed 7/13)
KingBrianI - (Brewed 9/6)
korndog
Liquidicem - (Brewed 9/1)
MikeFlynn74
mmb
MNBugeater - (Brewed 9/6)
mrkristofo
Mustangj
nealf - (Brewed 9/14)
niquejim
olllllo - (Brewed 9/7)
Ooompa Loompa
Pirate Ale - (Brewed 9/6)
Ridemywideglide - (Brewed 8/31)
Saccharomyces - (Brewed 9/13)
SporkD2 - (Brewed 9/4)
Stratotankard - (Brewed 9/13)
TerapinChef
TexLaw 8-12
the_bird
uglygoat
Warrior
wedge421
wildwest450 - (Brewed 9/12)
xiang – (Brewed 8/26)

 

[TexLaw]

Don't count me out of this thing, yet, BM! I expect to fire up the kettle this weekend. It seems my calendar suddenly cleared.


TL

 

[CBBaron]

I've had this planned for the next available opportunity for the last 4 weeks now. I still havn't gotten that opportunity.

However I will make this either tomorrow or Saturday. Its been too long since my last brew session.

Then after I get this beast in the fermenter my next beer will be a mild. Gotta hit the other extreme of beers after a beast like this.

Craig

 

[jmulligan]

Just a question - think I could dump a porter on top of this yeast cake?

 

[Chriso]

A big porter, or a small porter?

Big one, sure. Small one.... I would just use a sanitized measuring cup, and throw 3-4 cups of yeast sludge into the new batch, instead of pitching on top of the whole cake.

Actually, big one, I would still use a cup, and scoop 6-8 cups of goo into there, instead of using the whole cake. Overpitching can do some funky stuff, from what I hear.

 

[PseudoChef]

I wouldn't pitch anything onto a Barleywine yeast cake. That yeast has gone through some pretty stressful fermentation already.

 

[CBBaron]

Just a question - think I could dump a porter on top of this yeast cake?

You could but I wouldn't. This beer is pushing the limits of the yeast and going to stress them considerably. That increases the likely hood of mutations that can affect the end result for you next beer. And you should have much too much yeast left in the fermenter for a smaller beer.

I save my yeast reuse for yeast cakes from low strength beers and treat the yeast cakes from big beers as done.

Craig

 

[jmulligan]

Ok, so 1 (qualified) yea, 2 nays. Thanks for the advice guys. I wasn't sure, so I wanted to ask. I will err on the side of caution and just use fresh yeast.

 

[Chriso]

Yeah, I didn't elaborate as much in text as I would have in my head. I do like CBBaron is talking about, I plan my yeast cake for the smallest batch first, then a stronger batch, then an even stronger batch. So Generation 1 is usually 1.040-1.050, Generation 2 is usually 1.050-1.070, and Generation 3 is usually 1.070+, then dispose of. (To be clear, I wash and harvest yeast from Generation 1, and sometimes Generation 2, but never from Generation 3)

I guess I'll qualify what I said earlier with this... If you pitch a pretty big starter (2-3 Liters) of very active yeast, they shouldn't, in theory hit the point of mutation, and they might be safe to use. If I were just whipping up a porter to "have around" for a drinkin' beer, and I happened to clean the Barleywine the same day, and I didn't have a yeast starter ready for the porter, then yes, I would consider reusing the yeast (stressed-out or not). If it was for a competition, or for gifts, etc, I would probably use fresh yeast.

 

[jmulligan]

Thanks for the elaborated response, Chriso. I haven't done any yeast-washing to this point, but I vaguely knew that pitching from large to small wasn't a great idea.

If I were just whipping up a porter to "have around" for a drinkin' beer, and I happened to clean the Barleywine the same day, and I didn't have a yeast starter ready for the porter, then yes, I would consider reusing the yeast (stressed-out or not). If it was for a competition, or for gifts, etc, I would probably use fresh yeast.

Since this beer will likely be offered at my wedding next year, I think I'll play it safe and use new yeast, like you said.

 

[KingBrianI]

Can I say that the smell this beer is giving off during fermentation is wonderful? I decided to go with UK Fuggles for the taste and aroma additions and the fermentation room smells awesome! Slightly fruity, with floral and earthy tones. I can't wait to get this one bottled up and aged. I substituted 3 lbs. of german rauch malt for some of the maris otter, and although it is very subtle, the smoke is coming through in the scent and blending wonderfully with the rest.

 

[olllllo]

I started at 1.107.
After 11 days, at 64F, I'm at 1.022
11.33%

Almost 80% attenuation.

Very rich right now and a touch sweet. I'll probably dry hop and perhaps oak it some.
This week end I will be taking it to an undisclosed location in Northern AZ where it will bulk age in a basement for a few months.