"Indian" Barley Wine - AG

[Murphy111]

Just wrote out this recipe today, picked up the ingredients and will brew in a few days, but I'd like some thoughts on how this might go! Any tips will be great. I'm still a little nervous about fermenting something of this gravity, because I've only ever done things that get up to 1.050/1.055 or so.

This is also somewhat of a "Frankenstein" brew, using several different types of malts that might not always be used together. Here's to experimentation!

Batch Size: 3 Gallons
OG: ??
FG: ?? (Aiming for 1.015 - 1.020)

Grain:
5lb Rahr American 2-Row
3lb Pilsner Malt
1.5lb Maris Otter
1lb Dingman's Special B
3/4lb Crystal Malt (60L)
1/2lb Rauchmalt (Smoked)
1/4lb Chocolate Malt

Mash @ 152F for one hour.
Mashout @ 170F, sparge with enough water to bring total wort volume to 5 gallons.

Boil 60 minutes prior to hop additions, or until wort volume reaches 4 gallons.

Hops:
T-60: 1oz Chinook
T-45: 1oz Willamette
T-30: 1oz Cluster
T-15: 1oz Chinook
T-10: 10z Willamette

Wort should be approximately 3 gallons.

Aerate wort heavily during chill, to allow for oxygenation for the yeast.
Chill to 70F, then pitch White Labs WLP070 Bourbon Yeast.

Ferment@ 65F for one month, rack to bottles, bottle condition 4 months or more.

I'm looking for a heavily hopped beer, but more on the bitter side than the aromatic side. Therefore, I have late-ish hop additions, but none past 10 minutes. I picked Willamette, Chinook, and Cluster because of their floral/spicy/grassy notes, which I hope will complement the grain bill - especially the Special B, Rauch, and Chocolate.

Thoughts? I'm wide open to constructive criticisms here, this is an entirely experimental brew and I'm still somewhat of a beginner.

 

[giraffe]

I dont know your efficiency, target OG, or the projected IBUs, but Im going to assume thats around 1.090+.

Anyway, it looks like 15-20% crystal malt in a barleywine, I wouldnt find that drinkable. Personally, Id aim for around 2-5%, and get your maltiness from a good flavorful base malt(s). The hops seem ok. I dont like chinook in high gravity beers, but many people do. Id use an ibu calculator to make sure you are going to have enough IBU. Id want around at least 50, (or more if you are going to age it a long time)

 

[Murphy111]

Minor Edit: My amounts were a little off there. The Rauchmalt is actually 1/2 lb, not 3/4, and the Crystal 60 is actually 3/4lb, not 1lb. Still, would you suggest maybe reducing the Crystal 60 to 1/2lb or 1/4? 3/4lb Makes the crystal 6.25% of the grain bill.

 

[giraffe]

Special B is crystal too. its pretty much Crystal 150. So its more like 15% total. So id reduce them both till its around 6% total or less. Crystal is going to add sweetness and body to the beer. And the special B a more burnt raisin sweetness, the 60L more toffee like sweetness. In a large beer you are going to have residual sweetness and a lot of body just from the base malt, Too much crystal on top of that, and you are going to have a sticky beer. Then again, I like dry drinkable beers, if you want something viscous to sip around the fireplace in january, go for it, but i think its going to be too much.

 

[Murphy111]

Yeah, I really wanted the raisin/fruit character from the Special B to be a large player. I put the Crystal 60 in as a medium-body place holder, almost. My goal was to balance the sweetness from the Special B with a larger hop schedule, so maybe I'll pull the 60L out altogether and increase the hops to work better with that.

 

[peterj]

I agree with giraffe. I think that's going to be way too much Special B. You don't need that much to get a big flavor contribution. I would cut it in half to 0.5 lb Special B at most. It's going to be really hard to get it to 1.015 - 1.020 with that much crystal malt in there and mashing at 152F.

Also, I wouldn't do a 45 minute hop addition. Most of the flavor and aroma will be boiled off, but you're not going to get as good hop utilization as if you put it in at 60. Kind of the worst of both worlds.

Also, why the bourbon yeast? I've never used it before so I have no idea what kind of esters and flavors it gives, but it seems like if it's made for bourbon then it probably wouldn't be the best yeast to use in a beer. I have zero experience with WLP070 though so this is all personal preference, but personally I would go with a high attenuating beer yeast like US-05/001/1056 or Nottingham or something like that, depending on what flavors you're looking for.

What do you want out of this beer? Do you want it to be thick, medium bodied, or dry? Should it be roasty and/or sweet and/or malty, etc.? Color preference? What kind of yeast character do you want? American, English, etc.?

 

[Murphy111]

Thanks for the tip on the 45 min hops, probably won't do that. As for the Special B, I'll probably cut it to 3/4 lb, but I really do want a high amount of medium body which I plan on getting from that.

I saw the bourbon yeast on Northern Brewer's website. This was the description:
"From a tradtional distillery in the heart of Bourbon country, this strain produces a caramel, malty character with balanced ester profile. Suitable for Bourbon or American Whiskey with barley, rye, or corn as the base grain. Used in high-gravity beers."

It sounded interesting so I figured I'd give it a shot. Again, this is one big "Frankenstein" style experiment.

I have a particular distaste for following conventional methods, and if this recipe isn't an example of that, I don't know what would be.

 

[fsr_racer]

I saw the bourbon yeast on Northern Brewer's website. This was the description:
"From a tradtional distillery in the heart of Bourbon country, this strain produces a caramel, malty character with balanced ester profile. Suitable for Bourbon or American Whiskey with barley, rye, or corn as the base grain. Used in high-gravity beers."

It sounded interesting so I figured I'd give it a shot. Again, this is one big "Frankenstein" style experiment.

Had the exact same thought for a barleywine that will mainly be 2-row with some caramel thrown in.

Have you brewed yet?