WLP070 Bourbon yeast for a English Barleywine. What do you think?

[Big-H]

I'm contemplating using WLP070 Bourbon yeast for a 1.100 plus barley wine.

The ideas is to use a yeast that will ferment a big big beer without stalling, and add some caramel notes/complexity in the process.

I plan to mash at 152º to preserve some sweetness.

Any thoughts?...bad idea?...good idea?

 

[brewmeister13]

Never worked with it, but I would say blend the yeast types. Pitch a yeast that has the desired flavor profile that you are looking for and then, 3 or so days later, toss in the high tolerance strain.

 

[Big-H]

Never worked with it, but I would say blend the yeast types. Pitch a yeast that has the desired flavor profile that you are looking for and then, 3 or so days later, toss in the high tolerance strain.

Would you do a starter for the bourbon yeast as well as the first pitch? I've never double pitched before so just curious what the best practice is.

 

[brewmeister13]

Kara Taylor from White Labs gave a seminar on blending yeast. Her recommendation is to pitch an active yeast starter.

EDIT: oh my brain, meant to say at NHC this last year. If you are an AHA member the talk is online. Definitely really good info coming out at NHC talks.

 

[Big-H]

Kara Taylor from White Labs gave a seminar on blending yeast. Her recommendation is to pitch an active yeast starter.

EDIT: oh my brain, meant to say at NHC this last year. If you are an AHA member the talk is online. Definitely really good info coming out at NHC talks.

I listened to the seminar...very good. She seems to recommend that you use the yeast you want for flavor for the first three days and then pitch whatever you need for flocculation or attenuation at the three day mark. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[fsr_racer]

I used this yeast 3 months ago for a 5gal barleywine with 20lb grain bill. Still have another month to sit in the carboy before bottling. Took a SG reading this past weekend and it was 1.030, unfortunately I can't give an OG, my PC with the numbers crapped out on me. I took a sip of my sample and it was pretty warm, but tasty. Will bottle 1st of March and let it sit for a few months.

 

[Big-H]

I used this yeast 3 months ago for a 5gal barleywine with 20lb grain bill. Still have another month to sit in the carboy before bottling. Took a SG reading this past weekend and it was 1.030, unfortunately I can't give an OG, my PC with the numbers crapped out on me. I took a sip of my sample and it was pretty warm, but tasty. Will bottle 1st of March and let it sit for a few months.

What temp did you mash at?

 

[fsr_racer]

What temp did you mash at?

153. I had to do 2 mashes, my 10gal Igloo wasn't up to the task of doing it all at once, batch sparge on each, which left me somewhere close to 10gal of wort, boiled down to a little over 5. Loooooong boil, but I had recently read a thread about someone who does long boils for Milliard reactions adding tasty flavors. It's an experimental batch. My new bare bones kit from Tiger Direct should be delivered today, then I can build my new desktop tower and get the numbers off the old hard drive. My FG probably isn't going to drop much lower than 1.030, but I swirled it a little to get the yeast back in suspension and will let it sit for another month anyway.

 

[gradnin]

I used WLP070 for a barleywine last year. It gives off a very interesting malty flavor that is quite pleasant but very hard to pin down. Is a great choice. Mashed at 156. I was targeting 1.100 but ended up with 1.080 because I sparged poorly (better at that now.) Final gravity was 1.016 and it got there very quickly.

One thing to watch out for if you bottle it is that it took a LONG time to carbonate. Like 4 months, but then again that could just be me being rusty at brewing.

 

[fsr_racer]

Well, I did hit that 1.100 OG; however, mine stalled out at 1.030. I don't think it had enough oxygen initially. I suppose I should be calling mine a Wee Heavy, due to the long boil, and I have been reading that the big beers with high OG do better if you oxygenate a second time a day or two after pitching. I still have a lot to learn. I decided to add a packet of 1118 shortly before bottling and primed with 8oz of brown sugar. After 2 weeks I honestly thought I'd be using it for pancake syrup, but after 3 weeks it is drying out and carbonating quite nicely. I can't wait to see how it ages.

 

[TxBigHops]

Thanks for the ideas in this thread. I'm thinking of using this yeast in a 1.100 Russian Imperial Stout. So you think it would be best practice to pitch some more yeast at bottling time? My beer will be in primary for about a month, then probably 3 months in secondary. I am worried about carbonation. I would like it to be ready (at least to sample) by Thanksgiving.

 

[fsr_racer]

I just racked my second batch using this yeast recently. I tried to learn from the mistakes I made the first time around. OG was 1.095, I started fermentation in my bottling bucket, then after about 24hrs I opened the spigot and let it drop from the counter down into my BMB. When I racked it to secondary it was down to 1.000, which should be around 12.5%abv. I regret not sampling a little, but I was trying to finish off an experimental batch of mead at the time. I'm going to let it bulk age for a couple more months and should have it bottled in time for the holidays.

 

[gradnin]

Make sure that you do not bulk age it for too long if you want it for the holidays. Probably need at least a couple of months in the bottles for the carbonation to come up.

 

[TxBigHops]

I just racked my second batch using this yeast recently. I tried to learn from the mistakes I made the first time around. OG was 1.095, I started fermentation in my bottling bucket, then after about 24hrs I opened the spigot and let it drop from the counter down into my BMB. When I racked it to secondary it was down to 1.000, which should be around 12.5%abv. I regret not sampling a little, but I was trying to finish off an experimental batch of mead at the time. I'm going to let it bulk age for a couple more months and should have it bottled in time for the holidays.

Wow, that's some pretty incredible attenuation. Did you mash this one lower than the previous batch? Use less unfermentable grains? Or do you attribute it to the ozygenation that occured during your transfer at 24 hours?

 

[fsr_racer]

Make sure that you do not bulk age it for too long if you want it for the holidays. Probably need at least a couple of months in the bottles for the carbonation to come up.

I am concerned about that, but I don't want to rush it. I'll probably do the same thing I did last time, add some 1118 a day or two before bottling, then prime with brown sugar. I have some CBC bottling yeast, but am not sure that it would be up to the task at that abv.

Wow, that's some pretty incredible attenuation. Did you mash this one lower than the previous batch? Use less unfermentable grains? Or do you attribute it to the ozygenation that occured during your transfer at 24 hours?

I'm pretty sure I mashed at the same temps. I have a simple setup, 10gal Igloo, which makes it a PITA to do multi-steps. Recipe was simpler as well, I replaced the specialty malts with Rauch in an attempt to get some smoked character, 18lbs premium 2-row with 2lbs Rauch. I could have used more Rauch, but since it's my first time using it I didn't want to over do it. I missed my target OG of 1.100 and came in at 1.085, so I added some brown sugar to bring it up to 1.095. I think aerating the wort a second time 24hrs after primary started was really beneficial for the yeast.