Barley Wine onto wyeast 2633

[kunfaced]

Plan on doing a brew with a mate on Saturday and he has his heart set on doing a barley wine. Being the tight arses we are, we don't want to fork out anymore for yeast. I have a lager which is nearly finished which was fermented using wyeast 2633. As far as I can see, the recipe is similar to that of a dopplebock with the major difference being our recipe was aiming for around 70 IBUs. I have never brewed a lager with that high of a bitterness before and am concerned as to how well it would actually balance out with the rest of the brew. When it's finished fermenting, my mate wants to bottle his half after a few weeks of lagering. I'll be leaving mine for at least 6 months. Has anyone brewed something similar?

recipe: http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/957910/big-aussie-hop-barley-wine

we are going to do a triple decoction mash and boil the wort with rocks. So I was also considering removing the crystal cause it might become a bit much on the sweet side.

 

[kunfaced]

Big Aussie Hop Barley Wine Lager

23L

7.5kg Marris Otter
2kg Munich
600g Crystal
150g Roasted Barley

56g POR @ 60min
42g Helga @ 60min
42g Topaz Dry Hop
42g Summer Dry Hop

Wyeast 2633

Other:
Yeast Nutrient @10 min
Whirlfloc @ 10 min
5g calcium sulphate in sparge water
50L Mt. Donna Buang spring water

180 - 240min boil, depending on volumes. Mash is going to be huge

 

[Dips Me Lid]

The bitterness will drop off over time, 70 doesn't seem excessive to me if it's a relatively high OG you're shooting for.

If you're planning for 23L in the fermentor I'd question whether 50L of brewing liquor will be enough considering your doing a 2-3 hour boil plus approx 10L loss to grain and decoction loss.

I'd personally drop the crystal addition, you should get a fair bit of flavour development from the hot rocks, long boil and decoctions.

A nice bit of oxygen and repitching the slurry should work ok, I assume you're gonna ferment at lager temps?

 

[kunfaced]

Yeah lager temps. I haven't used rocks for boiling before, so was unsure of how long it will take to boil the liquid down. There's going to be plenty of liquid though, I've never brewed anything this strong before. The rocks I am guessing will be more vigorous than the burner.

I just got a paint stirrer and was thinking of using it with my drill, how long should I go at the wort for before pitching the yeast?

 

[Velu]

For a big beer I usually use the paint stirrer on the drill for about 2 minutes, and another 2 minutes about 12 hours later.