Barley Wine To Secondary Or Not?

[Paul H]

Hi Guys,
I have a Barley wine almost finished it's primary & was wondering whether to:

1. Bottle it
2. Rack to secondary in a fermenter for a couple of months to a year
3. Rack to seconday in a keg

Any thoughts/ideas?

Cheers
Paul

 

[Paul H]

Help me mods I'm stuck in the retail section..

 

[Tony]

:lol: classic.

rack it to a fermenter for 3 or 4 weeks to ensure its done and then bottle.

keep carb low as well.

cheers

 

[Muggus]

I took option 2 with my last Barley Wine. Secondary for 6 months. Turned out very smooth, but its a bit risky and a long time to wait!

Depends on what style of BW you're making. If you want to retain the aromatic quality of the hops (and malt I guess) you're best of only leaving it in secondary for a couple of weeks.
If its quite sweet, boozy, or overpowering, it may benefit from a longer secondary. Up to how patient you are too.

And like Tony mentioned, carb it low...half will do. A highly carbed BW would be a bit tough to drink IMO!

 

[dr K]

aahhh..the secondary ......

Put in a a purged keg, stick just enough CO2 in to seal.
Check it in six months.
Make a decision then.

K

 

[bindi]

For BIG beers I rack to 2nd for weeks then keg for yonks, taste them some time in the future. :lol:

Edit: Retail thread .

 

[Stuster]

Paul, if you want it moved, just PM a mod or report the post and tell them you want it moved.

In terms of the barley wine, first, what kind of barley wine is it? English or American? And how do you see yourself drinking it? From bottles or keg?

 

[sinkas]

I'd rack it to Secondary, Ive got one thats been in secondary for 18 Months

 

[leeboy]

You are an incredibly patient man Sinkas. I'm lucky to get to 6 months. If it was a ABA. I wouldn't wait that long if its UK definately let that baby mature, old crustation style

 

[fraser_john]

+1 with Sinkas! I have started taking the odd glass out of an American Barleywine that has been sitting for 18 months in a keg. Lovely.

Have entered it in Vicbrew, my first ever.

 

[Trev]

I'm with Dr K on this

Rack to a keg, purge a few times and leave it for quite a while (a year??)

Conditioning, by all accounts, is best done in bulk so if you can afford a keg to sit idle for a while it's probably the best way to go.

The next question then is do you condition cold, or just leave it at room temp. I'd vote for cold conditioning, or at least cool.

Wait 12 months and report back <_<

Trev

 

[GMK]

Last years BW that was Best Mash in SA - I did secondary for 2months in an Oak Barrel - then racked to cube for 4 weeks in fridge then bottled.

Only have 1 stuby left....We drank the 2nd last at the wheatsheaf when squyres came down...

 

[Jye]

Ive been giving this a fair bit of thought lately since Im planning on a string of 1.100 beers soon and have decided to secondary in the keg. After 3-4 wks in primary Im going to 2ndary in the keg, carbonate and then bottle from the keg when the next BW is ready to be racked to secondary (keg). I guess they will spend about 4-6 in the keg conditioning before bottling.

 

[Snow]

Paul,

Personally, I would condition the beer under a light CO2 blanket in a keg at room temp for another 3 months, then bottle 2/3 and carbonate the remaining 1/3 in the keg. Of course, prior to transferring to the keg, I would pull the keg apart and sanitise the bejesus out of everything. Under no circumstances would I condition in a plastic fermenter.

Cheers - Snow

 

[Jye]

Snow, I dont know if my thinking is correct but I wouldnt be as worried with bugs in a BW due to the alcohol. I think they are less susceptible to infection :huh:

 

[trevc]

Just make the BW strong enough that it's an effective sanitiser