Birthday Barley Wine

[levin_ae92]

Hi all,

was thinking of making a barley wine in the next few weeks for my birthday at the beginning of next August (Middle of winter = perfect barley wine drinking time!!) Was thinking the following grain bill,and am leaning more towards english style, and I figured theres no point doing late hopping as August is 10 months away and late hops will just dissipate!


Also its a partial cos I can only really mash about 6kg of grain
Ok so for 20L

3.5kg BB ale malt
1.5kg Wheat
800g Munich II
200g Choc
1.5kg Light extract
500g Dextrose

OG of around 1.090

Dumped onto a yeast cake of US05.

Was thinking east kent goldings for bittering and maybe a 20min or so addition.

Thoughts?

 

[zebba]

I'm planning similar in the next few weeks.

My initial thoughts are that I wouldn't add the chocolate, and I would use a different yeast.

The chocolate is just personal, and I reckon plenty will disagree with me. I think in a barleywine though that you can get flavour from other places so it will just muddy the waters. Having said that, I am looking at other specialty malts like melanoidin and dark crystals.

On the yeast front, you're after an english style barleywine, so I'd want something with more character. Personally, I'll be using a 1968 yeast cake for mine - 1968 tastes fan-bloody-tastic, and will handle up to 10% abv. It'll probably need a bit more management though as it likes to sleep... US-05 is great and all, but when you're talking about a special beer like this, I think that the rewards that will be garnered from using a characterful yeast like 1968 will really be appreciated come next August.

On the hopping front, I agree with your thoughts on the late hopping. In all my reading though I see people adding copious amounts of late hops to barleywines. I've got a whole heap of theories as to why this may be, but to me it just seems like a waste of cash...

 

[drsmurto]

I would just use 5kg of ale malt rather than using wheat.

A small crystal addition and keep the choc for some extra character.

I'd mash very low - 62-63C for this to try and get the FG down, particularly important when using extract.

Bitter with something higher in AA then EKG. Challenger, northdown, target. Use the EKG for late (10-15 min) additions.

No issues with using a US05 yeastcake. Whilst some english yeast esters are desirable this beer is more about the malt.

If you were coming along to the case swap in a few weeks time i could bring along a bottle of my EBW that has been in the bottle for ~20 months.

 

[levin_ae92]

Thanks Guys

Zebba - I went with US05 simply because I have a beer fermenting with it now and its convenient, and I figured being a malt driven beer it wouldnt matter too much

DrS - Cheers for the suggestions, I really only added wheat because I read somewhere it can help to counteract the heavy maltiness associated with such high amounts of malted barley. I will be mashing quite low, and also the dex is to help counter the poor fermentability of the extract.

 

[MHB]

I don't know what your usual efficiency is, or the batch size, but there inverse link between SG and efficiency, the higher the SG the lower the efficiency.
Just think if you're aiming for an OG around 1.070 or more, it might be a good idea to have a bit of extra Dex or DME on hand.
On "normal" strength beers, I expect 80% Brewhouse Yield, at 1.100 it's more like 40%.

Personally I love to bitter a big Barley Wine with EKG, it just comes out so mellow, yes it costs a bit more, but if you push the boil out to 2 hours, not all that much more. Not a right/wrong thing just a taste preference.

MHB

 

[levin_ae92]

My effic with 6kg of grain is roughly 65%, so I've accounted for that, and the dex and extract will go in 5min before flame out