Bottling An Old Barleywine

[sinkas]

Hi all,
I have a 20L cube of oaked American Barleywine that has been conditioning for about 12 months,
I figure that to get thebest out of it, I need ot dose the bottles with new yeast, and prime,
Can anyone tell me how much yeast (USO5) I should use per 330ml bottle?
Should I prime with table sugar or dex?

 

[Justin T]

Primimg with cane sugar or dextrose is up to you. Dextrose is likely to ad more body than cane sugar will.

In regards to the yeast I don't see a problem with pitching another sachet. Although I would still proof them before hand

Edit: A whole sachet of S-05 for the whole 20L

 

[newguy]

I'll 'second' adding an entire sachet of new yeast. DME would be the (at least my) #1 preference for priming. Roughly 1.25 cups of DME dissolved & boiled in about 4 cups of water for 10 minutes to sanitise. Add your yeast to the bottling bucket & wait maybe 10 minutes for everything to disperse. A gentle stirring with a sanitised spoon will be good to mix the yeast.

Test the bottles after about a week to see if they're carbonating. If not, put them in an esky with a fish tank heater set to ~25C (if your ambient temperature is lower than this). Leave them in the water for about 1-2 weeks. This little trick works wonders with high test beers.

 

[lonte]

I have a 20L cube of oaked American Barleywine that has been conditioning for about 12 months,

Just curious, is the cube plastic? I would have thought it too porous over time and risked oxidation? Just interested 'cos I bottled my recent Barleywine thinking I didn't want to tie a keg up for 12 months of aging but if a cube (of some description) allows oxygen-free aging then I could use it, then xfer to a keg for carbonation when ready to drink.

 

[Paul H]

Just curious, is the cube plastic? I would have thought it too porous over time and risked oxidation? Just interested 'cos I bottled my recent Barleywine thinking I didn't want to tie a keg up for 12 months of aging but if a cube (of some description) allows oxygen-free aging then I could use it, then xfer to a keg for carbonation when ready to drink.

When I ask you, would someone be ready to drink a keg of 10% Barley Wine. I wanna be there for that session

 

[brendanos]

I'd recommend dextrose, being 100% fermentable, and the best/cleanest tasting of the simple sugars (IMO).

 

[lonte]

When I ask you, would someone be ready to drink a keg of 10% Barley Wine. I wanna be there for that session

hehehe ... I was thinking of carbonating in the keg then bottling from there, but now you mention it ... party on at my house in 2009 !!!!

 

[sinkas]

Just curious, is the cube plastic? I would have thought it too porous over time and risked oxidation? Just interested 'cos I bottled my recent Barleywine thinking I didn't want to tie a keg up for 12 months of aging but if a cube (of some description) allows oxygen-free aging then I could use it, then xfer to a keg for carbonation when ready to drink.

Yes it is plastic,
I like old beers, so hopefully its oxidized enough for me now. Ill let you know, but I think people in general get a little too antsy about that sort of thing

 

[rich_lamb]

Yes it is plastic,
I like old beers, so hopefully its oxidized enough for me now. Ill let you know, but I think people in general get a little too antsy about that sort of thing

Here here! Bring on the plastic - a bit of oxidization is good for the character. :lol:

I prefer dextrose for it's neutral flavour, reliability (as it's fully fermentable) and speed when priming. I don't think you can be too heavy-handed with the yeast doing this; within reason.

When I've re-primed in the past it's been pretty much guesswork - a couple of drops of slurry per bottle. Though I haven't yet applied fresh yeast at bottling; but I'm interested to know how it works out. If I were doing it, I'd probably go with the 1 whole packet advice.