Group Barley Wine

[mr_wibble]

Disposable bottles.

$55 at Marks -
Bottle only - http://www.ubrew.com.au/web/showproduct.asp?prodid=857
Oxygenation kit - http://www.ubrew.com.au/web/showproductlist.asp?catid=9&subcatid=13

It should last at least 100 brews (did someone say 200?)

EDIT: Posted wrong link

 

[pmastello]

I didn't get anywhere near 100. More like 20-30. Maybe I was overoxygenating? I don't think so, but maybe.
Also, I use these http://www.gasweld.com.au/1811420-bernzomatic.html

 

[mr_wibble]

Yeah I dunno.

I saw one demonstrated on a brewing course at Monday2Sunday.

James had it screwed in to a t-piece on the exit from the plate chiller to the fermenter.
It was only bubbling very slightly.

Edit: Ah that bottle you linked to is 40 grams, but Mark's are 136 grams.
(that's close to 100 brews on the 30-per end)

Edit2: apostrophe police

 

[joshuahardie]

So my 20L yeast starter is bubbling away nicely (brown ale) how are we looking for this weekend.

Recipe and ingredients finalised?

How much do we owe duane for the gear?

 

[pmastello]

My helles is pretty much finished now, just cleaning up. I'll leave it on the yeast till the barleywine is ready to pitch. I'm planning on just chucking the wort straight onto the yeast cake - no washing, etc. I figure any of the carryover flavours from a helles will be no existant in the Barley Wine.

Slight change of recipe - I was ordering the bittering hops from Hop Dealz, however he contacted me after ordering to say they had run out of Warrior. I decided to go with Magnum instead - High alpha, low co-humulone. Should do the job nicely.
As for costs, I've emailed Duane for a list of how much it all came to, but from what I can work out (estimates only) -

Pale Malt - $90
Liquid malt extract - $150
Munich - $20
Crystal $10

Magnum - $38.55
Galaxy - ?

Extras
Gas bottle refill - $20
Fresh wort cube - $10 each (Or bring your own)

About $46 per person, plus $10 if you need a cube.

 

[joshuahardie]

Sounds like a plan,
As I said before, I won't be able to get there until noonish, after I have finished up with the kids sport.

Sounds like I would be getting there somewhere near the end of the sparge?

 

[pmastello]

As for a plan for the day, Duane has agreed to open up a bit earlier for us at 8am. I plan on getting there then and start milling the 50odd kg of malt :unsure: I could certainly use at least one persons help with this as I am sure it will get old fast.
A few people have morning commitments with kids sport etc, that's cool. Turn up when you can. I'm sure the early risers will be happy to hand over the reigns by 12ish to the latecomers. With what I can only imagine would be a long sparge and 2 hour boil, I would imagine being cleaned up and finished by mid afternoon.

I will also be hitting up George for some Ribs to smoke on Duanes smoker, so lunch will be provided. Please bring a few extra bucks for lunch.

 

[mr_wibble]

I'm planning on getting there early, 8 should be do-able.

I don't know if I'll have any mini-brewers along with me.

 

[brockerst]

I should be there at about 9.

My 20L starter is chugging along nicely.

 

[Jaynus]

I'll be there early, what can I bring?

 

[pmastello]

I'll be there early, what can I bring?

What goes with smoked Pork Ribs? Bring that. We can get bread from the bakery across the road. Maybe salad?

 

[silvana]

I can bring a coleslaw, always a good match with smoked pork.
I'll be there around 9 or so. Hopefully earlier.

 

[Jaynus]

I don't think I'll have time to make a salad but Coles is only around the corner! But what does go with it is IPA!

 

[Jaynus]

How's everyone's fermenting going?

 

[pmastello]

Mine dropped about 30 points in the first 3-4 days and I haven't really checked it since. Probably due for me to have a look and raise the temp a few degrees to get it finished off completely.
How about you Jay? Is anyone up to bottling yet?

 

[mr_wibble]

I think mine is finished, it's been over three weeks, but I still haven't gotten around to bottling it. Been bloody flat out with work.

What's the score with the swap, how many 330ml bottles do we need?

For the entire batch it's: 20,000 / 330 -> 60 bottles

Do you guys reckon we will need to add a bit more yeast when priming ?

cheers,
-kt

 

[Jaynus]

Yeah mine looks good! I think it's all done! Might bottle over the weekend or next week sometime, smells delicious already it's going to be amazing!

 

[mr_wibble]

I'm at 1.016, that's 9.82% abv.
It smells rather quite nice actually, and tastes great.

I expect once it grows up a bit, it will taste even better.

I've now read a bunch of stuff about adding a small amount of yeast when bottling, a couple of people even suggesting champagne yeast.
But at Beer & wine Journal, Chris Colby said not to use a bottling yeast more alcohol tolerant than your beer yeast.

So now I'm in a quandary.

The beer is still quite cloudy, so plenty of yeasties should still be in suspension.

Advice?

-kt

 

[mr_wibble]

Ok, we need 42 bottles for the swap (7 of us + Duane) - obviously you don't need to swap with yourself
This is about all of my 330ml bottles anyway.

I'll have to do the rest of the batch in 500ml.
I guess if I split a 500ml with SWMBO, that's the same as a glass of wine, so not a problem - more worried about wastage.

I was going to get a batch of custom bottle-caps made for it, but I was too cheap and/or left it too late for the postage (at https://www.bottlemark.com )
But here's my design for a white-background cap:



I think it looks OK, maybe for next year.

cheers,
-kt




Edit: Added the mockup image

 

[mr_wibble]

Ah, so what was the final recipe ?
(for my records)