Big Beautiful Barleywine

I brewed my first Barleywine a couple weeks ago. I love the style, it's a great beer to sip on in the middle of winter. I didn't have the sense to take a bunch of pictures but I do have a shot of my 17.5 gallon mash tun filled for a partigyle brew from the Barleywine mash :). The Barleywine mash itself was at the very top.

Since this was my first attempt at a Barleywine I purchased a great resource on the subject that never made it to me by brew day :(. 

I ordered this book along with some canning jars which broke during shipping so Fedex sent it back to the sender and I had to rely on my usual resources for brewing a new style. The BJCP guidelines, AHA recipes section, and microbreweries that list ingredients for their beers (I love the breweries that do this! Thank you Smuttynose, Ommegang, Avery etc...)

I chose to brew an English version of Barleywine, I like the complex malty and estery/fruity profile of this version without the added layers of hopping. I plan on aging the majority and enjoying it over the next few years to see how it evolves, according to the book above I made the right choice as the less hoppy English versions tend to age better.

Here is the recipe:

Overview

Name	Category	Brewer	OG	FG	ABV	SRM	IBU
Untested: English Barley Wine	English Barleywine	FerventBrewer	1.102	1.032	9.3 %	18.0 SRM	50.5 IBUs

Fermentables

Amount	Name	Diastatic Power	Color	Notes
16 lbs	Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess)	140.0000000	1.8 SRM	Flavor:Mild Malty Smoother, less grainy flavor than 6-row
4 lbs	Munich Malt, Germany (Avangard)	72.0000000	9.5 SRM	A malt with enough diastatic power to convert itself but often used in conjunction with other base malts to contribute maltiness and an orange color.
4 lbs	Vienna Malt (Gambrinus)	90.0000000	6.0 SRM	Higher kilning temperatures give this Vienna malt its deep golden color and strong malt flavor.
8.0 oz	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L	0.0000000	40.0 SRM	Adds body, color and improves head retention. Also called "Crystal" malt.
8.0 oz	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L	0.0000000	80.0 SRM	Adds body, color and improves head retention. Also called "Crystal" malt.
8.0 oz	Crystal 150, 2-Row, (Great Western)	0.0000000	150.0 SRM	Crystal 150 (145-155°L) Similar to the C120, but with a much more intense flavor and color. May get a hint of the burnt character.

Hops

Amount	Name	Alpha Acids	Time	Notes
0.75 oz	Warrior	15.0000000	60.0 min	High alpha hops from Yakima Chief Ranches. Also called YCR-5. Mild aroma and low cohumulone content - primarily for bittering. Used for: Ales, stouts Aroma: Neutral, clean, mild Substitutes: Nugget, Columbus, Magnum
1.00 oz	Fuggle	4.5000000	20.0 min	Traditional English-type aroma hop. Used for: English Ales, ESB, Bitter, Lagers Aroma: Mild, soft, fruity, spicy, woody Substitute: Fuggle (U.S.), Willamette, Styrian Golding Storage: Good/Very Good (70-80% AA after 6 months at 20 C) 3-5.6% AA 2-3% Beta
1.00 oz	Chinook	13.0000000	10.0 min	Strong versatile bittering hop Used for: Ales, porters, stouts Aroma: Heavy and spicy aroma Substitutes: Galena, Eroica, Nugget, Bullion Examples: Sierra Nevada Stout, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
1.00 oz	Fuggle	4.5000000	10.0 min	Traditional English-type aroma hop. Used for: English Ales, ESB, Bitter, Lagers Aroma: Mild, soft, fruity, spicy, woody Substitute: Fuggle (U.S.), Willamette, Styrian Golding Storage: Good/Very Good (70-80% AA after 6 months at 20 C) 3-5.6% AA 2-3% Beta
1.00 oz	Mt. Hood	6.0000000	2.0 min	Used for: European Lagers, finishing Aroma: Mild with a clean aroma, neutral flavor. Somewhat pungent. Substitutes: Hallertauer, Liberty, Crystal

Yeast

Amount	Name	Attenuation	Notes
35.49 ml	English Ale	66.5000000	Classic ESB strain best for English style milds, bitters, porters and English style stouts. Leaves a clear beer with some residual sweetness.

Mash Steps

Amount	Type	Name	Ratio	Temp	Time	Description
8.47 gal	Infusion	Mash In	1.250 qt/lb	66.6666667	45.0000000	Add 8.47 gal of water at 171.2 F

I did take a couple liberties here. I used 2-Row with a mix of munich and vienna to emulate a more complex base malt like marris otter. This choice was one of convenience, I had munich and vienna and no marris otter. The other was using chinook, I had 1oz left from my harvest this year and the bag had come unsealed so I wanted to use it up. They smelled amazing so I backed off my bittering addition and added some chinook toward the end of the boil.

Brew day was pretty easy and I only added about an hour to the end of my normal brew day for the partigyle, it's nice having some extra equipment laying around.

I bottled it last weekend before reading (or even receiving) Barley Wine. My plan was to bottle condition for 90+ days, the book suggests a 90 day conditioning in secondary then another 90 days of bottle conditioning before release. Since I already fucked that up I go with my original plan as follows.

• 2 weeks - Taste a bottle after carbonation
• Taste 1 bottle every month until I'm happy with the results
• Save 5 bottles marked with a year to taste 1 each year for the next 5 years alongside new batches brewed every year
• Give a few bottles as gifts and drink the rest as the mood strikes me

Because I want this to become an annual brew along with my Belgian Dark Strong I started designing a label to have some grogtags made up. What do you think?

I'll try to post some tasting notes somewhere around the 90 day mark then 180 to see how much of a difference it makes.