Beer Forum

On July 13 I brewed a modified version of Jamil's Old Monster:

ProMash Brewing Session Printout
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Brewing Date: Sunday July 13, 2008
Recipe: Old Monster Barley Wine

ProMash Brewing Session - Recipe Details Printout
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BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
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12-B Barleywine & Imperial Stout, American-style Barleywine

Min OG: 1.080 Max OG: 1.120
Min IBU: 50 Max IBU: 100
Min Clr: 10 Max Clr: 22 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
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Batch Size (GAL): 5.00 Wort Size (GAL): 6.00
Total Extract (LBS): 18.25
Anticipated OG: 1.137 Plato: 31.15
Anticipated SRM: 21.8
Anticipated IBU: 100.8
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.122 Plato: 28.16
Actual FG: 1.056 Plato: 13.73

Alcohol, Est.: 14.57 By Weight 18.35 By Volume - Full Attenuation.
Alcohol, Actual: 6.67 By Weight 8.87 By Volume - Measured Actuals.


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Gravity SRM
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27.4 5.00 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract 1.046 7
54.8 10.00 lbs. Light Liquid Malt Extract 1.035 7
5.5 1.00 lbs. Corn Sugar 1.047 0
5.5 1.00 lbs. Crystal 10L America 1.035 10
5.5 1.00 lbs. Crystal 90L America 1.033 90
1.4 0.25 lbs. Pale Chocolate 1.030 200


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
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2.00 oz. Yakima Magnum Pellet 13.50 100.8 60 min.
1.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 5.90 0.0 0 min.
1.00 oz. Chinook Pellet 13.00 0.0 0 min.
1.50 oz. Amarillo Gold Pellet 8.90 0.0 0 min.
1.00 oz. Challenger Pellet 6.50 0.0 0 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
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0.50 Tsp Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
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White Labs WLP001 California Ale



Fermentation Specifics
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Pitched From: Starter
Amount Pitched: 1000 mL
Lag Time: 6.00 hours

Primary Fermenter: Stainless Steel
Primary Type: Closed
Days In Primary: 15
Primary Temperature: 75 degrees F

I took a gravity reading today and it was 1.056. The airlock is still kicking once every 15 seconds or so. Should I pitch more yeast to dry it out some, or should I let it go? When should I worry about autolysis? And why can't I RDWAHAHB?

While not having brewed that recipe, I have brewed a lot of barleywines. I think the biggest problem there is the tiny starter you used. When I do a beer that big I first brew another beer under 1.060 OG using the yeast I want to use for the barleywine. I then pitch the BW onto that yeast cake. You should check out Jamil's yeast calculator at www.mrmalty.com for the recommended size of starter. Without checking the calculator I would guess that you probably should have used a 3-4 liter starter.

If you are going to pitch more yeast, this is probably the time to do it. This beer is probably already at 6% abv so you don't want it to get much higher before pitching the new yeast since alcohol is somewhat toxic to yeast. You also have the added advantage of having lower osmotic pressure on the yeast cell walls than with the original pitch.

All that said, it is too early to be greatly concerned about the current gravity. It is going to take a month or more for the yeast to chew through all that sugar. Don't worry about autolysis for at least another 6 weeks or so. Also, don't rack this thing out of primary until it has gone 4-6 weeks. You need all the yeast you can get for this to finish out. Even in secondary this will continue to ferment slowly for another couple months even though there is no visible activity. Don't get in a rush to bottle or keg the stuff.

You will need to let this thing age for quite a while anyway. This should be perfect for drinking for Thanksgiving of 2009. It should actually be ready earlier than that but who wants to drink something like that in the summer heat.

Good luck with your barleywine!

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Thanks for the advice, Wayne. I did use Jamil's calculator, and it said to use a 1000 ml starter. Maybe I misread it. I have just started using starters, so I'm sure I messed up.

I'm keen to do Jamil's Barley wine down the track.

I made a Belg Strong dark about a year ago where I added a quarter of the wort to the full amount of yeast each day over a number of days. The beer finished out really well and the yeast handled the high gravity well as it was fed slowly over a number of days.

How would this approach go with a barley wine?

Any thoughts?

Kev

Anyone?

Sounds like it's experiment time to me! Try to do it and then let us know. I've been kicking around doing a BW for a while, but can't find the hops I want. But that sound like an idea to try and see if it works. Just one more trick to try.