Beer Forum

So I plan to brew this beautiful brew. I was thinking of going with the recipe from:

http://beerdoc.net/Bigfoot%20Barleywine%20Clone.htm

Has anyone brewed this? Thoughts?
Does anyone recommend any other recipes?
Has BYO, Zymurgy, Jamil, or Tasty ever done a clone?

Thanks for the help!

I buy a case of Bigfoot every year (putting a bunch of it away for an eventual vertical tasting). While good, there are much better barleywines out there (mine included). Each year is a little different, some much better than others. While this recipe is shown as a clone, it is difficult to say which Bigfoot it clones. One of the good ones or one of the so-so ones.

While not having attempted a Bigfoot clone, I see a couple potential problems with the recipe. First is the use of 3 pounds of crystal/carapils in a 5 gallon recipe. This, combined with the 154° mash temperature may lead to an overly sweet end result. California ale yeast (wlp001 or wyeast 1056) is good, but if you can get some of the Pacman strain you may get better attenuation.

The recipe also assumes 70% efficiency in the mash. Be sure you can actually get that amount with with your system. While I normally get 75-80% efficiency with "normal" beers, I find it dropping to around 65% for big beers.

You may want to look at lowering your mash temperature to 149-150° , and possibly using some sugar as part of the fermentables to increase fermentability. Cutting some of the crystal malts would help a little, but that would change the flavor profile.

With 3+ ounces of hops in the boil kettle you should also consider changing the batch size to 5.5 gallons to account for absorption so you can still get 5 gallons in the fermenter. I also increase the boil time to 90 minutes. This allows me to take a little more preboil volume from the mash, giving me a little extra efficiency from the extra sugars rinsed out of there.

These suggestions aren't particularly for a Bigfoot clone, but are things I have found that have helped improve my barleywines over the years. Let us know how yours turns out.

Wayne

I am with Bug on this one. Here is a possible clone of Old Crustecean from Denny Con. I have done well with this in several comps and is 3 years old now and really doing great.

eerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Krusty the Clown
Brewer: Nate
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Barleywine
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (0.0) Tasted fantastic out of the hydro sample before kegging, had significant alcohol taste but not fusel.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 7.28 gal
Estimated OG: 1.104 SG
Estimated Color: 21.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 260.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 55.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
20 lbs 8.0 oz Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 77.36 %
3 lbs 4.0 oz Munich (Dingemans) (5.5 SRM) Grain 12.26 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6.60 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.77 %
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.60 %] (90 min) (FHops 126.2 IBU
1.00 oz Nugget [11.60 %] (60 min) Hops 42.7 IBU
2.00 oz Chinook [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 88.3 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.60 %] (2 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
1 Pkgs PACMAN (Wyeast) [Starter 125 ml] Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: No Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 26.50 lb
----------------------------
No Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 21.20 qt of water at 188.0 F 154.0 F


Notes:
------
Boiled off too much and did not get enough in to the boiler.
Fermented down in 2 weeks time.
Major blow off.

Regarding the recipe in the OP, it calls for 1 lb each of crystal 105, 75, and carapils. It is my understanding that carapils contributes to mouth feel and head retention rather than sweetness. Therefore, this is more like 2 lbs of crystal. That seems reasonable to me, no? Whatcha think, Bug?

Thanks.

Here's another recipe:

Bigfoot +
http://hbd.org/carboy/recipes/barleywine1.htm
by Mike Dixon
1st place DEA 2002, 3rd place Shamrock 2002

American Barleywine - 5 gallons
19 lb. Pale Ale Malt
0.25 lb. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
2.0 lb. British crystal 75L
0.25 lb. Malted wheat
Step Mash (Note: The original author uses a direct fired mashtun, so this is easy for him. If it were me, I'd do a single infusion mash at 149F.)
120F 20 min
145F 30 min
155F 45 min
162F 10 min
170F 10 min
1 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 75 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 45 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.)
0.5 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 5 min.)
0.5 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 5 min.)

Dry Hop in secondary 14 days with:
0.5 oz Chinook
0.5 oz Centennial
0.5 oz Cascade

Wyeast 1056
Ferment at 68F, age for 1 year at room temp

OG 1.102 FG 1.024
IBU 80

I did an extract batch. Had a few issues during brewing and fermenting, but has good potential. I have not had a chance to compare to Bigfoot though. It still has a strong alcohol taste, but you can tell that it will be great around christmas. And I thought I was not going to get anything for christmas.