English Barleywine II

Last Memorial Day I made a Barleywine that aged for 6 months before having my first taste around Christmas time.  This was the first recipe that I designed myself and, although I failed to meet almost all of my objectives with the beer, I really enjoyed the whole process of brewing and aging it.  I have decided to try my hand at this beer again.

My goals for this beer are the same as last time with one addition:

1. Golden/Pale Color - Last year's beer was darker than I would have liked.  This may have been due to the Crystal 40L I used or it could have been from the 140 min boil.  I'm going to stick with Crystal 10L this time and I'll plan for enough sparge water to just get myself a 90 min boil.  My grain bill is predicted to get me a 10.07 SRM which is a nice gold color.
2. Approximately 9% alcohol -  I missed this one by a large margin last time ending up with an 11.2% beer.  This was a combination of a much higher than expected efficiency (77%) and high attenuation (83%).  This time I"m going to make sure that the beer goes into the fermentor at a gravity of 1.095 by adding water to dilute if necessary.
3. FG of ~1.025 - Missed this mark quite a bit as well, having the beer get down to 1.016.  I had initially thought a low mash temp of 150 F, with all the crystal malt I used, would create sufficient sugars to hit that gravity.  This time I'm going to mash at 154 F to see if that helps.  I'll also be going with Wyeast 1968 "London ESB" which is spec'd to ferment to the low 70% attenuation and to stop at around 9% ABV.  If it meets these spec's for me then the beer should end up right around 1.025.
4. Balanced hop character - I don't think I planned for enough bitterness last time as there wasn't really any noticeable bitterness left by the time I drank the last one 6 months after brewing.  I went with about 70 IBU with the last beer where about half of that was in flavor hops.  I'm going to go with something like 100 IBU for this beer which will hopefully keep a bit more bitterness after 6 months
5. Simple Grain bill - last grain bill was simple with just base and a few types of Crystal malt.  I'm going to use two base grains for this one (Maris Otter and Vienna) and just stick with one Crystal (10L).  Not sure how that's going to turn out.
6. Clarity - New goal driven by the cloudiness of last year's beer.  I think it may have had something to do my my bottle carb'ing yeast, EC-1118 Wine yeast, which also gave me trouble with my Strong Brown Ale.  I had much better luck with Premier Cuvee which is what I'll use this time.

Last year I split the batch and oaked half with brandy soaked cubes while the other was plain.  I preferred the oak half.  So, I'll be oaking the entire batch this time.  No brandy this time though and I'll be giving the beer 4-5 months in secondary rather than the 3 weeks I gave the last one.  Based on that I'll be going with 1 oz on the whole 6 gal which is about half by volume of what I used previously.

I bought a refractometer to use for this batch which I"m hoping will allow me to better handle the sparging.  I have also chosen to use my old mash tun due to some cleaning issues with the new, false bottom version.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 12 lbs Maris Otter
• 8 lbs Vienna
• 2 lbs Crystal 10L
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 2 oz Challenger (Pellet, 8.9% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 5.7% AA) at 20 min
• 1 oz Kent Golding (Pellet, 4.2% AA) at 20 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast (Second pitch from this beer)
• Red Star Premier Cuvee (bottle conditioning)
• Water:
• 13 gal spring water
• 1 oz Calcium Chloride
• 1 oz Gypsum
• 1 oz Irish Moss at 20 min
• Extras:
• 1 oz Medium Toast Hungarian Oak Cubes

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 156 F for 60 min (Target 154 F for 60 min)
• Boil:
• 140 min (Target 90 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 65 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 5 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.096 (Target 1.095)
• Efficiency:
• 71% (Target 70%)
• FG:
• 1.006 (Target 1.025)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 93% (Target 72%)
• ABV:
• 11.81% (Target 9.19%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/25/15 - Brew day - 6:20 AM to 11:30 AM including setup and cleanup
• Brought 8 gal up to 183 F - Took 30 min
• Added CaCl and Gypsum to the mash tun
• Added 28 qt of water to the mash tun and let settle for 10 min - ended up at 175 F
• Added the grain, stirring well to eliminate dough balls
• After 10 min the mash was in the high 150s.  Stirred until it got down to 156-157 F
• Stirred the mash at 30 min - temp was at 156 F

• Brought 6 gal up to 200 F - took 25 min
• Stirred the mash again at 45 min - tamp was at 155 F
• After 60 min gave it a final stir, vorlaufed, and then drained slow at first and then quick.  Collected about 4 gal.  Measured the gravity at this point with my new refractometer which measured as 22.8 brix which is 1.096.
• Added a 3 gal for a batch sparge which brought the temperature to 170 F.  Stirred, vorlaufed, and then drained.  This got me up to 7 gal.  The gravity of the 7 gal was 16.2 brix which is 1.066
• Added 3 more gal of batch sparge which brought the temp up to about 180 F.  Stirred, vorlaufed, and then drained (vorlauf sample had a gravity of 13.8 brix which is 1.056).
• Collected ~11 gal of wort (my sight glass measurement lines are screwed up so I don't know the volume exactly).  Measured the gravity as 14 brix which is 1.057.
• Brought the wort to a boil - took 20 min.  The hot break overflowed a little at one point and then stayed right at the rim for an uncomfortably long time.

• Boiled down to 8 gal and added the 60 min hops
• Boiled down to 6.75 gal and added the 20 min hops and the irish moss
• Added the wort chiller and stopped the burner at a little over 6 gal
• Chilled down to 65 F - took 15 min
• Transferred to the fermentor on top of the previous yeast cake and swirled to mix in.  I let the wort fall a couple feet to aerate.
• Ended up with about 6 gal of wort
• Moved to the fermentation chamber set to 65 F.  Using a normal airlock to start but plan on switching to a blow off tube once fermentation gets under way.
• 5/26/15 - I ended up accidentally chilling the beer down to 35 F yesterday before I realized my mistake with the temperature controller.  The beer had warmed to the low 50s by this morning and was bubbling slowly.  It was 59 F by this afternoon and was bubbling strongly.  It's 66 F in the basement so I gave it some time with the fermentation chamber lid off to warm to the target temperature.
• 5/28/15 - Allowed the beer to rise up to 68 F.  It was still bubbling pretty vigorously this morning but was almost petered out by this evening.
• 6/19/15 - Transferred the beer into a glass carboy for aging.  Added 1 oz of oak cubes that I had boiled in water first.  Measured the gravity at 1.032 which I'm happy about.  The beer is a copper color.  It is smells of sweet malt and has a flavor balance a bit toward malt (although there is a decent hop presence mixed in as well).  It is quite sweet and it has a strong alcohol bite - I think the 5 months of aging is going to do this beer well.
• 11/4/15 - I will be bottling this batch in about a month.  Checked the gravity and was shocked to find that it's dropped all the way down to 1.006.  This is in a beer that had stopped at 1.032 in primary.  I've taken a peak at the beer at least every week over the last 5 months and there were no visual signs of fermentation.  I'm really astonished.  In spite of the low FG and much higher than expected alcohol it is still a really nice tasting beer.  It is very mellow and smooth.  There is a pleasant caramel malt flavor that is pretty prominent and some fruity ester character is evident.  There is also may be a slight astringency on the finish - probably from the oak.
• 12/5/15 - Bottled with 1 packet of re-hydrated champagne yeast and 3 oz of priming sugar.  Ended up with about 5 gal which got me 51 12 oz bottles.  I really noticed the oak a lot on this sample which seems very wine like.  I think it's going to be a nice beer to drink over the next several years.

• 12/26/15 - Tasting Notes (2015) - First of what will, hopefully, be a multiple year tasting experience with this beer.  It is a very wine like beer with this level of oaking.  I think that works well with the dry finish.  It also has a nice level of overall complexity between fruity yeast and a bit of caramel malt character.  It wasn't as rich or complex as the 2014 version but that may just come with age.  Only time will tell.
• 2/27/17 - Tasting Notes (2016) - I was sorry to find that this beer has become quite astringent as it's aged.  This is overwhelming the pleasant malt character of the beer at this point.  Will be interesting to see how this one does more age.
• 6/28/17 - I mixed this beer with about an ounce of Bourbon Whiskey as an experiment - it tasted wonderful this way.  The strong flavors of the beer are cut by the whiskey but they're strong enough to balance it out.  I'll be temped to drink all of them this way.
• 3/9/18 - Tasting Notes (2017) - Not a bad beer but it has a somewhat odd yeast ester character and is still a bit astringent.  This is still my least favorite of the English Barleywine I've brewed.
• 5/26/19 - Tasting Notes (2019):
• Aroma:  Fruity yeast ester - peach maybe or apricot.  Also pick up mandarin orange
• Appearance:  Copper colored and cloudy.  Poured with a lot of head (the bottle actually foamed over on me prior to pouring and made a bit of a mess).  The foam settled down to a thin ring within a minute or two.  Lots of sediment made it's way to the glass
• Flavor:  Caramel malt with some fruity yeast ester.  Alcohol comes through on the finish.  I don't get any hop bitterness
• Mouthfeel:  Medium-light bodied with a slight sweetness.  Has a pretty firm astringency that prickles the tongue
• Overall:  Some nice flavors but they are fairly mild.  Reasonably complex.  The astringency adds an interesting dimension.  Not an easy drinker but not a chore either.
• 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes (2020):
• Aroma:  Has a pungent fruit ester character - sort of odd.  Very musty smelling.  Maybe get a bit of caramel and bready malt
• Appearance:  Dark golden brown and clear.  Pours with a think layer of foam that quickly dissipates down to nothing
• Flavor:  Fruity flavor up front which fades into toasted bread, caramel, and maybe a bit of chocolate.  malt lingers through the finish.  The ester character is sort of like an overripe peach maybe.  Some smooth aged alcohol character comes through in the flavor
• Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied with a bit of sweetness.  Has a slight astringent bite
• Overall:  Boldly flavored beer.  I think the fruity character of the beer is a bit overwhelming and not particularly pleasant.  Has some other things going on but that they are fairly far in the background doesn't help the complexity
• 5/31/21 - Tasting Notes (2021):
• Aroma:  Fruity ester is strong - sort of overripe apple or maybe a cider.  Maybe get a bit of caramel a bit further in the background along with a bit of booze.  Maybe some honey as well.
• Appearance:  Dark gold in color and pretty clear.  Pours with a finger of head that quickly fades to a thin ring.  Has a continuous cascading of bubbles from the bottom of the glass
• Flavor:  Sweet bready malt with a fruity ester character - sort of apple like again.  Has a bit of bitter kick on the finish which is balanced by dark caramel flavors that linger along with that fruity ester
• Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied with a bit of sweetness.  Fairly smooth with some alcohol warming
• Overall:  Boldly flavored and very complex.  The finish is very nice.  Malt flavors are the star here but the ester has a fairly firm presence as well
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (38 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity ester along with a bit of booze most prominent.  Get a bit of bready malt in there as well along with some caramel.  Not picking up any hop.  Maybe get some oak as well.
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing.  Reddish brown in color and clear
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Some sweet malt up front - bready, toasty and caramel flavors.  This is followed by a hit of booze.  There is a fair amount of fruit in the middle.  The finish is fairly bitter.  This balances the sweet malt in the finish pretty nicely.  I get some herbal and grassy hop flavor in this one.
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Fully bodied and a bit sweet.  Got a pretty smooth mouthfeel and leaves a bit of a warming sensation
• Overall (8 of 10):  This beer has bold aroma and flavor and a pretty nice level of complexity.  It is mostly malt focused but has a bit of fruitiness.  It seems very boozy which isn't a bad thing for a Barleywine.  I like the balance of it with some pretty good bitterness to go along with the fairly sweet beer.
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023)
• Tasting Notes (34 of 50):
• Aroma (8 of 12):  Dark fruit aroma most prominent - has a wine like character and maybe some apple.  Musty character to it - some oxidation maybe.  A bit of caramel malt in there as well.  Smells fairly strong in terms of booze.  Also a bit like a candy sweetness character.  
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Dark gold and pretty clear.  Poured with a 1 finger head that quickly subsided into nothing.
• Flavor (14 of 20):  Fruity flavor up front along with a dark caramel and toasted bread flavor.  Get a bit of a hit of alcohol in the middle.  This is followed by a bit of a musty and aged kind of flavor that lingers into the finish.  The finish has a mild bitterness that balances a fairly sweet character.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and fairly sticky sweet.  There is a bit of a prickly character to the beer.  Has a warming effect.
• Overall (5 of 10):  A fairly boozy and reasonably complex beer.  It has a fairly pleasing compliment of malt, fruit, and aged flavors.  The flavors aren't particularly bold in this one

Lessons Learned:

1. It turned out that it was absolutely necessary to use that third batch sparge.  The high gravity of the third (1.056) was very surprising.  I may not have had to collect all 3 gal of it though.  The refractometer was really nice to use for this.  Can't wait to fly sparge where I can just collect until I get down to 1.010 wort - it will be interesting to see what kind of volume this drives me to collect.
2. Picking up the kettle with 11 gal of wort really sucked.  I need to make the final push to finish my setup here.