English Barleywine III

As I've done for the last two Memorial Days (see 2014 and 2015) I will be brewing up another batch of English Barleywine.

Like with the last batch I plan on giving this beer 1 month of primary fermentation and then 5 months of bulk aging.  I'll bottle in late November/early December and then sample it around Christmas.  I'll also do a vertical tasting with the other vintages.

I'm changing up the grainbill quite a bit from last time.  I'll be using some 1.5 lbs of Simpson's Double Roasted Crystal 120L which will make this beer a bit darker than was the goal last time.  I'll also be using 3 lbs of Rye Malt which I hope will add an interesting dimension to the beer.

The last batch fermented down to the 1.03s after a month.  It then somehow dropped 20+ points in secondary with no signs of continued fermentations.  I let quite a bit of yeast make the transfer over to secondary on the last beer.  I will fine this beer with gelatin prior to transfer on this one to try to avoid that happening again.  I have also increased the mash temperature for this round up to 158 F in hope of putting up another barrier to over attenuation.

I'll be using a second pitch of Wyeast 1335 British Ale II for this batch.  The yeast cake just fermented a Dark English Mild that I brewed up last week.  I believe this is my first time using this strain.  It's said to provide a malty character.  Only time will tell if it's prone to over attenuation with this wort unfortunately.

Finally, I'm going to skip the oak for this beer as I'd like to let any contributions from the Rye shine through.

Really excited to do another one of these beers.  I haven't really gotten what I was intending for the last two but they still turned out to be tasty and interesting.  We'll see if I'm any closer to the mark with this one.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 17 lb Maris Otter
• 3 lb Rye Malt
• 1 lb 8 oz Double Roasted Crystal 120L
• 2 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 2 oz Challenger (Pellet, 6.1% AA) at 60 min
• 2 oz Target (Pellet, 9.5% AA) at 20 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 1335 British Ale II (Second Pitch)
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 11 gal tap water
• 1 tsp Calcium Chloride in Mash
• 1 tsp Gypsum in Mash
• 1 tsp Gypsum in Boil
• 1 tsp Calcium Chloride in Boil
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 158 F for 60 min (Target 158 F for 60 min)
• Boil:
• 120 min (Target 90 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 70 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 5-6 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.093 (Target 1.095)
• Efficiency:
• ~70% (Target ~70%)
• FG:
• 1.012 (Target 1.025)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 86% (Target 72%)
• ABV:
• 10.63% (Target 9.19%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/30/16 - Brewday - 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM including setup and cleanup
• Heated 14 gal of strike water in the HLT.  Cycled through the system until everything was at 160 F
• Milled my grain while heating the strike water.  Double milled the rye as it was very hard.  I've switched to manual cranking on the mill - the rye was a lot of work even for just 3 lbs

Rye (left) and Barley (right)

• Ended up with 6 gal above the false bottom and 11 gal in the system total
• Mixed the CaCl and Gypsum with the grain
• Added the grain to the mash tun and stirred well to eliminate doughballs
• Set the RIMS to cycle at 160 F at ~2 qt per min
• After 10 min the mash was 158 F - right on target
• Heated 10 gal of sparge water to 185 F
• Mashed for 60 min total
• Fly sparged
• Collected 10 gal of wort which was more than intended
• The gravity at the grant was 6 brix at the end of the sparge.  This is 1.024 in SG which is quite a bit of sugar left.  Tough to get good efficiency with such a large grainbill
• Started heating the kettle after collecting 3 gal.  Had the wort to a boil about half way through the sparge

• Added a second dose of Gypsum and CaCl to the boil
• Added the bittering hops with about 60 min left in the boil

• Added the flavoring hops with 20 min left in the boil
• Added the irish moss with 15 min left in the boil
• With 5 min left in the boil I added the wort chiller to sanitize
• Chilled down to 75 F
• Transferred on the yeast cake.  Left behind about a quart of hoppy wort.

• Moved the beer down to the fermentation chamber set to 70 F
• By the evening fermentation had kicked off strongly.  Krausen filled the 3 piece airlock and blew out the second piece.  Probably should have gone with a blow off tube but I'm lazy.  Hopefully it doesn't make too much of a mess.
• 6/23/16 - Transferred the beer to a glass carboy for secondary/aging (was too lazy to cool crash and fine with gelatin as initially planned).  I am using a vented silicon bung for this batch.  Measured the gravity as 1.030.  I was careful not to take too much yeast over during the transfer to try to limit how much additional fermentation is performed.  The beer is a deep amber color.  It has a very clean fermentation profile with very light fruity yeast ester.  It has a rich malt character along with a caramel/toffee like flavor.  There is a pronounced spicy/earthy flavor which must be from the rye.  Very light bitterness on the finish even as fresh as it is.  Balance at this gravity is definitely slanted towards sweet malt.  It will be interesting to see how far this one comes down over the next 5-6 months.
• 7/7/16 - The beer has developed a slight pellicle.  I knew this was going to happen eventually but not quite sure how it happened though.  Not too worried about the effects of this.  Probably going to drop quite a bit in gravity as a result though.

• 12/12/16 - We've been moving so I've gotten to bottling a bit later than I would have liked.  Still plan on doing a Christmas first tasting.  Carbonation levels will likely be impacted by this.  Ended up getting 5 gal of beer which I primed with 3.5 oz of sugar.  This got me 48 12 oz bottles.  Probably could have gotten 1 or 2 more if I made sure to capture the last bit in bottles.  Decided to be lazy as 48 is plenty.  Measured the FG as 1.012 which is a bit lower than I hoped it would go.  Still has a bit of sweetness and a full bodied mouthfeel.  It has a really nice caramel flavor - definitely taste the impacts of the double roasted crystal.  No brett character that I can pick up despite the pellicle.  I've moved the beer twice in the last few months and it got sloshed around quite a bit.  Happy to say that no stale oxidized flavors have been picked up as a result of this.
• 1/30/17 - Tasting Notes - The beer has a really nice malt complexity.  I think the rye was a good addition.  No brett flavor has developed that I can identify and it's definitely not sour.  I was happy to find that some hop character remained after the 6 months of aging.  I don't imagine it will still be there for the next official tasting (Christmas 2017).  I hope I like what's left.
• 2/27/17 -Vertical Tasting notes with my other English Barleywine (2014 and 2015).
• 3/9/18 - Tasting Notes (2017) - The beer has a really lovely, rich malt complexity.  Hop character is still showing up in the mix.  This one has aged well and I have high hopes that it will continue to do so
• 5/26/19 - Tasting Notes (2019):
• Aroma:  Rich caramel.  Some graham cracker.  Slight bit of overripe fruit.  Some alcohol comes through
• Appearance:  Dark Red/Light Brown.  Poured with a 2 finger head that slowly faded down to a thin ring.
• Flavor:  Really nice malt flavor.  Sweet bread and caramel.  Slight fruity flavor.  A bit of alcohol but well hidden.  Slight bitterness remains.
• Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied and fairly sweet.  Smooth drinking
• Overall:  Lovely malt flavors.  Not all that complex (as far as EBW go) but still very pleasant.  Hides the 10+ ABV remarkably well.
• 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes (2020):
• Aroma:  Very strong musty and estery aroma.  Not a great aroma although it improves as the beer sits a bit.  Maybe a bit of wet cardboard oxidation smell.  Get a bit of malt coming through all this
• Appearance:  Pours with a finger of head which fades down to a thin ring - leaves some lacing.  The beer is brownish red and clear
• Flavor:  Really rich malt flavor up front - sweet and toasty and kind of Grahm-cracker-like.  This lingers into the finish.  There is a very slight bitterness in the finish as well.  There is a bit of fruity ester that comes through up front and a mustiness that comes out in the finish
• Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied and a bit sweet.  Pretty smooth beer
• Overall:  Really nice rich malt flavor to this one - very bold.  I'm very pleasantly surprised it still has a good amount of hop bitterness left at this point.  Not quite as much going on as the others in terms of fruit ester.  Still very nice
• 5/30/21 - Tasting Notes (2021):
• Aroma:  Has a spicy yeast character along with a raisin-like flavor.  Also has a dark caramel and graham cracker aroma
• Appearance:  Dark Reddish Brown.  Poured with a 1 finger head that fades down to a think layer over several minutes
• Flavor:  Sweet bread, caramel, graham cracker and chocolate.  Pretty boozy in the finish.  Has a bitterness that is balanced by a really sweet and tasty maltiness.  Maybe has a little fruity ester in there but it is far in the background
• Mouthfeel:  Medium-full bodied and fairly sweet.  Pretty smooth drinking
• Overall:  Really nice bold flavors and a good complexity - very rich.  Malt really the star on this one.
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):  Booze along with some sweet toasted malt and caramel.  A little bit of fruit in there as well.  Get a bit of wine-like character and some oak.  Maybe get a bit of herbal hop in there as well.
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Brownish red in color and very clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to a thin ring.  Bubbles continue to cascade up
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Boozy up front along with some dark caramel and toasted malt flavors.  Maybe get something like chocolate in there as well.  Slight bit of fruity ester in there.  There is a fairly assertive bitterness in the finish along with more booze and a nice lingering malt flavor.  Get a little bit of grassy and herbal hops in the mix as well.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium full bodied and slightly sweet.  There is a warming sensation on the palate.  A little bit of astringency that prickles the back of the throat.
• Overall (8 of 10):  Big bold flavors in this one.  Quite boozy.  It's got a good amount of complexity - mostly focused on depth of malt flavor and not a whole lot of fruit.
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023)
• Tasting Notes (37 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  A bit of dark, overripe fruit along with a musty aged beer character.  Get a bit of alcohol and some caramel malt
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Redish brown in color and very clear.  Poured with a 2 finger head which fades down to a thin ring quickly.  Continues to send up cascading bubbles for some time after the pour.
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Bready malt and dark caramel up front.  A little bit of fruit in there but its fairly subdued.  There is also a bit of chocolate flavor in there.  Maybe some herbal hop too.  It finishes with a medium bitterness that is balanced by a slight sweetness.  Maybe getting a bit of oak in there too.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and just a bit of stickiness on the palate.  Has a slight astringency.  Pretty drinkable for a big beer.
• Overall (7 of 10):  It's a boldly flavored beer with good complexity.  Malt is the star of the show with this one with hops coming in second and fruity yeast ester a fairly distant third.  It's a nice beer

Lessons Learned:

1. I should have the homebrew shop mill my rye for me next time.  My arm is still tired from milling that by hand.