The three previous beer are all pretty similar but have enough subtle difference to make for interesting side by side comparison. I'm going to try a couple new things with this beer that will set it apart from the others:
- I'm cutting back on the specialty malts quite a bit on this one with the goal of making a golden Barleywine. All the others have ended up copper colored. Also using quite a bit of malted wheat which should get me some interesting new flavors.
- Previous beers have all had a nice dark fruit component. To emphasize this a bit more I'm going to try aging this beer on golden raisins. I think the malt bill being a bit more subtle than my previous beers could help allow these flavors to shine through.
I'll be shooting for a similar level of alcohol (~9%) and FG (1.025) that I have been unsuccessful at hitting in the last three beers. One of these times I'll succeed at this but if not I'll probably still make a pretty decent beer.
Anyway, I'm pretty thrilled to be brewing again after a long (10 month!!!) sojourn. Relieved I was able to continue this Memorial Day Barleywine Tradition. Hoping it will be many years before I move again. Will be getting back to brewing at a normal pace.
Recipe Details:
- Grain:
- 10 lb 2 Row
- 8 lb Golden Promise
- 5 lb White Wheat
- 4 oz Crystal 40L
- 6 oz Acid Malt
- Hops:
- 2 oz Brewers Gold (Pellet, 4.9%AA) FWH
- 2 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 4.1% AA) at 10 min
- Yeast:
- Wyeast 1335 British Ale II
- Water:
- 10 gal spring water
- 3 gal tap water
- 2 tsp CaCl
- 2 tsp Gypsum
- 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
- Extras:
- 15 oz Golden Raisin
- 1 Cup Dark Rum (Diluted with an additional 1 cup of tap water)
- 0.5 oz Hungarian Oak Cubes
Process Details:
- Batch Size:
- 5.5 gal (Target 6 gal)
- Mash:
- 157 F for 60 min
- Boil:
- 120 min (Target 90 min)
- Fermentation Temperature:
- 63 F
- Primary Duration:
- 4 Weeks
- Secondary Duration:
- 5-6 Months
Results:
- OG:
- 1.098 (Target 1.090)
- Efficiency:
- 62% (Target 61%)
- FG:
- 1.034 (Target 1.025)
- Apparent Attenuation:
- 63% (Target 71%)
- ABV:
- 8.40% (Target 8.53%)
Brewing Notes:
- 5/28/17 - Made a 1.2 L starter with 125g of DME. Added in a bit of yeast nutrient. Set it on a stir plate to propagate. There was a bit of foam on the surface after a few hours.
- 5/29/17 - Brewday - 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM including setup and cleanup:
- Brought 13 gal of water up to 190 F
- Added 1 tbs each of CaCl and Gypsum to the mash tun
- Added all 13 gal of water. Cycled the RIMS to warm the system.
- Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls
- Cycled the RIMS for about 10 min until everything seemed to even out at 157 F
- Let the mash sit for half an hr before stirring
- Let sit another half an hr before stirring again
- Cycled the RIMS for 10 more min to clear the wort
- Drained the wort off into the boil kettle - gravity was 14.5 brix at this point which is about on target given the 13 gal of water
- Added another tsp of CaCl and gypsum to the boil kettle during the drain
- Also added the FWH during the drain
- Started heating the kettle after collecting a few gal
- Almost had to a boil after completing the mash out - got 10 gal (was hoping for 9 gal)
- Boiled for 120 min
- Added Irish moss with 15 min left
- Added the final hops with 10 min left
- Added the wort chiller with 5 min left
- Chilled the beer down to 70 F
- Transferred to the fermenter and pitched the entire yeast starter. Transferred all the cold break and quite a bit of hops
- Collected 5.5 gal. Measured the gravity as 1.098
- 5/31/17 - Airlock was bubbling pretty vigorously yesterday and is still going today.
- 7/1/17 - Moved the beer back to the fermentation chamber to cold crash down to 34 F. I will fine the beer with gelatin tomorrow prior to transferring to secondary. This was a step I didn't perform on my previous beers which has resulted in pretty significant chill haze in all of them. Hopefully these proteins don't have any benefit to secondary that I'll miss getting the advantage of. As noted in the intro to this beer I'll be aging the beer on golden raisins. Additionally, I decided to soak the raisins in rum. In a fit of adventurousness I decided at the last moment to add 0.5 oz of oak cubes to this tincture. I used 1 cup of rum with an additional 1 cup of tap water to ensure all the raisin were submerged (My first Barleywine used a full cup of Brandy for half the batch which gave it a somewhat pronounced presence - hoping for slightly less presence in this beer with half that amount in Rum by volume). I'll plan on adding this whole mix into the secondary fermenter. I think I'll do the transfer tomorrow so it'll get 1 day for the flavors to meld. Covered the bowl with plastic wrap for this period. These raisin include sulfates for preservative properties. This would make me a little nervous in primary, as they can shock the yeast, but in a long secondary I would expect they should be fine. In my reading on the subject of sulfates I learned another interesting aspect of their behavior - oxygen absorption. I would think that could be a good thing for a beer that will be aging for 5 months. Might not be a bad thing to consider adding these (in the form of Campden tablets) in future beers.
- 7/2/17 - Added gelatin and let the beer sit for a few hours. Added the raisin mixture to a glass carboy. Transferred the beer into the carboy. I will use a vented silicon bung as an airlock for this batch. Moved it to my non-temp-controlled basement beer room to age out. It is an orange/gold color - still a bit murky after the fining (may have to do a second round of fining after secondary. Measured the gravity as 1.034. I imagine this will drop quite a bit in secondary like the other beers did. It is a very smooth beer and the alcohol presence is pretty clean. Malt flavor and aroma are primarily bready and it has a sweet flavor. Light spicy hop flavor and a bit of bitterness in the finish. Heavily balanced towards the malt at this point. Also get quite a bit of fruity ester flavor from the beer. I think the raisin will work well with this beer.
- 12/5/17 - Moved this to the chest freezer to cold crash at 35 F
- 12/7/17 - Added 1/2 tsp of gelatin dissolved in half a cup of hot water to clear the beer
- 12/30/17 - Bottled the beer today. Added 5 oz of Demerara sugar for priming. Added 1 packet of rehydrated Premier Cuvee wine yeast to carbonate the beer. Measured the final gravity as 1.034 still. It is a lovey golden color and the aroma and flavor are malty and fruity. Ended up with 5 gal of beer which got me 49 12 oz and 1 22 oz bottle.
- 1/2/18 - Opened the first bottle tonight. There was a slight hiss on opening but no real carbonation has developed. It is only 57 F in the basement where the beer is carbing. Decided to move it into the chest freezer with a reptile heating pad to carbonate at 68 F.
- 2/17/18 - Tasting Notes - A complex Barleywine with a really lovely balance between fruity yeast and sweet malt. I'm happy with the color and the balance of the beer at the higher FG (1.034).
- 3/9/18 - Vertical Tasting (2017) with my other English Barleywine
- 5/26/19 - Tasting Notes (2019):
- Aroma: Fruity - apply maybe. Smells a bit like a white wine
- Appearance: Dark gold and very clear. Poured with a 2 finger head that pretty quickly dissipated down tot a thin ring
- Flavor: Bready malt with some fruit flavor. Has a bit of a wine-like flavor as well. Maybe a slight bitterness. Finish is malty sweet
- Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied and pretty sweet. Smooth drinking
- Overall: Complex and nice flavors. The white wine character of the beer is significantly different than the others (must be due to the usage of the grapes). This is the easiest drinking of the group.
- 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes (2020):
- Aroma: Light fruit and a bit of bready malt - might call it overripe fruit
- Appearance: Golden in color and clear. Pours with a bit of head that quickly fades to nothing - logs of cascading bubbles though
- Flavor: The fruit from the nose very much carries over to the flavor. I know what is in it so, this may be cheating, but it's a grape/white wine kind of fruitiness. The finish is sweet bready malt.
- Mouthfeel: Fairly substantial body with a good bit of sweetness. Slight astringency
- Overall: Has a very interesting fruit forward flavor compared with the other beers. Lacking in the bold malt character. The most mild of the group and, although the flavors are pleasant, not that complex
- 5/30/21 - Tasting Notes (2021)
- Aroma: Very fruity aroma - white wine like. A bit of overripe fruit as well. Maybe some honey in there as well. Think I get a bit of bready malt aroma in there too.
- Appearance: Pours very clear and golden in color. Has a 1 finger head that fades to a thin ring over a few minutes
- Flavor: Sweet and fruity flavor hits first followed by a light bready flavor and a small bit of caramel. The finish is very lightly bitter and is quickly overcome by sweet bready malt that lingers along with some fruit.
- Mouthfeel: Full bodied and pretty sticky on the palate. Drinks smooth
- Overall: Complex and interesting with some nice flavors. Has a pleasant balance of fruit and malt
- 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
- Tasting Notes (31 of 50):
- Aroma (6 of 12): Fruit is most prominent on the nose - raisin maybe. Has a bit of a musty character as well. Can smell the booze. Get a bit of bready malt character in there as well and maybe some caramel. Smells a bit like BBQ sauce.
- Appearance (2 of 3): Dark gold in color and very clear. Pours with a 2 finger head that quickly fades down to nothing
- Flavor (14 of 20): Fruity ester flavor up front. A bit of bready malt in the finish along with a pretty firm bitter kick. The ester also lingers into the finish a fair amount. There is a definite bit of boozy character in there as well. Maybe get a bit of chocolate in there as well.
- Mouthfeel (3 of 5); Medium bodied and slightly sweet. Maybe a little bit astringent
- Overall (6 of 10): A very fruit ester forward beer - it is a bit of strange ester character. Bold in character. Not a lot of malt character comes through in the beer so I would say it's not all that complex. The hop bitterness on the finish is nice - makes this easy to drink.
- 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
- Tasting Notes (42 of 50):
- Aroma (9 of 12): Fruity and oaky. Also has a bit of a mineral character. Also get a bit of caramel malt. Has a musty character
- Appearance (3 of 3): Dark gold in color and very clear. Pours with a 2 finger head that quickly fades down to nothing
- Flavor (18 of 20): Fruity up front followed by a strong dark caramel flavor. Has a chocolate note to it. Has some herbal hop flavor and a medium bitterness. The finish has a nice balance between bitter and sweet malt character.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5): Medium-full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate. Smooth drinking.
- Overall (8 of 10): Very bold flavors in this one and a good amount of complexity in the interplay between malt, fruit, and hop character. This one is very nice to drink.
- 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
- Tasting Notes (34 of 50):
- Aroma (7 of 12): Fruity with an almost cider-like aroma. Maybe some honey in there as well. Get a bit of malt in there as well. It's a pretty mild aroma but nice
- Appearance (3 of 3): Dark gold in color and very clear. Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing.
- Flavor (15 of 20): Some fruity flavor up front with malt flavors in the mix as well. The finish is fruity and malty. There is no bitterness to speak of but it isn't all that sweet where it seems to particularly lack balance. Alcohol is present in the flavor profile but not over whelming. The flavors are nice here but it's somewhat mild and not a whole lot going on.
- Mouthfeel (3 of 5): Medium bodied and mildly sweet. Drinks smooth.
- Overall (6 of 10): This is an interesting, fruit forward, barleywine. It is tasty but not particularly complex.
