I developed the previous four beer recipes myself. For this new beer I've decided to try somebody else's version. I found this interesting recipe on the "Shut up about Barclay Perkins" historical beer blog for the original 1967 version of Thomas Hardy Barleywine. The recipe interested me due to the high target OG (1.110), high level of hopping with low AA hops (10 oz of boil hops), and unusually high fermentation temperature (low-mid 70s) in order to get more fruity ester character.
I've made a few modifications to the recipe based on my system performance and available ingredients:
- I had to increase the amount of grain based on an assumed ~60% efficiency. This drove a larger grainbill such that I couldn't fit it all into my mash tun. Based on this I'll be doing two mashes with an extended 4 hr boil
- I couldn't get the WLP099 yeast the recipe calls for (which is reported to be the yeast strain used by Eldridge Pope brewery for the original beer). I will use Danster Nottingham yeast instead. I'm going to use one packet of dry yeast for this beer which I'm thinking may help increase the ester production.
- I'm mashing a bit higher (153 F) to hopefully get a bit higher FG. The recipe reports that the beer finished at 1.047 which is pretty insane. In the comments the brewer reports that the beer likely fermented further during a long secondary period.
- The hops I am using are a bit higher AA then what the recipe calls for. I'm delaying the hops until later in the boil to hopefully get closer to the intended bitterness.
So, I'm excited to be brewing this huge crazy beer. With a 4 hr boil and two mashes this is going to be one hell of a brewday. I expect I'll be happy I only brew one of these a year after today.
Recipe Details:
- Grain:
- 16 lb Maris Otter
- 8 lb American 2 Row
- 3.5 lb Flaked Wheat
- 1 lb Crystal 80 L
- 0.5 Crystal 60 L
- 6 oz Acid Malt
- Hops:
- 2 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellet, 6.1 % AA) at 60 min
- 2 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellet, 6.1 % AA) at 50 min
- 1.5 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellet, 6.1 % AA) at 40 min
- 2 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 4.5% AA) at 30 min
- Yeast:
- Danstar Nottingham
- Water:
- 15 gal of spring water
- 1 tsp Irish Moss
- 2 tsp CaCl
- 2 tsp Gypsum
- Extras:
- 2 oz oak cubes
Process Details:
- Batch Size:
- 6 gal
- Mash:
- 153 F for 60 min
- Boil:
- 4 hrs
- Fermentation Temperature:
- 70 F
- Primary Duration:
- 8 weeks
- Secondary Duration:
- 4 Months
Results:
- OG:
- 1.105 (Target 1.110)
- Efficiency:
- 58% (Target 62%)
- FG:
- 1.030 (Target 1.030)
- Apparent Attenuation:
- 70% (Target 71%)
- ABV:
- 9.84% (Target 11.87%)
Brewing Notes:
- 5/27/18 - Prepared 2 oz of oak to age with this batch
- Boiled it for 5 min or so to remove some to the tannin
- Wrapped in foil and toasted in the oven at 400 F for 3 hrs. It produced a really nice vanilla aroma.
- Will use this in the long secondary/aging period
- 5/28/18 - Brewday - 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM - Including Setup and Cleanup
- Heated 8 gal of spring water to 165 F
- Milled half the grain
- Added half the CaCl and Gypsum to the grain
- Moved 6 gal of water to the mash tun
- Cycled through the rims until the system had settled out to 165 F
- Added the grain for the first mash - stirred well to eliminate dough balls
- Cycled the RIMS at 155 F. The beer settled down to 152-155 F initially
- Mashed for 60 min
- Heated 8 gal for the sparge to 185 F
- Ran off the mash water for first runnings. This got me about 4 gal of 18 brix wort (1.074). This is about 55% efficiency.
- Fly sparged until 7 gal had been collected. I stirred the grain quite a bit during the fly sparge. Gravity was 13.8 brix (1.056) at this point which would be 73%. So, quite a bit more sugar was extracted over and above the first runnings.
- Started heating after the first runnings and had it to a boil very early in the fly sparge
- Boiled for 2 hrs which got me down to 3 gal
- Heated 8 gal of strike water for my second mash
- Cleaned the mash tun and milled the second half of the grains. Added the other half of brewing salts to this
- Moved 6 gal to the mash tun and cycled until the system was at 165 F
- Added the second mash grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls
- Cycled the RIMS at 155 F for 1 hr. Temperature stayed between 152 and 155 F this time as well.
- Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 185 F
- Drained the first runnings into the boil kettle and started the heat again
- Fly Sparged until I'd collected 10 gal of wort. Measured the gravity as 18 brix which puts me at about 69% efficiencyHad the wort back up to a boil by the end of the fly sparge
- Boiled for 2 more hours
- Rehydrated dry yeast packet in a cup 95 F spring water
- Added 60, 50, 40, and 30 min hops
- Added Irish Moss at 15 min
- Added the wort chiller to sanitize with 5 min left in the boil
- Chilled down to 80 F
- Transferred the beer into a bucket fermenter. Let the beer fall a couple feet to aerate. Pitched the yeast during the transfer
- Measured the gravity as 1.120 and collected ~5.25 gal (left quite a bit of wort in the hops at the bottom of the boil kettle). This is a final efficiency of ~58%.
- Decided to add ~0.75 gal of spring water to get up to the target 6 gal. This lowered the gravity to ~1.105
- Moved the beer to the fermentation chamber with a blowoff tube setup. Set the temperature to 68 F initially.
- 5/29/18 - Allowed the fermentation chamber to rise up to 72 F. The beer is starting to form some krausen this morning but no bubbling yet. By this evening the beer was bubbling off very vigorously. I found that beer was being pushed out the lid. It turned out the blowoff tube was clogged with a chunk of hop and krausen. Once I cleared that the pressure subsided quite a bit. I was very lucky the lid didn't pop off (I'm an idiot but a lucky idiot).
- 5/30/18 - Still getting a steady production of C02 from the beer but the blowoff has subsided a lot. I had captured the blow off in a container. I measured the amount of beer that was blown at 1.5 quarts. I tasted it - it was still pretty sweet and raw tasting and also very bitter. The fermentation is putting of a slightly fruity aroma so far.
- 6/2/18 - No more activity in the blowoff. I switched it out for a 3 piece airlock. I need the fermentation chamber for another beer so I'm moving the barleywine to the mid-60s basement to complete primary. The beer smells very estery at this point.
- 7/22/18 - I've ended up leaving this one on the yeast cake a bit longer than planned. I'll be moving it into secondary here in the next couple days. Moved it to the fermentation chamber to cold crash before the transfer - set the chamber to 34 F.
- 7/25/18 - Added gelatin to drop out the yeast
- 7/29/18 - Transferred the beer to a glass carboy with 2 oz of oak to secondary. Measured the gravity of the beer as 1.028. It is fruity and malty with a pretty nice hop flavor going a long with it. I was worried it would end up too bitter - this is not the case thankfully.
- 11/25/18 - Bottled today with a packet of rehydrated Red Star Primer Cuvee yeast and 5 oz of sugar. Ended up with a bit over 5 gal of beer which got me 53 bottles. The gravity on this measurement was 1.030. The beer has a really rich and complex malt flavor with a bit of fruity yeast ester. Hop flavor has largely fallen off but there is still some bitterness in the finish.
- 1/13/19 - Tasting Notes - This has a lot going on between the malt and ester flavors. These get along very well together and make for a nicely complex beverage. It is a sweet beer but it's not cloying or difficult to drink. I think the hop bitterness the beer has retained over the long aging does a nice job to balance the finish such that you're called to take another sip. I think this was a very good recipe. I think this one will age nicely and look forward to many more tastings.
- 5/26/19 - Tasting Notes (2019):
- Aroma: Caramel and fruit ester - raising and apple maybe. Also pick up a berry like fruitiness (strawberry?). Maybe get a bit of herbal hop aroma. Really lovely aroma
- Appearance: Very dark red or light brown. Poured with a 2 finger head that lasted several minutes and then faded to a thin ring. Very clear
- Flavor: Rich bready flavor along with caramel malt which blends nicely with the fruity yeast ester character. Light bitterness in the finish which balances out the sweetness. Some alcohol comes through
- Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and pretty sweet. Smooth drinking
- Overall: Complex and rich malt and yeast flavors. Still has a bit of hop character left which makes for a bit different balance than the others
- 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes (2020):
- Aroma: Light fruity ester and caramel malt. Also pick up some herbal hop character faintly
- Appearance: Pours with a finger of head that fades down to a ring fairly quickly. Leaves lacing. Reddish brown in color
- Flavor: Toasty bread and caramel malt up front. Yeast ester comes through next although it is mild. The toast then rides through the finish. There is also a fairly firm bitterness that balances the malt in the finish. Get a bit of herbal hop flavor in the mix as well
- Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and a bit sweet. Smooth drinking beer
- Overall: Really lovely flavor to this beer. It has a bold maltiness with a very nice hop presence. There is also a good yeast character that mixes well with the other elements and lends complexity. Pleasure to drink
- 5/30/21 - Tasting Notes (2021):
- Aroma: Dark malt and caramel aroma - cookie like. Light fruity ester character in there as well
- Appearance: Dark gold in color and clear. Pours with a 1 finger head that is slow to fade. Leaves some lacing
- Flavor: Sweet rich bready malt, some toast and dark caramel. A bit of fruity ester in the background. The finish has medium bitterness that is balanced by the rich malt flavors that linger for a bit. A little boozy
- Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and lightly sweet. Smooth drinking. Warming alcohol is detected
- Overall: Complex with bold flavors. Malt is the star of the show
- 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
- Total (36 of 50):
- Aroma (7 of 12): Boozy aroma most prominent. Has some caramel and some overripe fruit like yeast character. Maybe get a bit of toasty bread in there too. Has kind of a musty character. Not picking up on any hops in it.
- Appearance (3 of 3): Pours with 1 finger head that fades down to a thin layer after a couple minutes. Reddish brown and pretty clear.
- Flavor (15 of 20): Toasted bread and dark/burnt caramel flavors up front. Get a wave of alcohol character in there up front too. After that first wave a bit of fruit character comes through - apple maybe. The finish is mostly dark toasty malt flavor with a bit of fruity malt. There is a mild but fairly deep bitterness to it still on the finish as well. It's pretty well balanced actually.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5): Medium bodied and slightly sweet. Coats the mouth and leaves a sticky sensation. Smooth drinking with a noticeable alcohol warming
- Overall: (7 of 10): This is fairly boldly flavored beer with a pretty good level of complexity. It has a pleasant and rich malt character that I really like. The fruity esters are more mild and a little strange but not bad at all. It is pretty easy to drink with a fairly firm hop bitterness which balances the beer nicely - something that feels more like drinking than sipping.
- 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
- Tasting Notes (37 of 50):
- Aroma (7 of 12): Some fruit and an almost spicy character (almost like candy). Booze. A bit of caramel malt in there as well.
- Appearance (3 of 3): Dark brown and very clear. It pours with a 2 finger head that lingers as a thin layer for several minutes
- Flavor (16 of 20): A little fruit up front followed by dark caramel and toasted bread. Maybe a bit of graham cracker in there as well. It has a boozy kick in the middle. The finish has a medium bitterness which lingers and is balanced by a rich malt flavor with just a hint of sweetness.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5): Medium bodied with just a slightly sticky mouthfeel Has a very slight astringency. Slight alcohol warming
- Overall (7 of 10): This is a fairly complex beer with a mostly malt forward character. Flavors are pretty bold. I enjoy the balance of it with some hop bitterness remaining. Tastes like a very strong beer.
- 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
- Tasting Notes (35 of 50):
- Aroma (7 of 12): Dark caramel and toasted bread up front along with some fruit character and alcohol. The smell is pretty bold and is nice.
- Appearance (2 of 3): Pours with a 2 finger head that lingers. Redish brown and just a little hazy on this pour
- Flavor (15 of 20): Sweet caramel malt up front followed by a fruity character. Booze hits next - has a bit of a musty and aged character I would say. Not much in the way of hop bitterness to this one. The finish is malty but I'd say it get balanced a bit by the alcohol flavor. Pretty complex with some interesting flavors
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5): Medium bodied and only slight stickiness on the palate. Drinks pretty smooth and has a warming character.
- Overall (7 of 10): It is a boldly flavored and pretty complex beer. The malty character is nice but it isn't the primary profile. The fruitiness is a bit odd and the booze character is interesting (has a softness to it which is not unpleasant) and is probably the dominant character. Has a lot of the character you would want and expect from an aged beer.
- 7/31/25 - Tasting Notes (2025):
- Tasting Notes (44 of 50)
- Aroma (9 of 12): Toasty and bready malt along with a mild fruity ester character and booze. I think it's a very nice smelling barleywine
- Appearance (3 of 3): Poured with a 1 finger head that lingered for a minute or so and then fades to a thin layer. Reddish brown and very clear
- Flavor (18 of 20): Rich bready malt character - get some caramel as well. A little fruit character in there as well. The finish is sweet and there is a very mild bitter flavor in there as well. Maybe get a hint of chocolate. A bit of booze.
- Mouthfeel (5 of 5): Full bodied and sticky on the palate. Drinks very smooth. Warming alcohol is felt
- Overall (9 of 10): This is a very nice Barleywine with a rich malt forward character. It has a good amount of complexity as well with the subtle fruity character. It is smooth, sweet, and strong as well which are all nice characteristics
Lesson Learned:
- I was a bit disappointed to have not gotten WLP099 - Super High Gravity yeast. I was excited to be allowing fermentation to warm to the mid 70s with that yeast. I'm not confident that Nottingham will perform well that warm so I'll keep it under 72 F. I should have planned ahead better - could have ordered something online if I'd searched for the yeast a week earlier than I did.
- I'm a bit conflicted about my decision to top up the beer. I topped up with 3/4 a gal in order to get to 6 gal after seeing that I overshot by 10 gravity points. I didn't do the calculation first and ended up diluting it down to under the target 1.110. I think I would have preferred to have met the OG target rather than the volume target in retrospect. I should have done the calculation before adding water.
- I liked the method of draining the first runnings first and then fly sparging through a dry grain bed. It seemed like that helped the efficiency somewhat as I could stir the grain bed as I went
