I just brewed an English Barleywine OG 1.105. I am satisfied that it should be pretty well fermented out within 2 weeks of brew date. I planned to add a bourbon soaked oak spiral for ~6 weeks after primary fermentation. Will I be okay to just add the oak spiral to the primary without racking? That would leave it in primary for total ~8 weeks, then bottled. The only beers that I have left in primary this long are lambic style, which I never rack from primary until it is bottled.
I have no source handy, but that sounds like borderline too much. I would guess that the risk of oxidation when racking to a secondary is less than the risks from off favors from too much contact to the yeast. Plus, what happens if you decide you want more contact with the oak spirals and would like to wait another couple weeks?
There are people that have kept their home-brews in primary for 8 weeks with no claimed off-flavours. That said, it is a little outside my comfort range, I go up to 6 weeks. Off flavour likelihood due to yeast autolysis is decreased in homebrew as there is little hydrostatic pressure on the yeast, unlike a tall conical.
IMO 8 weeks is borderline pushing the envelope. I'm sure people have done it and their beer was fine, but I wouldn't personally.
Eh, Ive gone as long was 3mos before racking without issues. Ive personally never heard/seen of a real case of autolysis, I think its one of the most blown out of proportion issues in homebrewing.
Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to go ahead and leave it in the primary, I'm not too concerned, but will report back.
Personally, I'd probably put it in secondary because of the high gravity. I know the trend is to just primary beers (I do this as well), but you have to worry about the yeast in a high alcohol environment for a long time. Also, the transfer and O2 pickup might help with attenuation. And any additional O2 shouldn't be a big deal, because oxidation flavors are pretty much acceptable in barleywines.
i would play it by ear, my worry would be exposure to o2 however a little might be a welcome additon. if i where you i might give it 4 weeks just for the beer to clean up. also 6 weeks on oak is a long time, i would taste it ever week, and when you think its done bottle that sucker. be careful other wise you might end up with something that tastes like a 2x4.
i agree with oroke5000...i did an RIS that had a long primary (6 weeks) followed by 2 weeks with bourbon soaked oak all in the primary. turned out beautifully. i too was worried about autolysis so i talked with some of the experts at the local homebrew stores who had made these types of beers. for them it was all about batch size, their opinion (independently of each other i might add) was that a 5 gal. batch just wouldn't have the autolysis issues the way a brewery would.
How new is your spiral you will be aging on? Six weeks on a spiral, especially if new, could give off a huge amount of oak aroma and flavor to this beer, possibly over powering. I would recommend taking samples, tasting as you go, so you can determine how much is enough. If you throw it in there, leaving it for six weeks, you might not be happy with the results. FWIW that is based on my experience and palate.
I will be adding 1/2 - 3/4 of a new medium toast oak spiral. I will steam it before soaking in bourbon. The last 5 beers I made all went on oak and I have never been overpowered. I have a cider in keg with 4oz oak cubes for 1 year and still little oak flavor. Anyhow, I will taste regularly after adding the oak. I'm not avoiding racking the beer because of concern for O2, but rather I don't want to have to clean another carboy and racking equipment (being lazy).
