My first English Barleywine...

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Cloaked_Phantom, Mar 17, 2014.

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  1. Cloaked_Phantom

    Cloaked_Phantom Initiate (0) Mar 3, 2013 Washington

    So I'm looking to brew one of my favorite styles of beer for the first time. My uncle and I are looking at opening up a brewpub in the future and I want to really nail a base English Barleywine and then be able to work on some barrel aging at some point as well. I would really love some advice on some of my thoughts. Thank you for any comments!

    Base beer:

    Mash with Marris Otter of course, Briess Caramel 80 & 120 and Victory
    Boiling Willamette and Cluster hops

    I really want nice tobacco and dark fruit flavors. I do like them pretty sweet...which is fairly hard to escape anyway it seems and I'd like it to hit around 12-13% abv.

    A quick overview on some general ideas for after a solid base is perfected:

    1) Priming with maple syrup?
    2) Adding hazlenuts after fermentation?
    3) If I can't find a cognac or brandy barrel, has anyone had any experience on steeping an oak stave in either of those spirits?

    Seriously, any thoughts, concerns, advice or any comment in general would be great, thanks for looking!

    Cheers,
    Nick
     
    #1 Cloaked_Phantom, Mar 17, 2014
  2. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    If you're looking to make an ENGLISH barleywine, I suggest using English specialty malts and hops. For crystal malts, just go with the closest lovibond you can find, and I'd use amber malt for victory. Try challenger and EKGs for hops, however, if you're looking for some tobacco, it wouldn't be a bad idea to include some fuggles. What's your yeast? I like 1028/013, but lots of folks around here swear by 1968/002. There are other British yeast strains that might make a decent barleywine, but those are the two most popular.
     
    #2 MrOH, Mar 17, 2014
  3. WelshBrewer

    WelshBrewer Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2013 Oregon

    How big is the batch?
    I just did 15G on a 1Bbl system and it maxed out my Tun, 100 Lbs of grain, it is now in a Dads Hat Rye whiskey barrel. 11.2% used standard Western Malt 2 row as a base
     
    #3 WelshBrewer, Mar 17, 2014
    BuckettOfBeer likes this.
  4. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Marris Otter Malt (4 hour boil), east kent golding hops (75-100 IBU), WY1968/WLP002, water = JW Lees. Doesn't get much more classic English Barleywine than that, and as proven by the spirit barrel aged JW Lees, is an excellent vehicle for barrel flavors.

    BTW the tobacco and dark fruit flavors in many barleywines come from age and oxidation, and are not immediate products of an ass load of crystal malt.

    It will most likely take a year or so of age to know if you've really nailed your first attempt, so I wouldn't advocate doing anything to it, unless you want to say split half and oak it (cubes not chips).
     
    #4 barfdiggs, Mar 17, 2014
  5. patto1ro

    patto1ro Pooh-Bah (2,084) Apr 26, 2004 Netherlands
    Pooh-Bah

    If you're after dark fruit flavours, No. 3 invert sugar is the way to go.
     
    #5 patto1ro, Mar 17, 2014
    azorie likes this.
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