Update 2/6 -- Bottled, no bourbon. Doesn't need it.
Update 1/23 -- Dry hopped. My scale lacks precision, it seems, or the hop supplier's scale lacks precision. But, added the balance of the Centennial and Cascade packets, and an ounce of Chinook. Oak cubes are soaking in bourbon... still undecided there. SG of 1.020 agrees with measurement from a week or so ago, and with the FG sample.
--
Next winter's barleywine, built from a Bigfoot clone recipe. There might be some bourbon coming to this one soon. I think the batch sparge and maybe mash chemistry hurt my yield a bit. Was expecting closer to 1.095 on this one... I guess we'll see how the specialty malt does at keeping some sugar in the beer. This may end up more of a hoppy imperial red than intended...
Batch #102
Barleywine
15.5 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb CaraPils
1 lb British 70/80L
8 oz American 90L
8 oz American 120L
1 oz Chinook (13.1%aa), 60 minutes
0.5 oz Chinook (13.1%aa), 45 minutes
0.7 oz Centennial (9.7%aa), 30 minutes
0.5 oz Centennial (9.7%aa), 15 minutes
0.5 oz Cascade (4.7%aa), 15 minutes
0.8 oz Centennial, dry
1.3 oz Cascade, dry
1 oz Chinook, dry
2L starter with ~6 oz from previous 1L WLP001 starter and fresh pitch WLP090 (San Diego)
RO water adjusted for "light colored and malty".
Mash in with 23qts to 149F, hold one hour. Batch sparged with 14qts. Collected 6.7 gallons. One hour boil.
Pulled about 10 oz for a fast ferment to estimate target FG. No thank you, bottle bombs.
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.020
ABV: 7.9%
IBU: ~84
Showing posts with label barleywine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barleywine. Show all posts
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Episode II
Trying again. Expecting this one to turn out a little sweeter... and carbonated at the end.
Batch #84
Helldorado Clone Second Attempt, for 3 gallons
8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
1/4 tsp CaCl2, in mash
WLP090 - San Diego Super Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.085
Mashed in with 11qts spring water at 150F for 60min. Initial mash pH ~5.7 (thanks, Jay!). Batch sparge with 9qts to collect 4 gallons at ~14P. Boiled 90min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.
Batch #84
Helldorado Clone Second Attempt, for 3 gallons
8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
WLP090 - San Diego Super Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.085
Mashed in with 11qts spring water at 150F for 60min. Initial mash pH ~5.7 (thanks, Jay!). Batch sparge with 9qts to collect 4 gallons at ~14P. Boiled 90min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Helldorado - First Attempt
Update 8/25 - Bottled, and a wee bit smoky, but very nice bourbon and brandy. Just waiting waiting waiting now.
Update 8/4 - SG at 1.011! Either the honey fermented or didn't get mixed in well and sank. A little boozy at the current ~12%. Racked to secondary, bourbon/brandy-soaked oak cubes tossed in. Fridge temp reduced to 55F.
Update 7/21 - Added the buckwheat honey with a little warm water to make for easier mixing, and stirred gently in the carboy to rouse the yeast. The sample I pulled was still a bit sweet (SG~1.020 before adding honey), but had a nice base malt character and a little tropical fruit and citrus from the El Dorado. Esters aren't too strong from the yeast, but are definitely there. Nice rosy alcohol (~8%abv right now). The oak cubes are still soaking. I'll check back in on the yeast in about a week to see how the honey's fermenting out. If the yeast have done their job, I'll rack to secondary and add the oak.
--
This is the beginning of a possibly years-long brewing project. It started about a month ago, at the Firestone-Walker Invitational Beer Fest, where I had my very first (second, and third,...) taste of Helldorado. It was delicious. It is not available except in the Anniversary blends, and occasionally in the brewery in Paso Robles. No growlers, no bottles. But I wanted more. The tasting notes at the brewery gave some hints: 10.8%abv, 24IBU, 8 SRM ("deep gold") - Brewed with buckwheat honey and 100% El Dorado hops [my source], aged in bourbon and brandy barrels. After finding the honey and the hops, I played around with some recipe calculations to work out a grist that should give a complex malt character, the right color, and just a bit of caramel sweetness. To be honest, I really just made something up. For the second run, I'll dive deeper into various tasting notes and try to pry a few hints out of the brewers - but I have heard that FW uses cheap CA-grown malt and some light crystal/cara to add complexity. I may not end up with a perfect match to the original, but it has certainly inspired me and given me something to shoot for. In separate containers, begin soaking oak cubes (American medium+ toast): 1/2 oz oak in bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace) and 1/2 oz in brandy (E&J XO).
Batch #80
Helldorado Clone First Attempt, for 3 gallons
8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey* (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
1/4 tsp CaCl2, in mash
WLP007 - Dry English Ale Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.082
*Add at end of boil or after fermentation begins. I "chose" to do the latter, since I forgot to bring the honey from Merced this weekend.
Mash in with 11qts at 145F, soak for 75min. Raise to 160F by direct heat on mash over ~10-15min. Batch sparge with 8qt at 160F to collect 3.5 gallons at ~16P. Boil 60min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.
Update 8/4 - SG at 1.011! Either the honey fermented or didn't get mixed in well and sank. A little boozy at the current ~12%. Racked to secondary, bourbon/brandy-soaked oak cubes tossed in. Fridge temp reduced to 55F.
Update 7/21 - Added the buckwheat honey with a little warm water to make for easier mixing, and stirred gently in the carboy to rouse the yeast. The sample I pulled was still a bit sweet (SG~1.020 before adding honey), but had a nice base malt character and a little tropical fruit and citrus from the El Dorado. Esters aren't too strong from the yeast, but are definitely there. Nice rosy alcohol (~8%abv right now). The oak cubes are still soaking. I'll check back in on the yeast in about a week to see how the honey's fermenting out. If the yeast have done their job, I'll rack to secondary and add the oak.
--
This is the beginning of a possibly years-long brewing project. It started about a month ago, at the Firestone-Walker Invitational Beer Fest, where I had my very first (second, and third,...) taste of Helldorado. It was delicious. It is not available except in the Anniversary blends, and occasionally in the brewery in Paso Robles. No growlers, no bottles. But I wanted more. The tasting notes at the brewery gave some hints: 10.8%abv, 24IBU, 8 SRM ("deep gold") - Brewed with buckwheat honey and 100% El Dorado hops [my source], aged in bourbon and brandy barrels. After finding the honey and the hops, I played around with some recipe calculations to work out a grist that should give a complex malt character, the right color, and just a bit of caramel sweetness. To be honest, I really just made something up. For the second run, I'll dive deeper into various tasting notes and try to pry a few hints out of the brewers - but I have heard that FW uses cheap CA-grown malt and some light crystal/cara to add complexity. I may not end up with a perfect match to the original, but it has certainly inspired me and given me something to shoot for. In separate containers, begin soaking oak cubes (American medium+ toast): 1/2 oz oak in bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace) and 1/2 oz in brandy (E&J XO).
Batch #80
Helldorado Clone First Attempt, for 3 gallons
8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey* (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
1/4 tsp CaCl2, in mash
WLP007 - Dry English Ale Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.082
*Add at end of boil or after fermentation begins. I "chose" to do the latter, since I forgot to bring the honey from Merced this weekend.
Mash in with 11qts at 145F, soak for 75min. Raise to 160F by direct heat on mash over ~10-15min. Batch sparge with 8qt at 160F to collect 3.5 gallons at ~16P. Boil 60min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
One to lay down for a while
Update 11/15 - SG 1.025. Will let it sit in primary another week or two.
--
Just 3 more months in the U.S., and 36 lbs of Maris Otter. First up: big bad brown british barleywine. This is a scaled up malt bill from the MoreBeer "Malty Brown Ale" kit. That was a solid recipe, and I just want something a wee bit bigger. I'm thinking toss it in a keg and hide it for a year.
Batch #66
Multiple Brown Ale
16 lbs Maris Otter
1.5 lb Munich
.75 lb CaraVienne
.75 lb CaraPils
.75 lb Aromatic
.75 lb 60L
.375 lb Pale Chocolate
2 oz Northern Brewer, 8%AA (60m)
.875 oz Vanguard, 5%AA (60m)
2 oz Fuggles, 5.1%AA (30m)
1/2 tsp gypsum in mash
WLP007, Dry English Ale Yeast, 1L starter -> 1.5L starter
OG: 1.098
FG:
ABV:
IBU: ~55
Mash in at 152F. Collect 7 gallons of wort. The Vanguard is in there just to bump up the bittering a little. It was what I had lying around my freezer.
--
Just 3 more months in the U.S., and 36 lbs of Maris Otter. First up: big bad brown british barleywine. This is a scaled up malt bill from the MoreBeer "Malty Brown Ale" kit. That was a solid recipe, and I just want something a wee bit bigger. I'm thinking toss it in a keg and hide it for a year.
Batch #66
Multiple Brown Ale
16 lbs Maris Otter
1.5 lb Munich
.75 lb CaraVienne
.75 lb CaraPils
.75 lb Aromatic
.75 lb 60L
.375 lb Pale Chocolate
2 oz Northern Brewer, 8%AA (60m)
.875 oz Vanguard, 5%AA (60m)
2 oz Fuggles, 5.1%AA (30m)
1/2 tsp gypsum in mash
WLP007, Dry English Ale Yeast, 1L starter -> 1.5L starter
OG: 1.098
FG:
ABV:
IBU: ~55
Mash in at 152F. Collect 7 gallons of wort. The Vanguard is in there just to bump up the bittering a little. It was what I had lying around my freezer.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Rye!
Update 3/11 - SG 1.017. Kegged with 1.75oz table sugar.
Update 3/1 - SG 1.020.
Update 2/14 - SG 1.024 and has been for a few days. Racked to secondary and fermentation jump started with WLP001 (1L starter, crashed, decanted, repitched into a second 1L starter to proof).
--
One of my goals for this sack o' grain was to make a barleywine that doesn't suck. Then I got to thinking. Wouldn't a ryewine be kind of fun? Turns out I'm not the only one who thought so. I've heard of recipes ranging from 20-50% rye. I went for a solid 24% rye with 8% wheat. Shouldn't be overwhelmingly spicy, but I expect it will have enough potency to balance the caramel and honey flavors from the specialty grains. This recipe maxes out my mash tun. Rumor has it there's a fantastic oatwine out there that includes a hefty 60% oat malt bill.
Batch #53
Ryewine
--15lbs 2-row RAHR
--6lb Rye Malt
--2lb White Wheat Malt
--12oz Crystal 60L
--8oz Crystal 75-80L
--6oz Honey Malt
--4oz Crystal 40L
--2oz Crystal 120L
--4oz Rice Hulls
--1/2 tsp gypsum (infusion water)
--2oz Magnum 14.4%AA (60min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (30min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (15min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (5min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (1min)
--Whirlfloc (15min)
--1/4 tsp fermaid k (15m)
--WLP002 English Ale Yeast, 1.5C slurry from stout
OG: 1.100
FG: 1.017
ABV: 10.9%
IBU: ~75
Mash in with 29 qts water to 146F. This gives a decent water/grain ratio of about 1.15, and fills my 10gal cooler mashtun almost to the brim. The low mash temp is to make sure that I don't end up with a finished product that's cloyingly sweet. Bonus: 146F is within the range of protease activity, so the rye gets a decent treatment. Nice big thermal mass, the temp stays the same for a solid 90m mash (no wind either...too wet outside, so I was in the kitchen). Fly sparge with 10qts water at 170F. Ideally, more sparge water is needed, so my efficiency suffered some (59%), but I was running into the limits of my kettle, and with the crystal malts, I didn't want to boil too long. 60m boil, hops as noted. Cool to ~60F, pitch yeast, ferment in low 60s (don't want too much of the esters from the yeast...just a hint). I may have to add more yeast later, say after a week or so rack and pitch active WLP001 or something else hungry. That way I don't stress the english yeast too much and don't have to worry about sitting on trub and dead yeast while the ferment completes.
Update 3/1 - SG 1.020.
Update 2/14 - SG 1.024 and has been for a few days. Racked to secondary and fermentation jump started with WLP001 (1L starter, crashed, decanted, repitched into a second 1L starter to proof).
--
One of my goals for this sack o' grain was to make a barleywine that doesn't suck. Then I got to thinking. Wouldn't a ryewine be kind of fun? Turns out I'm not the only one who thought so. I've heard of recipes ranging from 20-50% rye. I went for a solid 24% rye with 8% wheat. Shouldn't be overwhelmingly spicy, but I expect it will have enough potency to balance the caramel and honey flavors from the specialty grains. This recipe maxes out my mash tun. Rumor has it there's a fantastic oatwine out there that includes a hefty 60% oat malt bill.
Batch #53
Ryewine
--15lbs 2-row RAHR
--6lb Rye Malt
--2lb White Wheat Malt
--12oz Crystal 60L
--8oz Crystal 75-80L
--6oz Honey Malt
--4oz Crystal 40L
--2oz Crystal 120L
--4oz Rice Hulls
--1/2 tsp gypsum (infusion water)
--2oz Magnum 14.4%AA (60min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (30min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (15min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (5min)
--1oz Mt Hood 5.2%AA (1min)
--Whirlfloc (15min)
--1/4 tsp fermaid k (15m)
--WLP002 English Ale Yeast, 1.5C slurry from stout
OG: 1.100
FG: 1.017
ABV: 10.9%
IBU: ~75
Mash in with 29 qts water to 146F. This gives a decent water/grain ratio of about 1.15, and fills my 10gal cooler mashtun almost to the brim. The low mash temp is to make sure that I don't end up with a finished product that's cloyingly sweet. Bonus: 146F is within the range of protease activity, so the rye gets a decent treatment. Nice big thermal mass, the temp stays the same for a solid 90m mash (no wind either...too wet outside, so I was in the kitchen). Fly sparge with 10qts water at 170F. Ideally, more sparge water is needed, so my efficiency suffered some (59%), but I was running into the limits of my kettle, and with the crystal malts, I didn't want to boil too long. 60m boil, hops as noted. Cool to ~60F, pitch yeast, ferment in low 60s (don't want too much of the esters from the yeast...just a hint). I may have to add more yeast later, say after a week or so rack and pitch active WLP001 or something else hungry. That way I don't stress the english yeast too much and don't have to worry about sitting on trub and dead yeast while the ferment completes.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Not funny anymore.
This post is no longer funny. I got home yesterday and checked on the barleywine. Good thing, too. The dimples on the caps were on their way from innies to outies. I managed to get everything in a refrigerator, but have no room for anything else right now. I'm hoping that crash cooling will prevent these from become bombs. Why oh why did I have to be so impatient...next time I'll know better, I suppose. Hopefully I won't get back from vacation in two weeks to find the worst mess ever in my kitchen.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Strong beer and sticky floors
Updated 8/14 - Bottled. Finally. After giving this one a swift kick in the pants with a new batch of yeast, it's finally in the bottles. Of course, now I'm paranoid about bottle bombs. Hopefully everything will survive and some of the weird flavors will settle down by October or November.
--
Updated 3/30 - Racked to secondary. SG still high (around 35), but I think once that falls some more, this will be tasty. I've put it back near the heater to try and keep the yeast active...will think about adding some more to give it a little shove. If it weren't so damn sticky, I'd be pretty happy with the 8+%ABV it's at now, but I want that 10%.
--
I brewed a big beer yesterday as a demo for a friend thinking about starting the habit. This is one a made up, so hopefully it'll be tasty. I plan to let it secondary for a while and then cellar in bottle for a few months.
Batch #10
"Decathalon" Barleywine (Partial mash)
Super High Gravity Ale Yeast (White Labs 099, two vials instead of a starter)
--11 lbs Ultralight LME
--~2.5 lbs Light DME
--1 lb Caravienne
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--1 lb CaraPils
--8 oz British Chocolate
--8 oz Orange Honey
--2 oz Newport 9.3% (60min)
--2 oz Simcoe 10.4% (10min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet (20 min)
OG: 1.098-1.100
FG: <1.030
ABV: 9+%
IBU: ~75-80
Mashed the grains around 165 for 45 minutes, sparged a little over two gallons to get a total of ~3 gallons wort at a gravity of about 20. Added water and DME, brought to a boil. Added 6lbs LME and Newport after hot break. Added the remaining LME and the Simcoe at 10 minutes, Columbus at 5, chilled to 70F or so in about 30 minutes. Fermenting at 65F, lag time was about 8-9 hours. It's cool enough so that I didn't lose any beer out the airlock. The yeast should bring this to about 10% ABV.
--
Updated 3/30 - Racked to secondary. SG still high (around 35), but I think once that falls some more, this will be tasty. I've put it back near the heater to try and keep the yeast active...will think about adding some more to give it a little shove. If it weren't so damn sticky, I'd be pretty happy with the 8+%ABV it's at now, but I want that 10%.
--
I brewed a big beer yesterday as a demo for a friend thinking about starting the habit. This is one a made up, so hopefully it'll be tasty. I plan to let it secondary for a while and then cellar in bottle for a few months.
Batch #10
"Decathalon" Barleywine (Partial mash)
Super High Gravity Ale Yeast (White Labs 099, two vials instead of a starter)
--11 lbs Ultralight LME
--~2.5 lbs Light DME
--1 lb Caravienne
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--1 lb CaraPils
--8 oz British Chocolate
--8 oz Orange Honey
--2 oz Newport 9.3% (60min)
--2 oz Simcoe 10.4% (10min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet (20 min)
OG: 1.098-1.100
FG: <1.030
ABV: 9+%
IBU: ~75-80
Mashed the grains around 165 for 45 minutes, sparged a little over two gallons to get a total of ~3 gallons wort at a gravity of about 20. Added water and DME, brought to a boil. Added 6lbs LME and Newport after hot break. Added the remaining LME and the Simcoe at 10 minutes, Columbus at 5, chilled to 70F or so in about 30 minutes. Fermenting at 65F, lag time was about 8-9 hours. It's cool enough so that I didn't lose any beer out the airlock. The yeast should bring this to about 10% ABV.
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