American Barleywine
by Hank Keller of the Foam Rangers
Note! This is a BIG 5 gallon batch.
Grains:
2-Row Pale 13 lbs
Maris Otter 7 lbs
Crystal 40° L 1 lb
Crystal 120° L 1 lb
Aromatic .25 lb
Hops:
Magnum – 11% a/a 1.75 oz 60 min.
Citra – 13% a/a 1 oz 15 min.
Centennial – 8.6% a/a 2 oz 0 min.
Citra – 12.8% a/a 2 oz 0 min.
Centennial – 8.6% a/a 2 oz 0 min.
Citra – 12.8% a/a 2 oz Dry Hop
Centennial – 8.6% a/a 2 oz Dry Hop
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 (2000ml starter)
Water treatment:
Mash 1 tsp gypsum in 7.5 gallons of RO water
Sparge .25ml phosphoric acid per 5 gallons (10 gallons used in sparge)
Mash Temp: 153 – 154 degrees
Sparge Temp: 170 degrees
OG: 1.106
FG: 1.030
This is an interesting boil, as you will need 2 pots for this because you are going to be boiling down the first runnings to get the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a process that creates a chemical reaction which causes a “caramelization” of the wort, which gives bigger beers a caramel flavor / darker color which boosts the flavor profile of these bigger beers (I do this for Wee Heavy, Old Ale, big Bocks).
Take the first 2 gallons into a small pot (first runnings) and commence boiling, remember to stir often or you will make everything sticky with boil-overs. Continue sparging into the larger pot (second runnings) until you get about 7.5 gallons, or the gravity falls below 1.015 (ish).
This will be a LONG boil of 2 hours, with both pots boiling. At 60 minutes, add the bittering hops in the big pot, then the rest of the hops at the appropriate times.
At 105 minutes (or 15 left in the boil), you should have a little less than 1 gallon in the small pot and about 4.5 gallons in the large pot. This is when you pour the small pot into the big pot and mix the worts together. Boil for another 15 minutes, adding hops at the correct times, and add your Irish Moss.
When the time is up, chill down as rapidly as you can (preferably below 65 degrees). Pitch your yeast, and don’t forget to oxygenate (a lot). About 24 hours later give another burst of oxygen. 24 hours after this, you should see about 1” of krausen on top, then lower the temperature to 62-63 degrees.
After 2 weeks, you should add your dry hops, and slowly raise the temperature to 70 degrees and let it do its thing for another week.
To keg or bottle?? Personally, I bottle big ales like this just because it gives an interesting flavor as it ages. Maybe it’s the slight oxidation that starts to give some dark fruit esters to it, or it could be the beer angels are giving each bottle a kiss. Store at 70ish degrees for a long time, the longer the better. This one was about 2 years in the bottle before I entered it in Operation Fermentation 2023.
Score at OpFerm 2023 – 40.5 points (1st Place)
Score at Bluebonnet 2023 – 43 points
Crescent City Brew Talk 