RECIPE #75: The Justin (American Barleywine)

I have been brewing for 4 years now.  During that 4 years I have written at least 6 recipes for a Barleywine, but never pulled the trigger.  It's not that I am afraid of the style.  It's that I am not too sure that I wanted a full 5 gallons of it.  Sometimes I really love Barleywines, sometimes not so much.  The beer that defines the American Style tastes like garbage fresh... yes, Bigfoot, I'm looking at you!  Overly bitter, grassy, astringent, like chewing on hop cones, overlaying tangy caramel malt and a little roasted dryness.  I really enjoy the lower IBUs and bolder malt character of English Barleywines, but thus far in my brewing career, I have failed to make an outstanding British beer of a lower gravity, making a bigger one isn't really what I wanted to do (too much money and time invested).  So, for this one, when I finally pull the trigger, I went for a blend.  Malt complexity, toffee, toasty, and lots of bold American hops.  All of this layered over enough bitterness to balance and clear the pallate, but not so much that it is the only thing you can taste.  I chose a yeast with character and a medium attenuation to keep it from drying out too much, and to add an extra layer of complexity.  I am hoping that this beer will age gracefully for quite a few years.

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Stats:

Gallons: 6.50

OG:          1.107

FG:          1.023

ABV: 11.0%

IBUs: 69

SRM: 16

Efficiency: 76%

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Fermentables:

10.00#  Pale Malt (Weyermann)  (37.1%)

7.00 #  Pale Malt (Great Western)  (26.0%)

4.00 #  MFB Munich  (14.9%)

2.50 #  Cara-Pils/Dextrine  (9.3%)

1.00 #  British Dark Crystal - 75/85L  (3.7%)

1.50 #  Sugar, Dememera (5.6%)

0.12 #  Carafa Special III  (0.4%)

0.80 #  Pilsner Dry Extract (3.0%)

Mash 1 hours @ 150

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Boil 180 mins:

75  2.00 oz  CTZ  15.1%AA

60  1.00 oz  CTZ  15.1%AA

20  0.50 oz  Simcoe  13.5%AA

20  1.00 oz  CTZ  15.1%AA

20  0.50 oz  Amarillo  8.3%AA

WP 25  1.00 oz  Simcoe  13.5%AA

WP 25  2.00 oz  CTZ  15.1%AA

WP 25  1.00 oz  Amarillo  8.3%AA

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Kettle Additions:

Ca 112.0; Mg 19.6; Na 31.4; SO4 229.1; Cl 34.3; Bi-Carb 172.4; pH 5.28

Yeast Nutrient 5 taps

Whirfloc 1 each

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Fermentation:

Cooled to 64*F

60 sec pure 02 @ 0 hours and 24 hours

WY1469 West Yorkshire (Porter Slurries)

64*F  4 days

68-70*F 13 days
72-75*F 7 days

Bottled with Lallemand CBC-1 Bottle Conditioning Yeast

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Notes:

Re-Circing Cleaner Through Pump

11/5  Brewed alone on a Wednesday, nice day off.  First time in nearly a year doing a non-overnight mash.  Used my new 70 quart Coleman Extreme Mash-Lauter Tun.  Run off and sparge went super easy.  Then came the blow, efficiency was in the low 60s.  Added an extra 1/2# of sugar and 0.8# Pilsner DME to boost the gravity back to my desired concentration.  Sparged for a higher pre boil volume and boiled for 180 minutes to get better efficiency and some kettle caramelization.  Added hops at times indicated.  Long whirlpool for big aroma.  Chilled to 64*F and transferred via pump to the fermentors.  Split into 2 6 gallon Better Bottles containing the yeast cakes from my Porters.  Hit with pure oxygen for 60 seconds.  Set to 66*F at 1:00pm.  Cleaned my pump for the first time in 2 years.  Oxyclean water came out neon green.  Recirced for about an hour, then ran clean water through the lines.

11/6 Forgot to turn on the actual heating source so it had gotten down to 61*F over night.  Bumped up the temp and hit with another 60 seconds in the afternoon.  Krausen forming by night fall.

11/8  High krausen rocking.

11/9  Bumped to 69*F.

First pour, just under 3 weeks

11/11  Gravity sample shows 1.035.  Tastes great and clean.  Cold snap is making it really hard to maintain temps in the fridge.  Wrapped with sleeping bag to keep the heat in more.  Maintaining 68-70*F.

11/18  FG at 1.023.  Really smooth, clean, fruity.  11% ABV.

11/21  Tranferred beer from one fermentor to the other to combine and finish cleaning up and rounding out for a week.  Diverted 1/2 gallon to a 2L with a carbonator cap to force carb before my birthday.

11/22  First real taste of chilled and carbonated beer... so good.  Sweet and toasty malt, sweet finish, but long bitter end that lingers, some fruity esters, dank and citrusy hops, alcohol is warming but super sneaky.

11/30 Turned off the temp controller to crash the remaining yeast from suspension and allow to condition cold.  

12/8 CO2 force rack the beer to a purged keg to get it off the yeast.  Left in garage at ambient temps for a few weeks to fully incorporate.  Will bottle off the bulk of it and allow to cellar for months on end, with occasional enjoyment.