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barleywine recipe for long term solera


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#1 gnef

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Posted 04 March 2017 - 03:24 PM

I am planning out the recipe for my barleywine multi vessel solera.

 

General idea is three sanke keg vessels, I fill one each year, while also taking a third out to cascade to the older vessels. The fourth year, I will pull 5 gallons from the oldest vessel, and cascade fill from the next oldest, and then refill the youngest sanke keg with the newest 5 gallons. I will be adding in oak cubes to each vessel, and possibly vanilla beans to one or more of the vessels.

 

I have 1056 slurry that I'll be using, starting with 5 gallons, adding another 5 shortly after, and then adding 10 gallons after that for a total of 20 gallons fermenting in the same fermenter. I'll be boiling for a while, with an intended alcohol percent at the end of around 12%. I didn't want anything too crazy, but something that would handle the long term aging well. I'm thinking getting the gravity to 1.12, and hoping to be in the range of 1.02-1.03 for my FG.

 

Right now for 5 gallons, my recipe is just:

 

25# 2-row

5# munich

1# biscuit

1# special b

 

Really, I have two main questions. What are your thoughts on the grain bill? I wanted to keep it fairly simple, allowing for the boil to add most of the complexity, but I also wanted just a few hints of other flavors as well.

 

Then, I'm wondering about the hops. Since this will be blended through the years, I expect the hops to subside considerably by the fourth year. Should I make this into more of a double IPA to try to retain as much hop balance as possible by the end? I was also thinking about dry hopping the serving soda keg when I do the annual pull and refill (not in the aging sanke keg part of the solera). Needless to say, I haven't fully decided on the hopping schedule, or even what I should shoot for IBU wise.

 

I'm also open to general thoughts and suggestions.


Edited by gnef, 04 March 2017 - 03:28 PM.


#2 realbeerguy

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Posted 04 March 2017 - 07:41 PM

Just me, but some chocolate malt & 80l added. Up the Special B.  I find it gives some nice dried fruit, toffee notes.   Hop character will fade.  Go with Magnums and the like (think neutral) more for preservation than character.



#3 gnef

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Posted 04 March 2017 - 08:19 PM

Interesting. I originally wanted to stay away from the really dark malts, but I would consider 4-6oz of chocolate. I could go up on the special b. Would the munich do much at this point though, and should I just stick with 2-row?

 

For hops, what I have that is high in alpha: columbus, nugget, magnum, n. brewer, chinook, and super galena. Would you have a recommendation for more than just magnum from that list? I do have others that are lower in alpha too.

 

Should I just aim for 100 IBU, or go for a 1:1 ratio, or go beyond?



#4 realbeerguy

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Posted 05 March 2017 - 02:26 PM

I'd stay with just 2 row.  Figure 80-100 IBU.  Nugget, magnum, n. brewer, galena.  IMO, Columbus & Chinook too aggressive.



#5 armagh

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Posted 08 March 2017 - 01:32 PM

I usually try to bring American Barley wines in around 65-70 IBUs.  I like magnum for bittering as mentioned because it is clean.



#6 gnef

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Posted 08 March 2017 - 05:38 PM

Well, I just mashed in. I did some slight modifications. For some reason, I wanted to keep the munich, so I made some adjustments to the 2-row:

 

22# 2-row

5# munich

2# biscuit

2# special b

8oz chocolate

 

Right now what I have for the hop schedule is:

2 oz magnum 11.6% @ 60 min

1 oz nugget 13.2% @ 60 min

1 oz magnum 11.6% @ 30 min

 

This gives just over 100 IBU calculated. I wanted to er on the high side, since part of this will be aging for 4+ years in the solera system. I didn't worry much about aroma since I figured anything I put in for less than 30 minutes would be wasted for the most part, and I can dry hop the serving keg once I pull out of the sanke solera vessels.

 

Also, since this will become blended, I can adjust the bitterness in the future by making changes to the recipe in subsequent years.

 

I appreciate the input so far! This is currently mashing. Once I put the kids down for bedtime, I'll be finishing the batch. I hope to be able to brew the next 5 gallons in 2-3 days, hopefully by then I'll see some krausen. Then I'll brew the last 10 gallons 2-3 days from then. I'm hoping that this will give the yeast the greatest chance of attenuating well and staying the healthiest possible throughout the fermentation.



#7 gnef

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Posted 09 March 2017 - 12:25 PM

Well, that was a long brew day last night. I finished everything up around 2:40 am. There was a lot of caramelized wort on the electric element, so I had to spend time getting most of that off. 

 

I boiled it pretty hard, and my OG going into the fermenter was actually 1.134. I didn't have to boil as long as I did, ah well.

 

I checked on it this morning, and it was already showing signs of activity. I hope to brew the next 5 gallons tomorrow, and the next 5 soon after.

 

I originally planned on doing a 10 gallon batch instead of 5 for the last portion, but I don't think I'll be able to boil down enough in the kettles I have, so I'll have to stick to 5 gallon batches for this.

 

I had a number of boil overs though, and lost a good amount of wort. I even added the fermcap multiple times, so I'll have to be more careful of that for the next batch.



#8 gnef

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Posted 10 March 2017 - 06:35 PM

I'm mashing the second batch now. It'll be another long night. I need to brew at least once more, but I may try to make it a total of 20 gallons. We'll see how I feel after the third batch!




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