15-03-08 barleywine

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delboy

Post by delboy » Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:34 pm

To be honest i was just going to let it sit in the primary for about a month and then either bottle it or bung it in a cornie and try and forget about it until xmas :D

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ECR
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
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Post by ECR » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:51 am

Hope it went well :D

delboy

Post by delboy » Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:23 am

ECR wrote:Hope it went well :D
It did indeed ER, not much of the brown stuff to show for the efforts but then again i didn't put that much effort in :D , easily the most easy brew day i'v had.

delboy

Post by delboy » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:05 pm

Well the ferment was a very violent one, if it had have been a full size batch i doubt very much the bucket would have contained it.

Its down from 22.5 brix to 11.75, according to an online calc that means its dropped to 1018 and its about 10 % :shock:

Im surprised that is fermented so fast but then again i did use a whole 12g sachet of S04 in what was little more than a gallon.

I'll probably leave it a few weeks anyway before moving it into bottles or a cornie :D

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Barley Water
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Post by Barley Water » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:47 pm

If I were you, I would bottle the entire batch in those little nip bottles. If you put the stuff in a keg, you will end up drinking it all and then you will be kicking youself for your lack of self control. Once you bottle it all, wait about six months, try one of the bottles and then make another batch making whatever adjustments to the formulation you deem necessary based on your initial tasting. I would then bottle the second batch, again in the nip bottles. After a year, you should find it easier to hang on to some of the first batch since you have the second batch also. That way, there is a chance you could hang on to a bottle or two for at least a couple of years. The initial batch should then start to show some oxidation, the hops will blend into the beer really well and with any luck you will also notice some port like flavors emerging.

The other problem with kegging barley wine is that you can easily loose track of how much you have enjoyed in a given session leaving you horizontal and wondering what happened. :D
Drinking:Saison (in bottles), Belgian Dubbel (in bottles), Oud Bruin (in bottles), Olde Ale (in bottles),
Abbey Triple (in bottles), Munich Helles, Best Bitter (TT Landlord clone), English IPA
Conditioning: Traditional bock bier, CAP
Fermenting: Munich Dunkel
Next up: Bitter (London Pride like), ESB
So many beers to make, so little time (and cold storage space)

subsub

Post by subsub » Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:21 pm

Agree totally with BW there. I kegged a Harvest ale i brewed about 3 years ago. As I suffer with "Rude not to" syndrome it was gone two weeks after a first nip at 4 months old. I should've let it go for at least 6 months :oops:

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Stonechat
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Post by Stonechat » Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:28 pm

Yup, Subsub's right. If you can find a corner of the out-house or garage, stack the bottles there and put a marker on the calendar for December, to remind you to try a taster. Then wipe it from your mind.

delboy

Post by delboy » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:14 pm

I think i'll take that advice and bottle this one.

delboy

Post by delboy » Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:57 pm

Had a crafty sample from the fermenter tonight, this is already seriously good i can't imagine how good its going to be around xmas time.

I think i might knock up another batch of this in the near future :D

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