How soon is the party?I think that barley wines take a long time to mature?Never tried one but from what i gather its longer than a "normal"gravity beer!
I leave my beers to mature for at least 3 weeks anyway will that sort of time do?
I keep my brews outside in my bricked outhouse its about 4 degrees warmer than the outside temp at any particular time
I'm strongly considering getting a couple of headcracker kits and sticking both in and making some barley wine for the summer. By say August/Sep it should be fairly decent.