Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed  (Read 5796 times)

Offline gmac

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2165
  • London, Ontario
Re: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed
« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2012, 12:04:20 pm »
Mr. Malty says for 1 gal, at 1.100, no starter is needed until you get down to 65% viability.  Below that a starter was recommended so as you said, if it's fresh I won't bother with the starter.

Offline gmac

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2165
  • London, Ontario
Re: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed
« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2012, 07:22:31 pm »
So I've got some Belgian Ardennes yeast for this now and before I do this, I'm starting to think I may as well make a whole 5 gal batch.  Mr. Malty says I need an 8L starter for a 1.100 beer.  I'm thinking that I may as well make a 5 gal batch of something first and then use the yeast cake for a big beer.

What other sort of beer would you suggest for this?  I don't know anything about Ardennes yeast.  I want to make a sour and I have Roseleare blend as well.  What about 5 gals of beer using the Ardennes, rack it off and then pitch the Roseleare?  Never used either so I have no idea if they will work together.  Thoughts?

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2012, 09:12:43 pm »
So I've got some Belgian Ardennes yeast for this now and before I do this, I'm starting to think I may as well make a whole 5 gal batch.  Mr. Malty says I need an 8L starter for a 1.100 beer.  I'm thinking that I may as well make a 5 gal batch of something first and then use the yeast cake for a big beer.

What other sort of beer would you suggest for this?  I don't know anything about Ardennes yeast.  I want to make a sour and I have Roseleare blend as well.  What about 5 gals of beer using the Ardennes, rack it off and then pitch the Roseleare?  Never used either so I have no idea if they will work together.  Thoughts?

I would think a saison/farmhouse ale would be ideal. mostly pils with some wheat maybe, or some munich or both. some noble hops three or four times.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline tschmidlin

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8198
  • Redmond, WA
Re: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed
« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2012, 10:02:55 pm »
I think the Ardennes wil work well as the base for a Flanders with Roeslare, as long as you ferment cool.  But you could certainly do a saison/farmhouse, or lots of other Belgian styles.  I would just be sure to keep it low alcohol for the first batch.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline pyrite

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 443
  • Davis, CA
Re: Strong Ale/Barley Wine Help Needed
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2012, 11:33:56 pm »
So I've got some Belgian Ardennes yeast for this now and before I do this, I'm starting to think I may as well make a whole 5 gal batch.  Mr. Malty says I need an 8L starter for a 1.100 beer.  I'm thinking that I may as well make a 5 gal batch of something first and then use the yeast cake for a big beer.

What other sort of beer would you suggest for this?  I don't know anything about Ardennes yeast.  I want to make a sour and I have Roseleare blend as well.  What about 5 gals of beer using the Ardennes, rack it off and then pitch the Roseleare?  Never used either so I have no idea if they will work together.  Thoughts?

Just a heads up about this yeast.  I used WLP545, a yeast form the Ardennes region in my last three brews to make the base for what will later turn out to be a barrel aged sour Belgian brown.  The OG was 1.051 and was fermented in it's lower temp range never exceeding 70F and surprisingly the fermentation under these conditions produced smooth phenolic light rose pedal / dark berry aroma with a tasty plum finish.  My first batch was mashed at 66C, and as a result, I was expecting a FG of 1.014 but instead it fermented down to 1.010.  So it ferments the living sugar out of the wort. I fixed it in the last 2 batches by mashing higher.  

During transfer to the barrel I blended in the Roseleare from Wyeast.  Since adding the Roseleare blend It's been bubbling away and aging for less than a month, so no tasting notes to help you out.  
« Last Edit: January 18, 2012, 11:39:08 pm by pyrite »
If you don't get in over your head, how are you ever going to know how tall you are.