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Author Topic: Barley Wine Storage  (Read 2278 times)

Offline micsager

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Barley Wine Storage
« on: April 30, 2012, 09:34:05 am »
Well, I kegged up my barely wine.  Came in at 8.8%ABV.  Not real high, but OK I guess.  Now I wonder about long term storage.  Should I leave it in the keg, or bottle?  And any advice on how long to store would be helpful as well. 

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Barley Wine Storage
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2012, 09:38:41 am »
If you have the extra Keg and space I would for sure leave it in the keg. Bottling will just risk oxidation. In terms of how long to age it, that really depends on the beer, which is another good reason to leave it in the keg as you can sample a nip here and there until it gets where you want it to be. If you bottle I would figure out a way to remove o2, either purge with a beer gun or similar, or add a touch of priming sugar and a little fresh yeast when you bottle so it can scavange any o2 that gets in.
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Offline jmcamerlengo

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Re: Barley Wine Storage
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2012, 10:04:05 am »
+1 to what Mort said.  O2 absorbing caps are trivial but cant hurt as well.

I should add, store it in a temp stable place. As stable as you can keep it, I think keeping the temp stable is more important that a particular temp itself in a beer like barleywine, within reason of course. 80 degrees is bad. But Id rather store the barleywine at 68 for a year then store it at 40 for a couple months then store it at 70 for a couple months.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2012, 10:05:48 am by jmcamerlengo »
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Offline redbeerman

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Re: Barley Wine Storage
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2012, 06:11:19 am »
I have an English barleywine that is four years old and it has been aging at 60 - 65 degrees in bottles.  What oxidation may have occurred  which is minimal) is welcome.  The beer has mellowed a bit and is quite tasty.  Higher ABV beers can take the aging.
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Offline tom

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Re: Barley Wine Storage
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2012, 10:18:57 am »
+1 to all of the above.  Big beers not only tolerate aging, but improve immensely over time.
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