[Megary]

I’m judging from a distance, but the potential of a krausen ring dropping remnants of “stuff” wouldn’t cause me to perform additional transfers.


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Thanks.  That is the way I am leaning as well.  I really don't want to bottle from the carboy and transferring twice seems like penance. 

If I ever make a beer this size again though, I will strongly consider starting fermentation in the carboy and transferring to the Speidel to finish/bottle.

[Megary]

I bottled this Barleywine today and got some very interesting (to me) results.  As a reminder, the OG was 1.096 (predicted 1.094).  This was 3 gallons into the fermenter pitched with 2 packs of BRY-97.  I had no prior experience fermenting a beer this big and I was hoping that it would finish mid 20’s.

FG was 1.012.
That’s 87-88% attenuation.  Best I ever had with BRY on any other beer was 80.
I was looking for about 9% ABV, but ended up with an 11%’er.

So I was immediately concerned that maybe something nefarious had happened during fermentation.

But the sample taste was pretty damn good.  I detected some nice hop aroma and obvious alcohol warmth, but it wasn’t overwhelming.  Not sweet, but not noticeably dry either.  Tasted like a (Triple) Pale Ale honestly, so I don’t think I really should call it a Barleywine at this point.  But what’s in a name?

I’m guessing the low mash temp, extended mash time, added sugar to the boil and huge pitch are explanations for this attenuation??

[dannyjed]

It doesn’t surprise me because you added sugar.


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[denny]

It doesn’t surprise me because you added sugar.


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Yep.  I don't use it for my AM. BW. Just seems out of place to me.

[Megary]

It doesn’t surprise me because you added sugar.


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u

Yep.  I don't use it for my AM. BW. Just seems out of place to me.

Then let’s not call this a BW and all is good.  Like I said many times in this thread, I was shooting for something with less malt presence anyway.  Did I take it too far?  Maybe, maybe not.

[Iliff Ave]

It doesn’t surprise me because you added sugar.


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u

Yep.  I don't use it for my AM. BW. Just seems out of place to me.

Then let’s not call this a BW and all is good.  Like I said many times in this thread, I was shooting for something with less malt presence anyway.  Did I take it too far?  Maybe, maybe not.

No you didn’t take it too far. Should be tasty!

[dannyjed]

The main thing is that you enjoy the beer. You can’t taste numbers.


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[ynotbrusum]

BJCP Guidelines are not the only ones out there...for example the BA uses a wider variety and often more forgiving style guidelines:

American-Style Barley Wine Ale
Color: Amber to deep red/copper-garnet
Clarity: Chill haze is acceptable at low temperatures
Perceived Malt Aroma & Flavor: Caramel and/or toffee malt aromas are often present. High residual malty sweetness, often with caramel and/or toffee flavors, should be present.
Perceived Hop Aroma & Flavor: Medium to very high, exhibiting a wide range of attributes.
Perceived Bitterness: High
Fermentation Characteristics: Complex alcohols are evident. Fruity esters are often high. Diacetyl is usually absent in these beers but may be present at very low levels.
Body: Full
Additional notes: Vinous, sherry-like or port-like attributes arising from oxidation may be considered positive when in harmony with overall flavor profile.
Original Gravity (°Plato) 1.090-1.120 (21.6-28 °Plato) Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (°Plato) 1.024-1.028 (6.1-7.1 °Plato) Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 6.7%-9.6% (8.5%-12.2%) Bitterness (IBU) 60-100 Color SRM (EBC) 11-18(22-36 EBC)

Cheers to your American Barley Wine!

[Megary]

BJCP Guidelines are not the only ones out there...for example the BA uses a wider variety and often more forgiving style guidelines:

American-Style Barley Wine Ale
Color: Amber to deep red/copper-garnet
Clarity: Chill haze is acceptable at low temperatures
Perceived Malt Aroma & Flavor: Caramel and/or toffee malt aromas are often present. High residual malty sweetness, often with caramel and/or toffee flavors, should be present.
Perceived Hop Aroma & Flavor: Medium to very high, exhibiting a wide range of attributes.
Perceived Bitterness: High
Fermentation Characteristics: Complex alcohols are evident. Fruity esters are often high. Diacetyl is usually absent in these beers but may be present at very low levels.
Body: Full
Additional notes: Vinous, sherry-like or port-like attributes arising from oxidation may be considered positive when in harmony with overall flavor profile.
Original Gravity (°Plato) 1.090-1.120 (21.6-28 °Plato) Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (°Plato) 1.024-1.028 (6.1-7.1 °Plato) Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 6.7%-9.6% (8.5%-12.2%) Bitterness (IBU) 60-100 Color SRM (EBC) 11-18(22-36 EBC)

Cheers to your American Barley Wine!

I think the above is where I have broken the rules.  But that's ok because even though I wasn't expecting this kind of attenuation and it's possible I dried it out too much, I didn't want a "high residual malty sweetness" anyway.  That's not my thing.  I believe what I ended up with is closer to a moderately hopped IIPA than a BW.  Certainly the sample taste I took would bear that out.
Is there an Imperial American Pale Ale? 

[Megary]

I couldn’t help myself, so I tried one of these after just 6 weeks of bottle conditioning.

Oh boy.

Pours with an adequate head that doesn’t really last but doesn’t really disappear either.  Decent, considering it’s a big beer and I used those carbonation drops.  Fizz hangs on throughout.
Visually, it suffers from a serious chill haze.  Color is a nice caramelly 13-15 SRM.
The aroma has an interesting berry/tropical/tangerine thing that surprisingly does not really show up in the taste.
The taste is, according to my wife, just like beer.  It’s definitely not malty sweet and it’s not overly dry.  Maybe leans slightly dry, but comes across rather balanced.  Close your eyes and you are drinking a Pale Ale, with a bit of warmth.
At 11%ABV, this is crazy drinkable.  Why?  Yes, there is a bit of an alcohol heat, but nothing we all haven’t tasted in a Double Whatever a million times over.  Maybe I’ve become numb to it, maybe it’s just routine at this point.

But I’m pretty happy that I realized something that I had in my head.  I have a nice sipper that doesn’t overwhelm me with malty sweetness.  The original plan was to sit on this for 6 months and then gradually enjoy a bit at a time.  Maybe this has peaked already?  Who knows??

I love this hobby.

[Visor]

   My bet is it'll blow you away in a year or two, provided you can keep from drinking it all in the short term. Every big beer I've ever made is way better at one year old than at six weeks or 6 months, and keeps getting better with each passing year. I only got back into brewing ~ 5 years ago, so the oldest biggie I have is around 4YO, but none of them are at a point yet of being past their prime.

[Megary]

   My bet is it'll blow you away in a year or two, provided you can keep from drinking it all in the short term. Every big beer I've ever made is way better at one year old than at six weeks or 6 months, and keeps getting better with each passing year. I only got back into brewing ~ 5 years ago, so the oldest biggie I have is around 4YO, but none of them are at a point yet of being past their prime.

Understood.  I’ll remain patient.

The only reason I decided to try one was to test the carbonation.  I had never used the carbonation drops before this big beer and I was about to use them again on a different beer.  But before I used them a second time I wanted to make sure they worked the first time.  Look at me, thinking ahead.  They seem to have worked just fine.

[Visor]

   FWIW, most of the burst bottles I've had were big beers - say OGs over 1.090, and most were a year or more old when they blew. Don't know what that means, unless maybe I've done a lot of really bad stuff in this or previous lives and the Beer Gods are punishing me by wasting my best beers.

[ynotbrusum]

I've posted this before, but to those who may not have seen it, when I bottle, which is rare anymore, I will bottle one plastic bottle (slightly squished).  When the plastic bottle is firmly filled out, I know my carb is complete and I can chill or cellar or whatever, moving on from packaging the batch.

Cheers!

[Megary]

   FWIW, most of the burst bottles I've had were big beers - say OGs over 1.090, and most were a year or more old when they blew. Don't know what that means, unless maybe I've done a lot of really bad stuff in this or previous lives and the Beer Gods are punishing me by wasting my best beers.

Interesting.  Do you remember the FG's for those gushers?  Did you add yeast at bottling?  I'm wondering if a big beer that "finishes" with a relatively high FG (say in the 20's) might be more prone to bottle bombs.