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Author Topic: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?  (Read 3303 times)

Offline Bel Air Brewing

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #30 on: April 19, 2022, 08:37:28 am »


Not a bad suggestion, but barleywine is often stored a long time and force caring isn't the best way to do that.  Best I've ever done in a comp was a 5 year old BW .

One of the excuses I made for starting to invest in kegging was that I'd read (somewhere... don't recall the source now) that kegging or bottling from a keg is better than bottle conditioning for beers that are going to be aged.  Something about how sitting on the yeast for so long may not be ideal.

Why would force carbing be a problem?

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As far as I know, it's the opposite. The yeast in the bottles will supposedly scavenge O2.

And ditto for the yeast in the keg.

Offline denny

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #31 on: April 19, 2022, 08:57:14 am »


Not a bad suggestion, but barleywine is often stored a long time and force caring isn't the best way to do that.  Best I've ever done in a comp was a 5 year old BW .

One of the excuses I made for starting to invest in kegging was that I'd read (somewhere... don't recall the source now) that kegging or bottling from a keg is better than bottle conditioning for beers that are going to be aged.  Something about how sitting on the yeast for so long may not be ideal.

Why would force carbing be a problem?

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As far as I know, it's the opposite. The yeast in the bottles will supposedly scavenge O2.

And ditto for the yeast in the keg.

Yes, although theoretically it can be more of an issue.  Just like tall CCVs can exacerbate autolysis, the form factor of a keg makes that more likely than in a bottle.  But it's theoretical.  Who knows how much difference it makes in reality.
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narvin

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #32 on: April 19, 2022, 09:11:17 am »


Not a bad suggestion, but barleywine is often stored a long time and force caring isn't the best way to do that.  Best I've ever done in a comp was a 5 year old BW .

One of the excuses I made for starting to invest in kegging was that I'd read (somewhere... don't recall the source now) that kegging or bottling from a keg is better than bottle conditioning for beers that are going to be aged.  Something about how sitting on the yeast for so long may not be ideal.

Why would force carbing be a problem?

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As far as I know, it's the opposite. The yeast in the bottles will supposedly scavenge O2.

And ditto for the yeast in the keg.

If the yeast isn't active (the beer is done fermenting), it's questionable how much O2 it will scavenge.  This is why spunding or priming a keg is the best way to reduce oxuidation.

Offline fredthecat

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #33 on: April 19, 2022, 10:46:35 am »
lol, more importantly at least for me. i feel comfortable with my current method and letting the beer sit for long-term storage (maybe saving a few for years down the road). the method is adding dextrose boiled in ~150ml spring water for 10 mins and let to cool, then adding this to the bottling container and stirring gently. seems to create good beer that follows expected trajectories of taste/quality.

Offline Skeeter686

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #34 on: April 19, 2022, 03:08:16 pm »


As far as I know, it's the opposite. The yeast in the bottles will supposedly scavenge O2.

And ditto for the yeast in the keg.

Yes, although theoretically it can be more of an issue.  Just like tall CCVs can exacerbate autolysis, the form factor of a keg makes that more likely than in a bottle.  But it's theoretical.  Who knows how much difference it makes in reality.

I managed to find my source: Zymurgy March / April 2022 "The Homebrewer's Guide to Barrel-Aged Stouts" page 51

"From there, you usually want to drink these out of the keg or force carbonate  them into bottles. It’s very difficult to achieve proper bottle conditioning with  beers that approach and even exceed 13 percent ABV, and very few professionals even attempt that. And while these should be enjoyable for years to come, they are not going to improve drastically over 5 to 10 years as a good English barleywine or lambic often does, so avoid bottle conditioning."

So, it sounds like this advice was specific to stouts.

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Offline Skeeter686

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #35 on: April 19, 2022, 03:16:15 pm »



If the yeast isn't active (the beer is done fermenting), it's questionable how much O2 it will scavenge.  This is why spunding or priming a keg is the best way to reduce oxuidation.

One step at a time for me.  I've come up with enough rationalizations for investing in kegging, so I'm moving forward with that.  I'm sure I'll start with force carbing, but this gives me a new goal.

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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #36 on: May 03, 2022, 09:44:42 pm »
I managed to find my source: Zymurgy March / April 2022 "The Homebrewer's Guide to Barrel-Aged Stouts" page 51

"From there, you usually want to drink these out of the keg or force carbonate  them into bottles. It’s very difficult to achieve proper bottle conditioning with  beers that approach and even exceed 13 percent ABV, and very few professionals even attempt that. And while these should be enjoyable for years to come, they are not going to improve drastically over 5 to 10 years as a good English barleywine or lambic often does, so avoid bottle conditioning."

So, it sounds like this advice was specific to stouts.

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This advice depends a lot on the stout. I have stouts well into that age range that are simply fantastic with age on them. Those tend to be the older style imperial stouts that lean more bitter and roast forward. Modern imperial stouts have high FG and loads of crystal malt. They are designed to be consumed immediately (especially if adjuncted) which is among the reasons barrel aged stouts have fallen by the wayside. At best they develop oxidized port-like flavors but typically they fall apart into a sweet oxidized mess. The same can be said for a lot of modern barleywines that lean towards an overly sweet, high FG beer. They don't age well either. English-style barleywines are almost always on the sweeter side but generally not intentionally trying to hit 15% ABV and 1040 FG.
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Offline fredthecat

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Re: barleywine/very strong ale carbonation level advice?
« Reply #37 on: June 07, 2022, 08:52:32 pm »
ended up carbing with an aim for around 2.3 vol co2. i added EEC(?)1118 to it after main fermentation in primary just to make sure. bottles are carbing up adequately after 2 weeks bottled. beer tastes very good so far. will post a pic soon