[brewdog86]

I want to brew an Xmas ale that is high in alcohol and i plan on aging it in an oak barrel..... any ideas or recipies?

[a10t2]

Can you be more specific? There are plenty of established styles that are high in alcohol, and pretty much any recipe could be "imperialized".

[brewdog86]

a porter would be nice, im more interested in how to make a high aclohol beer... im talking about 10% or higher

[a10t2]

Fred Bonjour has a good summary: http://www.beerdujour.com/Howtobrewabigbeer.htm

[gordonstrong]

Definitely check out Fred's advice if this is your goal.  Lots of people make crappy big beers.  Fred makes good ones.  And he makes ones that are significantly bigger than most.  You have to know what you're doing to be able to do both of those things.  It's not usually one of my goals to make beers this way, but I know where to look if I want to do that.  That's where I'd go.

[bluesman]

Definitely check out Fred's advice if this is your goal.  Lots of people make crappy big beers.  Fred makes good ones.  And he makes ones that are significantly bigger than most.  You have to know what you're doing to be able to do both of those things.  It's not usually one of my goals to make beers this way, but I know where to look if I want to do that.  That's where I'd go.

+1

Fred knows his big beers well.

[kgs]

This is great! Wish I'd asked this question three weeks ago, but glad other advice on this forum helped me through it. I made a 3-gallon batch of English barleywine and used a WLP007 starter made with 1.040 wort, and it was really jumping:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgs/5527967819/

When I bottle, I plan to add half a packet of rehydrated yeast, also per advice on this forum.

[brewdog86]

thats an awsome bit of info THANK YOU! anyone else with ideas?