Barleywine?

[sbaclimber]

I have no experience brewing barleywines, but am thinking about brewing up one about mid-October for drinking around Christmas / New Years.
I was initially hoping to do an IIPA, but I am a bit wary of brewing anything over 50 IBUs until I have my *overly* bitter aftertaste issue sorted (thread here: http://www.brewersfriend.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=82). Plus, I will be sharing the brew with family and friends, and they aren't all hop-heads. So, I have settled for a barleywine.

A couple of my earlier IPAs were a bit CaraHell heavy, and had a really nice toasty, nutty, dried fruit taste, which wasn't quite what I was looking for in an IPA, but thought would be great in a somewhat stronger, darker, warm, winter beer.
So, with that in mind, this is the recipe I have come up with:
6.5 kg Pale Ale
1 kg CaraFoam
1.5 kg CaraHell
0.1 kg CaraAroma
25 g Magnum @60 min
15 g Tettnanger @15 min
10 g Tettnanger @14 days Dry Hop
WLP007 Yeast

Calculated SRM is just over 12, IBUs just over 50, and ABV ~9.5% (my efficiency isn't all that great).
I pretty much just entered some of the hops I have lying around and have some experience with using. I am open to using any german variety though.

Do those of you who have experience with barleywines think I am on the right track, or am I completely off target?

 

[Altbier bitte]

Keep in mind, a barleywine will soak up a lot more bittering hops than an IPA. 50 IBUs isn't as much in that beer as in a standard weight IPA. You don't need to wait until October. If you brewed it this month, that would be 4 months - still fairly young for a barleywine. If it were me, I'd go ahead and splurge on the whole OZ (~30 g) for the 15 minute addition, especially with a relatively mild hop like Tettnanger. Sorry to be picking your recipe apart, but with 1.5 KG of caramel malt (that's what cara-Hell is, right?), I don't think you need the dextrin malt. It should have plenty of body. Have you looked at some B-wine recipes?

 

[sbaclimber]

Keep in mind, a barleywine will soak up a lot more bittering hops than an IPA. 50 IBUs isn't as much in that beer as in a standard weight IPA. You don't need to wait until October. If you brewed it this month, that would be 4 months - still fairly young for a barleywine. If it were me, I'd go ahead and splurge on the whole OZ (~30 g) for the 15 minute addition, especially with a relatively mild hop like Tettnanger. Sorry to be picking your recipe apart, but with 1.5 KG of caramel malt (that's what cara-Hell is, right?), I don't think you need the dextrin malt. It should have plenty of body. Have you looked at some B-wine recipes?

Don't be sorry. Pick apart away! That's why I posted the recipe.
The dextrin malt is really more in the hope of a bigger head, rather than bigger body. The CaraHell (yes, definitely a caramel malt) will take care of the body and maltiness.
I like your tip on bumping up the 15min addition, but that will definitely push the IBUs well over 50. Considering it is the late addition though, it might not be an issue. Hmmm, something to definitely think about.
I've had a look at quite a few recipes, but I haven't actually drunk enough barley wines to be able to pick a good clone recipe to go off of as a reference.

 

[Altbier bitte]

So you haven't had luck with your beers heading up, eh? Do you normally bottle condition? If you're brewing with grain, especially if it's undermodified like some pilsner malt, you might want to try a protein rest at ~50C for 1/2 an hour.

 

[sbaclimber]

So you haven't had luck with your beers heading up, eh?

Quite to the contrary! 6 of the past 7 beers have had awesome heads (big, firm, long-standing). I'll know how the 8th one turned out this evening.
One of the 6 with great head didn't even have any pilsner malt in it at all, so I do realize that isn't the only way of getting good head (hehe, no pun intended... ), but I do like the smoother mouthfeel that comes from the pilsner malt.
I suppose if all else fails I could do a protein rest, but seeing I have mostly had success so far without one, I am all for saving time by not having to do one.

...and yes, I do bottle condition.

 

[BrewHop]

If you are trying to make a beer that doesn't have too much hoppiness but is similar to a barleywine then you should try an Old Ale. It's basically a less hoppy version of a barleywine and can be more on the malty side.

You have a lot of specialty grains in here so you probabaly don't need the dextrin. If you are going for head retention a cheaper solution would be .5kg of flaked barley. This will contribute a bit of body and head retention. You have to be careful not to add too much or else you might get chill haze (if you care about that as all).

I would also consider subbing the pale base malt for marris otter to get a little more malt backbone but this isn't that necessary.

What is your mash temp going to be?

 

[sbaclimber]

If you are trying to make a beer that doesn't have too much hoppiness but is similar to a barleywine then you should try an Old Ale. It's basically a less hoppy version of a barleywine and can be more on the malty side.

I was thinking of that. My water profile would probably fit better to an old ale too..

You have a lot of specialty grains in here so you probabaly don't need the dextrin. If you are going for head retention a cheaper solution would be .5kg of flaked barley. This will contribute a bit of body and head retention. You have to be careful not to add too much or else you might get chill haze (if you care about that as all).

Chill haze doesn't bother me. As long as the beer is clear above about 15C, I'm happy. Flaked barley is an interesting tip, but I don't think my supplier carries it. At the quantities I am brewing, the dextin isn't that big of an extra cost anyway...

I would also consider subbing the pale base malt for marris otter to get a little more malt backbone but this isn't that necessary.

That's good, 'cause even though I would love to give it a go, I don't think I am going to be getting marris otter any time soon from my supplier here in Germany.

What is your mash temp going to be?

67C

 

[Altbier bitte]

Flaked rye would probably help also, or rolled oats. Flaked rye is mild compared to rye malt - you can safely add a pound with no worries.

 

[JAMC]

Flaked rye would probably help also, or rolled oats. Flaked rye is mild compared to rye malt - you can safely add a pound with no worries.

Well now, there's something I didn't know...

 

[BrewHop]

well sounds like you have some stuff to play around with