BRY-97 started showing signs of fermentation in 2 hours and developed a massive krausen overnight, probably 10-12 hours. Temp is currently holding fast at 70°, which is a bit warmer than I was hoping, but within guidelines.
I’ve heard tale of those that would recommend an additional blast of O2 after a day or so for beers of this gravity. In my case, that would just mean removing the lid and giving the fermenter another swirl (which would likely lead to an absolute mess as the krausen is right at the top as it is). However, I’m thinking (hoping?) this is unnecessary for 2 packs of dry yeast in 3gal of 1.096 wort, especially for a yeast with a tolerance of 13%.
I think you’re right but…allow me to think out loud for a minute.
I have two fermenters at home: a 3+ gallon Speidel w. valve (love it, use it for every brew) and a 3+ gallon glass carboy (nothing wrong with it, but makes transfers and cleaning so much more difficult, haven’t used it in years).
Neither of these FV’s would have the necessary head space to handle the oncoming krausen storm for this fermentation.
My plan for this beer was to bottle right out of the Speidel valve, adding sugar to individual bottles. Because of this plan, I fermented in the Speidel where the blowoff was predictably massive and has left a ton of crap around the top of the fermenter. This might be nothing of concern, but I wonder if the last of the bottles will see an abundance of junk??
(The experienced brewers know what I’m about to ask…)
Should I rather have started fermentation in the carboy and then, once krausen dropped but while fermentation was still active, transferred to the Speidel in order to make bottling a bit easier and cleaner? If I had had this foresight (I didn’t), I would be under the impression that while transferring with active ferm taking place any O2 would be taken care of by the still diligent yeast.
Of course, that’s all irrelevant to the current situation.
Now, if I transfer out of the Speidel and into the carboy, bottling will be possible but a bit more problematic. Unless I transfer a second time back to a cleaned and sanitized Speidel that I could then use as a bottling bucket, sugar solution already added. :o
So, I should:
Leave it be. Bottle when ready directly out of the Speidel into bottles pre loaded with sugar.
Transfer to carboy during active fermentation and bottle when ready with siphon/bottling wand into bottles pre loaded with sugar.
Transfer to carboy during active fermentation, clean the Speidel, then after fermentation transfer back to the Speidel with sugar solution already added and then bottle.
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.
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??
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.
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)
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?
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??
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
