I’m getting ready to make my annual Barleywine which I have done for the last 14 years. It is one beer that I always look forward to every year because I love sipping on a Barleywine in the cold winter months. I always have a vertical tasting of multiple years with my wife and some friends. Last year a friend brought over a my Barleywine that I gave him 10 years ago that he found in the back of his beer fridge. It was still very drinkable and surprisingly still hoppy with some obvious oxidation notes. I always make an American Barleywine which has a high dose of American hops and I switch up the grain bill and hops from year to year and it’s fun to compare the different years. This year I was thinking of adding some Vienna malt, which I have never done before. I have seen Vienna malt added in some IPA recipes and was wondering if this would add to the malt character? The grain bill would be
82% Two Row
12% Vienna
6% Crystal 60
Looks good to me
When do you drink your barleywine? I make mine around May or June and let them age 6 to 9 months.
They seem to meld together nicely around 9 months. Some taste fantastic at 5 years. Generally, I will taste some of the new batch at around 3 months and compare them to previous years. The fresher ones tend to taste like a big bodied Double IPA.
I asked because it appeared as if you were making your barleywine now for this coming winter.
this is a style that kveik excels in as well. Its much more tolerant of stressful conditions than alot of other brewers yeast.