In the past, I’ve seen a few brewers here who brew a strong beer and age it claiming it gets more interesting over time. For those of you who have successfully done this: I’d like to get your recipe and best practices. I’ve never done it.
My plan is to brew the beer early Dec, bottle it (possibly with some yeast scavenger?), box it up, and cellar it for 9-12 months.
I’m all ears for suggestions, recommendations, do(s) and don’t(s).
Be careful if you do this. The “once a year big beer” becomes addicting. 
I do a Barleywine every year, but my recipe has changed slightly from batch to batch. This is simply because I like to cellar them for years to see how they age, and I like having different “vintages” to sample. I hope to hang on to every BW for about 8-10 years, unless they obviously start to fade. So far, the oldest ones I have are from ‘21 and they are still drinking fine.
I BIAB, and one thing I’ve learned over the years is to not try and test the limits of my rudimentary equipment. Basically, for me, that means no mashing right up to the rim of the kettle just so I can hit some specific volume. I have learned to let my equipment determine my batch size. This helps with efficiency and ease of brew day. My usual standard gravity brews are 2.5 gallons packaged, with my BWs they are more like 1.8-1.9 gallons…19-20 bottles or so. For an occasional sipper, that’s plenty.
As for recipe, well it has drifted over time. I started off trying to make a BW that was on the drier side, but I feel that my current recipe is a bit more balanced. I still don’t like to drink beers that pour like motor oil, but I have found that a malty presence is key. My last two BW’s have had a small dose of Roasted Barley and this addition has helped create a nice depth of color and flavor.
So many levers to pull with big beers, whichever style you land on. Looking forward to all the replies and how you make out with this…even if I have to wait a few years. 
The big beer aging thing is great. Suggested tips:
-Sample a bottle or from keg every 3 months;
-The less oxygen during packaging the better;
-Oxidation will advance and help mellow some flavors, will lessen hop aroma/flavor and advance malt notes. Chemical reactions cause new flavors like benzaldehyde (almond notes).
Have fun and DO IT.
I have a vertical of some English Barleywines that a friend of mine and I have brewed going back to 2014. Some have gotten way better some have gotten somewhat better. The 2014 won two successive BOS and got more sherry-like from the oxidation. I have a few bottles left and will open one later today. I am also going to open the 2017 to see how it has aged for comparison.
We changed the recipe a bit every year when we brewed it in successive years. Some are higher ABV (around 12%) some are in the high 9% range. I will update the tasting notes here when I open them.
RIS. Big beer, lots of grains and adjuncts. Aged in a Wigle Distillery barrel for 11 months. It was a 40 gallon batch so had to double brew….long day! This was brewed in late 21’…11 months in the barrel and kegged in 22’. I still have 2 corny kegs left. I will let the last one go to year 5 maybe more. I only tap a keg in the winter.
The only thing I make sure to do is periodically hit the kegs with a 30 lb blast of CO2. I know you’re bottling but wanted to share.
As promised, here are my tasting notes for the 2014 English Barleywine I opened yesterday. As I noted before this beer won BOS in two consecutive competitions when it was 3 years old
This beer came in at 11.8% and the OG was 25.3 degrees Plato (1.107 SG) There is a lot of sherry notes in the beer after having been bottled for 11 years which was expected from from aging it this long and had a slight note of cherry which I normally get from sherry. The hops are very subdued as expected (calculated IBU’s were 95 and the bitterness/gravity ratio was 0.891 when brewed) although there was still still a bit of hop bitterness there. The malt aroma and flavor were still very good in the beer. I was really surprised that the beer aged this well! Hope this shed some additional light on aging strong beers.
I all appreciate the input. I am beginning to form a plan. I have encouraged the club to do the same thing: brew a strong beer in Dec and age. We’ll see if there are any takers.
The last beer I intentionally aged was a Bier de Garde. I’ve done stouts but never thought they were immensely better with age. The Bier de Garde was different.
I believe I kegged it and drank a few pours then set it aside for a year. It did nothing but get better once it was back on tap.