American Barley Wine (AD)

Got some yeast from Dave and trying to make something with a high ABV. Pitching a lot of yeast, so attenuation shouldn't be an issue.

Brewed 5.0 gallons on 2015-03-08

Preboil gravity: 1.088

Original gravity: 1.096

Final gravity: 1.013

ABV: 10.9%

Apparent Attenuation: 86.5%

Parti-gyle secondary beverage was Vanilla, chocolate milk brown ale (AE)

Process notes

2015-03-09

High krausen after only 12 hours. Vigorous fermentation. 67°.

2015-03-29

Kegged. Spicy, caramel, boozy. I'm looking forward to this when it has some age on it. Hopefully the alcohol smooths out.

Boil for 60 minutes

At 60 minutes

2.5 ounces of 12.6% Alpha Acid Magnum pellets

At 60 minutes

1 pound of Table (White) Sugar

At 15 minutes

1 Whirlfloc Tablet

At 0 minutes

2 ounces of 8.7% Alpha Acid Centennial pellets

At 0 minutes

1 ounce of 7.7% Alpha Acid Amarillo pellets

At 0 minutes

1 ounce of 11.1% Alpha Acid Chinook pellets

Mash

[90.20%] 23 pounds of 2-Row (GreatWesternMalting)

[3.92%] 1 pound of Crystal 15L (GreatWesternMalting)

[3.92%] 1 pound of Crystal 75L (GreatWesternMalting)

[0.98%] 4 ounces of Pale Chocolate Malt (CrispMalt)

[0.98%] 4 ounces of Château Special Belgium (CastleMalting)

Single infusion mash. Mashed with 6.5 gallons (1.02 quarts per pound) of tap water for 90 minutes. 25lb 8oz of grain was used in the mash. (Water was treated with 1/2 a campden tablet overnight. Final temp after rest: 148 degrees.)

Strike water temp: (0.2/1.02) * (149 - 68) + 149 = 164.9

Sparge

Sparged for 75 minutes with 5 gallons of 170° tap water. (Lower than expected efficiency. Not sure if it was the mill or sparge. I did do a slow sparge, though.)

Yeast

2015-03-08

Pitch 1 pack of WLP001 California Ale (WhiteLabs) at 68°. (The yeast actually came from Dave from one of his beers at Rock Bottom. He pulled ~300g of yeast. Fermentation should be strong.)

Tasting notes (6.00/10; 1 rating)

2015-06-24

[6/10] Thick, off-white/tan head. ~1mm foam sits around. Spicy aroma, like dark bread (pumpernickel?)/rye. Alcohol aroma as well, but more sweet than fusel. Definitely some alcohol warmth on the way down, but not burning. Dark brown, reddish color, quite hazy. Long bitter finish, not harsh, but not pleasant either. Some caramel sweetness in flavor.

Beer competition results

Placed 2nd in Sudzers Dark Beer Competition.

Placed 2nd and scored 33 in 2015 Santa Cruz Fair.