Old Ale or Barley Wine?

[Mikegobrew]

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I just welcomed our 3rd and final addition into our family. August 20th, she gave birth to my son (my other 2 are daughters). 7lbs. 10oz. Someone on here posted that he brewed a batch when his/her child was born and saved it until he became 21. I thought it was a terrific idea and was hoping to do just that.

My question is which would hold up better, an Old Ale or a Barley Wine? I was hoping for the Old Ale, but an American Barley Wine would be prefered over the English Style. I don't like "sweeter" beers much. If anyone could help steer me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. I don't have much experience making my own recipes from scratch, I just modify sound recipes to what I want. I also don't want to wait 21 years to find out the beer sucks and have my son haze me for making crap beer 21 years ago.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[beerbreath]

Hey, CONGRATULATIONS, MIKE!! I'll drink a toast to the little guy. My 2 oldest are girls and then along came the boy as well. Good on ya. What a great idea to set aside a special beer for him. It's amazing how quickly the time will fly by. My son is now 22 and 6'5". Whew, enjoy every minute of it!

[seafra]

CONGRATS Mike! I'd vote for the barley wine. I also have two girls and a boy...you'll find that boys are much lower maintenance. However, my youngest daughter is my brew buddy.
________
WHOLESALE VAPORIZER (http://vaporizerwholesaler.com)

[vance71975]

Either will hold up to aging well, the key is making sure its high enough gravity.Aim for a SG of 1.125 or higher. I would get Eau De Vie yeast(can hit 21% ABV no sweat) As far as recipes well i can throw one off the top of my head for ya.

Babies First Barleywine.

12lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (Pilsner Extract)

2 lbs Crystal 80 L (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1.5lbs Cara-Pils (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1lb Honey Malt (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

.5lb Brown Malt (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1 Package Burtons Water Salts(Unless you have hard water)

2 to 4 Smack Packs Eau De Vie yeast( Make a small beer with it first say 1.050 any kind then pitch one to it.)

2 Oz Chinnook (60 min boil)
2 Oz Cascade (15 min boil)
2 Oz Fuggle (flame Out)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 1)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 3)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 5)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 7)


Thats a Quick Simple off the top of my head Barley wine.Congrats on the baby!

[Mikegobrew]

Thanks for the good wishes guys! And thanks Vance for your input. I brew all-grain, and while I may use extract to get the gravity up, my plan is to do all-grain with this one and then make a second beer from the mash as well so I don't end up with a brew session that I don't get to enjoy for 21 years.
Maybe I'll come up with a style that mixes the Old Ale and Amer Barley Wine together. Figuring out a yeast that won't impart a "winey" taste seems to be my goal.

[beerking]

Either will hold up to aging well, the key is making sure its high enough gravity.Aim for a SG of 1.125 or higher. I would get Eau De Vie yeast(can hit 21% ABV no sweat) As far as recipes well i can throw one off the top of my head for ya.

Babies First Barleywine.

12lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (Pilsner Extract)

2 lbs Crystal 80 L (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1.5lbs Cara-Pils (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1lb Honey Malt (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

.5lb Brown Malt (Steeped 60 mins at 150F)

1 Package Burtons Water Salts(Unless you have hard water)

2 to 4 Smack Packs Eau De Vie yeast( Make a small beer with it first say 1.050 any kind then pitch one to it.)

2 Oz Chinnook (60 min boil)
2 Oz Cascade (15 min boil)
2 Oz Fuggle (flame Out)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 1)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 3)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 5)
1oz East Kent Goldings (Dry Hop Day 7)


Thats a Quick Simple off the top of my head Barley wine.Congrats on the baby!

4.5 # is a LOT of crystal/caramel malt in a 5 gallon batch!

[Beer Martin]

4.5 # is a LOT of crystal/caramel malt in a 5 gallon batch!

Just put the lid on your boil kettle to capture the DMS and you'll make a Halloween candy corn beer.
________
HALFBAKED (http://half-baked.com)

[vance71975]

Thanks for the good wishes guys! And thanks Vance for your input. I brew all-grain, and while I may use extract to get the gravity up, my plan is to do all-grain with this one and then make a second beer from the mash as well so I don't end up with a brew session that I don't get to enjoy for 21 years.
Maybe I'll come up with a style that mixes the Old Ale and Amer Barley Wine together. Figuring out a yeast that won't impart a "winey" taste seems to be my goal.

Ok np the Start with a base of 25lbs Pale or Pils Malt Or If you can find it i think 25 lbs of Golden Promise Malt would make an awesome base and go from there. Maybe add 5-7 lbs Light malt extract or less depending on your efficiency. I do know that with BW you want to mash low, say 149-152 range from what i have read.

[vance71975]

4.5 # is a LOT of crystal/caramel malt in a 5 gallon batch!

Yes it is a lot, but in a beer this big, with this much ABV, i think it will be fine.Also the high hop rate will help to balance it out.

[vance71975]

These Links Might also help you out.

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/American-Barleywine-The-Jamil-Show-01-15-07

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/Old-Ale-and-Belgian-Dubbel-The-Jamil-Show-08-23-08

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/English-Barleywine-The-Jamil-Show-07-16-07

[wortchillergoal]

Congrats there Mikegobrew. i guess this makes up just a little for the Cup not going to Detroit. The couple of times that I have made a barley wine, I would just fouse the yeast of a regular basis and was happy with my results.

[seafra]

I would just fouse the yeast of a regular basis and was happy with my results.

You "fouse" your yeast!? On a regular basis!? And, you're proud of it!? (tisk, tisk)
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[Mikegobrew]

Thanks for the links, Vance. I'll have to check those out when I get home from work!

Congrats there Mikegobrew. i guess this makes up just a little for the Cup not going to Detroit. The couple of times that I have made a barley wine, I would just fouse the yeast of a regular basis and was happy with my results.

But it would have been better to have a bib with 2009 Champs on it! Oh, well, I'll have to settle with the "I heart my Daddy" ones! :rolleyes:

I was hoping to get away with not pitching on a yeast cake since I don't have one at the current moment. If it's necessary for a beer big to make it 21 years I will, but had a few thoughts. I was thinking of just making a starter and decanting a few times to build up the counts. Basically my time is cut short now (I don't know if my wife will "let" me brew that much in a row). My slow season comes in the Fall which is right around the corner. So I can wait and do it with the pitch on the cake method if I need to.

[vance71975]

Thanks for the links, Vance. I'll have to check those out when I get home from work!



But it would have been better to have a bib with 2009 Champs on it! Oh, well, I'll have to settle with the "I heart my Daddy" ones! :rolleyes:

I was hoping to get away with not pitching on a yeast cake since I don't have one at the current moment. If it's necessary for a beer big to make it 21 years I will, but had a few thoughts. I was thinking of just making a starter and decanting a few times to build up the counts. Basically my time is cut short now (I don't know if my wife will "let" me brew that much in a row). My slow season comes in the Fall which is right around the corner. So I can wait and do it with the pitch on the cake method if I need to.

Pitching on to a yeast cake is certainly one way, but it isn't the only way to do a big barley wine. You can always use a pitching Calc. For example if your not gonna use a yeast cake and your doing a SG of 1.125 according to the calc you would use 4.5 smack packs(well 5) OR 4.8 5 gram foil packs of dry yeast (ok again 5). Easy. Here is the calc.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html