Partial Grain Barleywine

[Sven6]

I wanted to see what kind of results everyone has gotten using a partial grain barleywine kit... I'd been thinking about ordering one from Austin HomeBrew for my next batch...

I had some of SN's Bigfoot, and RealAle's Sysphus for the first time this year, and WOW!

Are there any major differences in brewing barleywine?...

Anything sepecial I should know, or look out for?...

[fretlessman71]

Yeah - if you get a boilover, you'll never get this stuff off of whatever it hits. You'll have the sticky mess to end all sticky messes. EAGLE EYES, ok? :)

[danno]

and don't be in a hurry, big beers take much longer to age...

[SoxyinMO]

And set up a blow-off tube!

[HogieWan]

What are you going to use for your mash/lauter tun? I want to start doing partial mashes (in an apartment - no full boils) and that handy masher was given some bad reviews on this site.

[Sven6]

I'm just going to use a steeping bag for the speciality grains... does that count as 'partial grain'?

My wife got me a turkey fryer for my birthday- then promptly evicted me from kitchen... I've only used it once before and it really heats up faster than the cooktop, so I'll be hyper vigilant until I get used to brewing on it... Thanks for the heads-up on boilovers, and the blow-off tube...

Approximately how long should it age? I was hoping to have it ready by christmas.

[fretlessman71]

Perfect. It'll be MORE than ready. Just give it plenty of hops, okay? You'll be in great shape!

[I'mRocketMan]

Hey Sven! Where is SA are you?? I'm out near Sea World...

[Sven6]

Rocket- I'm northeast, near Rolling Oaks Mall

[Bruno_78]

I've heard that it's not uncommon for brewers to use some extract in their stronger beers.

I've hear (second hand) that Larry Bell uses extract in his Old Ale recipe because he can't get enough grain in his mash tun to make a full batch. You'd never know it.

[quantum24]

The most important rule for Bwines: pitch LOTS of yeast ( you really cant pitch to much), and then, like others have said, use a blowoff and hang on, you're going to have one heck of a fermentation.

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by Bruno_78
I've heard that it's not uncommon for brewers to use some extract in their stronger beers.

I've hear (second hand) that Larry Bell uses extract in his Old Ale recipe because he can't get enough grain in his mash tun to make a full batch. You'd never know it.

This is the very definition of a partial mash. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Sven said:
I'm just going to use a steeping bag for the speciality grains... does that count as 'partial grain'?


Not quite. It's a partial mash when the starches in the grain are converted to sugars when they are in the water. Specialty grains are pre-converted, so you are not mashing. You will, though, get better flavor and aroma when adding these to your extract batch than you would if you didn't. And that's a GREAT thing -- it's the next step in your brewing evolution. Keep it up and you'll be doing all grain before you know it!

[HogieWan]

but can you put base malts in a steeping bag and do a Partial?

[Grog]

Originally posted by HogieWan
but can you put base malts in a steeping bag and do a Partial?

Yes, but you extraction will be suck-ola. I would guess in the neighborhood of 35 to 45%. The sparging/run off process is important for getting the sugars out of the grains.

[guildofevil]

But sparging is the easy part.
What's to stop you sparging after a partial mash, using a grain bag?

Séan

[I'mRocketMan]

Sean, that's EXactly what I do for most of my batches... After the sparge, smell the grains and you can tell they are 'spent' meaning you got almost all of the sugars out...

[YamahaXS]

I use a grain bag (or two) to hold base malts and speciality malts. Sparge with 165 F water till the runnings are mostly clear (catching the runnings in a bowl or something allows you to smell and taste them as you procede with sparging).

In fact, after you sparge, give the bag a good squeeze into a fresh bowl and take a sip. You will then know what tannins taste like.


Partial mashing is the best of the best IMO when it comes to homebrewing. Its probably why all-grains are so insistent on all-grain, but for people like me who prefer the convenience of extract its how you take you brewing to the highest level.

[S.F.B.]

The one BW I have done turned out pretty good. A couple of things I will do different next time are:

More hops. I got 12.5% ABV and hardly any hop presence.

Either less time in secondary or pitch more yeast at bottling. Most of my bottles have very little carbonation.


I have been drinking this for about a year now. It tastes good, I just need to correct the minor things to make it really good. My recipe was a mini mash and DME. I am doing AG next time but will probably still use a little DME to make up the difference.

[Sven6]

I've found that since I started kegging, the flavor really seems get better the longer I wait and by the time it is really excellent, I start to worry about the keg blowing foam...:(

I was thinking I'd let this batch sit in the keg for a couple of months after the primary & secondary are finished... Maybe I'll just stash it in the back of my brewing closet next to the Mead.

[I'mRocketMan]

That would be a good idea! My Charon Grand Cru has aged 13 months and it is EXCELLENT! My Triple Moon Tripel (12.75% abv) will age until Yule '05 (18 months!!)

The bigger the beer the longer it should age, IMHO!!

Cheers! Rocket

[Fast_Eddy]

Nothing wrong with using extract to bump gravity on BW's. Just try to minimize as much as is feasible.

Age your BW's no less than six months you'll be glad you waited. But "sample" -- small samples -- as it develops.

BYO had an issue out last year(maybe 2003) that had an excellent discussion of barley wines and brewing strategies.