7 Seas Brewing Wheelchair Barleywine: Replicator
Dear Replicator, I was showing some friends photos of last year’s vacation when we traveled up I-5 hitting breweries and brewpubs along the route. Immediately when I saw the picture of 7 Seas Brewing in Gig Harbor, Washington I remembered what I thought was the best beer of the trip — their Wheelchair Barleywine. After we got back from vacation I started homebrewing and have now graduated to all-grain brews. Their beers aren’t sold down here, so I think it’s time to try to make that barleywine.
Matt Connors
Phoenix, Arizona
Sometimes to create a successful brewery you have to start with a disaster. That’s exactly what happened with 7 Seas Brewery. Co-owners Travis Guterson and Mike Runion were all set to open their new brewery in January 2008. A used 8.5-barrel system was purchased from the recently closed Stix Brewery in Seattle, Washington. They had also located a suitable multi-use building in downtown Gig Harbor, Washington. With the lease signed, everything moved in and all local codes met they were ready to brew their first beer. That’s when an adjoining tenant left a space heater on and the fire started. The building was destroyed but fortunately their equipment survived and so began their success story.
Travis and Mike met while Mike was doing an internship from Wash-ington State University where he was studying for a degree in business and entrepreneurship. Travis had been homebrewing for a couple of years and continued while in college. He quickly developed a love for the creativity of making beer. He scored his first brewery job at Pelican Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon. It was just an entry-level job of capping bottles and keg cleaning but it allowed him to watch their excellent brewmaster, Darron Welch. Travis was impressed by how clean he kept the brewery and efficiently it was run. He also learned a lot from the other brewer, Ben Love, who is now the Brewmaster and Co-owner of Gigantic Brewing in Portland, Oregon.
Weekends would find Travis enjoying the rapidly growing beer scene in Portland. This led him to land a full-time brewing job at the Old Lompoc in Portland where he performed all of the brewery functions. With lots of experience under his belt, he eventually decided it was time to move back to his home area by Puget Sound. When a brewer job became available at Silver City Brewery in Silverdale, Washington he made the move. It was there, while working under the guidance of Don Spencer, that he really took his skills to the next level.
After Mike graduated he and Travis began to develop a plan. With Travis’ brewing skills and Mike’s business knowledge things quickly came together. The fire at the original location was a setback but really turned into a blessing. They were quickly able to locate another building that had better parking and would also provide space for a taproom. It barely took them five months to recover as their first beer was brewed in June 2008.
Since then the seas have been calm and they have found success in every port. Their beers were immediately well received and production quickly grew. Early in 2009 they became the first brewery in Washington State to can their beer. Now, approximately 25% of their beer is sold in cans. With demand steadily increasing they outgrew both their facility and their original 8.5-barrel system. A vacant 12,000 square foot supermarket building in downtown Gig Harbor has become their new home. This allowed for the addition of a 25-barrel system with some fermenters as large as 75 barrels. The 8.5-barrel system is still being brewed on to make smaller batches of specialty beers. Currently they have 16 beers being served in their taproom.
Total production in 2014 was 5,100 barrels and Travis feels that they are on track to hit 6,000 for 2015.
The Wheelchair Barleywine is a big beer in all respects and draws a following when released each year. Only a 5-barrel batch is brewed and it is only made available in their taproom in 9 oz. snifters. Each batch is brewed slightly differently each year and aged a minimum of eight months. A thick tan head tops this high-alcohol brew that exhibits a reddish, brown hue. The aroma brings to mind sweet fruit and raisins. A strong presence of caramel and toasted malt dominates the flavor. The mouthfeel, while not overly heavy, can best be described as “coating,” demanding that this beer be sipped like a fine Port wine.
Travis advises that this beer is best brewed as an all-grain batch if possible. He recommends Maris Otter, British carastan and Belgian special B malts. He also specifies an extremely long boil to boost the gravity, develop further caramelization and concentrate the flavors.
7 Seas Brewing Company’s Wheelchair Barleywine clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.107 FG = 1.026
IBU = 38 SRM = 22 ABV = 12%
Ingredients
17 lbs. (7.7 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) British carastan malt (34 °L)
13 oz. (0.37 kg) Belgian Special B malt (120 °L)
5.7 AAU Glacier hop pellets (60 min.)
(1 oz./28 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
5.7 AAU Glacier hop pellets (40 min.)
(1 oz./28 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
3.6 AAU East Kent Golding hop pellets
(20 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
2.4 AAU East Kent Golding hop pellets
(5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) clover honey (10 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (30 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar if priming
Step by Step
This recipe is a single step infusion mash. Mix all of the crushed grains with 6.7 gallons (25 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water to stabilize at 151 ºF (66 ºC). This is a medium-thin mash using 1.4 quarts. (1.3 L) of strike water per pound (0.45 kg) of grain. This is designed to help achieve maximum fermentability. The lower mash temperature also serves to create a more fermentable wort. Mash for 60 minutes then slowly sparge with 175 ºF (79 ºC) water.
Collect approximately 7.5 gallons (28 L) of wort runoff to boil for three hours. While you are boiling the wort, add the hops, Irish moss and yeast nutrient as the schedule indicates. Add the honey for the last 10 minutes of the boil. During the boil, use this time to thoroughly sanitize your fermentation equipment.
After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 75 ºF (24 ºC) and transfer to your fermenter. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort heavily. Allow the beer to cool to 68 ºF (20 ºC) and then hold at that temperature until fermentation is complete. Gently transfer to a carboy, avoiding any splashing to prevent aerating the beer.
Allow the beer to condition for an additional week. Prime and bottle condition or keg and force carbonate to 2.2 volumes CO2. Allow the beer to age six more weeks (or longer) to fully develop the flavors and enjoy your Wheelchair Barleywine clone.
7 Seas Brewing Company’s Wheelchair Barleywine clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.107 FG = 1.026
IBU = 38 SRM = 22 ABV = 12%
Ingredients
9.9 lbs. (4.5 kg) Muntons light, unhopped, malt extract (Maris Otter if possible)
9 oz. (0.25 kg) light dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) British carastan malt (34 °L)
13 oz. (0.37 kg) Belgian Special B malt (120 °L)
7.1 AAU Glacier hop pellets (60 min.)
(1.25 oz./35 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
7.1 AAU Glacier hop pellets (40 min.)
(1.25 oz./35 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
3.6 AAU East Kent Golding hop pellets
(20 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
2.4 AAU East Kent Golding hop pellets
(5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) clover honey (10 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (30 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar if priming
Step by Step
Steep the milled grain in 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water at 151 ºF (66 ºC) for30 minutes. Remove grains from the wort and rinse with 2 quarts (2 L) of hot water. Boil for 30 minutes. Add the liquid malt extract and dried malt extract and boil for 60 more minutes. While boiling, add the hops, Irish moss and yeast nutrient as per the schedule. With only 10 minutes of the boil remaining, add the honey. During the boil, use this time to
thoroughly sanitize your fermentation equipment. When the boil is complete, add the wort to 2 gallons (7.6 L) of cold water in the sanitized fermenter and top off with cold water up to 5 gallons (19 L).
Cool the wort to 75 ºF (24 ºC). Pitch your yeast and aerate the wort heavily. Allow the beer to cool to 68 ºF (20 ºC) and then hold at that temperature until fermentation is complete. Gently transfer to a carboy, avoiding any splashing to prevent aerating the beer. Allow the beer to condition for an additional week. Prime and bottle condition or keg and force carbonate to 2.2 volumes CO2.
Allow the beer to age six more weeks (or longer) to fully develop the flavors and enjoy your Wheelchair Barleywine clone.
