American Barleywine: Aged in the USA
Every homebrewer eventually wants to make a barleywine. When you start making your own beer because you can make it richer and more flavorful than the mass market products out there, it doesn’t take much of a leap before you set your sights on the biggest and boldest styles of beer.
American barleywine is rich and strong. It has a big malt flavor and aggressive hopping, but it still has a balance between the malt character and hop character. The malt character often has lots of caramel, biscuit, toast and bready notes, while the hop character is often of the typical American citrus and pine type. The bitter/sweet balance is always toward the bitter side, although as barleywine ages, the malt character takes on more sweet caramel notes and the ester profile takes on some dried and dark fruit notes. American barleywine has a greater emphasis on hop bitterness, flavor and aroma than English barleywine, and often showcases American hops and yeast. With age the bittering drops and the overall character of the beer becomes more mellow and complex. While alcohol is present and warming, it is never hot or harsh. The color should range from light amber to dark copper and the mouthfeel should be full and rich, with a smooth, luscious texture. The key to making a good version of this style is avoiding the most common mistake of poor fermentation, which can reveal itself as not enough attenuation (resulting in a syrupy sweet beer) or solvent-y, hot alcohol notes.
You have some options when choosing base malt for this style. Using North American two-row will give the beer a clean, subtle, background malt character common to many fine American craft beers. Using North American pale ale malt adds a slightly richer background malt character, somewhat of a light bready note. Again, this is the type of malt character common to many fine North American craft brews. Less frequent is the use of British pale ale malt. British pale ale malt provides an even greater depth of malt character to the beer, mainly a biscuit-like taste and aroma often found in British beers. Some folks feel British pale ale malt can be too much for American styles, but in barleywine it is never too much. You might want to adjust your use of specialty grains if you are switching from North American to British pale ale malt as your base to compensate. All-grain brewers can use a single infusion mash and should target a mash that will result in enough attenuation. A temperature around 149 to 154 °F (65 to 68 °C) is what you want to target. Higher temperatures for smaller beers, lower for bigger beers.
Specialty malt character can range from minimal to heavy. Bready, toasty, biscuit and caramel notes are all acceptable, but avoid adding highly kilned malts, except in very small quantities. In my favorite American barleywine recipe, I like to add pale chocolate malt, which enhances the color and adds a dark toasty note to the finish. You can use darker malts for the same thing, but even with small quantities you run the danger of introducing some chocolate, coffee, or even smoke character if you add too much. Much of the color in this style comes from crystal malts and longer boil times. If you want to develop more color and more melanoidin-based flavors and aromas, start with a larger pre-boil volume so you can boil the wort for two hours or more. This develops a unique character, not possible by grain additions alone.
When using caramel malts I like to break it up across two or three different colors of crystal malt for a total of 5 to 15% of the grist. If you are making a smaller beer, you can use the higher end of that range. If you are making a bigger beer, keep crystal malts below 10% of the total grist. If you are looking for more complexity or increased head retention, you can add other malts as well. CaraPils®, wheat malt, Victory®, Munich and others are common additions in many recipes, but restraint is important so that the beer does not become saturated with non-fermentable dextrins and cloying flavors. In general, keep the total of all specialty grain additions to less than 20% of an all-grain grist. It is important that your barleywine attenuates enough to keep it from being syrupy. If you find that you are not getting enough attenuation in a bigger barleywine, you might want to consider replacing some of the base malt with simple sugar, up to 10%.
Extract brewers can choose an extract made from British pale ale malt or North American two-row malt. Focus on the quality and freshness than what the malt it is made from.
The balance of bittering versus malt sweetness should always be toward the bitter, but expect the beer to become more and more balanced as the beer ages and the bittering drops out. Target a bitterness to starting gravity ratio (IBU divided by OG) of 0.7 to 1.4. Go toward the higher end for beers that have higher amounts of specialty grains or beers that you plan to age before consuming, and target the lower end of the range for simpler malt bills or beers that you will consume earlier in their life. I tend to target a ratio of 0.9 to 1.0, which, if the beer is well attenuated, gives you a beer that is nice within a reasonable timeframe, but also ages nicely over several years. Keep in mind there are many factors at play in the final impression of bitterness for the drinker. The starting and final gravities, the character malts selected, the type of base malt, the yeast strain, the pitching rate, and even the yeast cell size have an impact on the final bittering character.
Hop flavor and aroma varies from moderate to bold, with it being more assertive in younger beers and more mellow and integrated in aged beers. I really like using citrusy or piney American variety hops such as Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Simcoe®, and Amarillo® for flavor and aroma, but there are plenty of great examples out there that use a wide variety of hops from around the world. You can use almost any hop you feel has a pleasant character, but if you choose a combination of bold American style hops, the hop character can last for years. You can bitter with almost any hop, but neutral high alpha hops are most common. The big picture is that you want hop character and a firm bitterness, but both should complement your malt and yeast choices. Dry hopping is acceptable as well, but moderation is key as too much can just end up as vegetal notes in an aged beer. As a general rule, late hop amounts should be equal to twice the amount of bittering hops. This is just a generalization, since using very low or high alpha acid hops makes the equation faulty. One or two late hop additions, totaling around 2 to 5 ounces (57 to 142 g) for a 5 gallon (19 L) batch at 20 minutes or later, should be about right. Keep in mind, hop flavor and aroma should not completely overwhelm the malt character.
Fermentation for American barleywine is similar to most American-style ales, but it is not without its challenges. It is important to get enough attenuation to keep the beer from being syrupy sweet and also ensuring the alcohol produced is not hot and solvent-like. Fermentation overall should result in a clean profile. In barleywine, low to moderate fruity esters are acceptable and restrained fruitiness can add complexity. However, fruity esters should be complementary to the malt and hop character, not a prominent feature. I prefer to use a clean, moderately attenuating yeast, such as White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale). To get that clean, American-style pub character make certain that you oxygenate the wort and pitch an appropriate amount of healthy yeast. To ensure complete attenuation, you can add a second dose of oxygen 12 to 18 hours after pitching. This additional oxygen helps improve the cell membrane condition, which enables the yeast to better tolerate the elevated levels of sugar and alcohol in this beer. Ferment around 68 °F (20 °C), holding the temperature steady or rising slightly throughout fermentation. Temperature control is important to getting a proper level of attenuation and avoiding off-flavors, especially if you are making a bigger barleywine. Large temperature swings can result in the yeast flocculating early or producing off-flavors. Raising the temperature a few degrees near the end of fermentation can also help the yeast attenuate fully and may help clean up some of the intermediate compounds that are produced during fermentation.
Once this beer is finished fermenting, a long aging period does wonderful things for a barleywine. Yes, you might be tempted to drink it after just a couple weeks, but try to set aside some bottles in a cool place and enjoy them over the years.
American Barleywine by the numbers
OG: 1.080–1.120 (19.3–28.1°P)
FG: 1.016–1.030 (4.1–7.6 °P)
SRM: 10–19
IBU: 50–100+
ABV: 8.0–12.0%
American Barleywine
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.115 (27 °P) FG = 1.022 (5.5 °P)
IBU = 99 SRM = 17 ABV = 12.5%
Ingredients
20.7 lb. (9.4 kg) Great Western North American pale malt (2 °L) (or similar)
14.1 oz. (400 g) dextrose (0 °L)
14.1 oz. (400 g) Briess crystal malt (20 °L)
14.1 oz. (400 g) Baird British crystal malt (75 °L)
3.5 oz. (100 g) Thomas Fawcett pale chocolate malt (200 °L)
3.5 oz. (100 g) Franco-Belges Special B malt (150 °L)
26 AAU Magnum pellet hops (2.0 oz./58 g at 13% alpha acids) (60 min.)
10.4 AAU Chinook pellet hops (0.8 oz./24 g at 13% alpha acids) (0 min.)
10.8 AAU Centennial pellet hops (1.2 oz./35 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
10.8 AAU Amarillo® pellet hops (1.2 oz./35 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast
Step by Step
Feel free to substitute any high quality malt of a similar flavor and color from a different supplier than what is listed. Dextrose is also known as corn sugar and should be available from your homebrew supply shop.
Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.5 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight) and a temperature of 149 °F (65 °C). Hold the mash at 149 °F (65 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Infuse the mash with near boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Sparge slowly with 170 °F (77 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 7.1 gallons (27 L) and the gravity is 1.081 (19.6 °P). If you should come up short on the pre-boil gravity, top it off with some pale malt extract.
The total wort boil time is 120 minutes. This helps concentrate the wort and aids in the development of flavor compounds. The first hop addition comes with 60 minutes remaining in the boil. Add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil. Add the last hop additions at flame out.
Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 19 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 4 packages of liquid yeast, or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 8 liter starter. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) to start, raising the temperature gradually to 70 °F (21 °C) for the last 1⁄3 of fermentation. When finished, carbonate the beer to approximately 2 to 2.5 volumes. You might be tempted to drink this early, but try to hold off until the beer has some age. Once it is carbonated, set aside as much as you can in a cool, dark place. Try some every six months to see how it is progressing and you will be able to enjoy it over the years.
American Barleywine
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.115 (27 °P) FG = 1.022 (5.5 °P)
IBU = 99 SRM = 17 ABV = 12.5%
Ingredients
13.2 lb. (6 kg) pale liquid malt extract (2 °L)
14.1 oz. (400 g) dextrose (0 °L)
14.1 oz. (400 g) Briess crystal malt (20 °L)
14.1 oz. (400 g) Baird British crystal malt (75 °L)
3.5 oz. (100 g) Thomas Fawcett pale chocolate malt (200 °L)
3.5 oz. (100 g) Franco-Belges Special B malt (150 °L)
26 AAU Magnum pellet hops (2.0 oz./58 g at 13% alpha acids) (60 min.)
10.4 AAU Chinook pellet hops (0.8 oz./24 g at 13% alpha acids) (0 min.)
10.8 AAU Centennial pellet hops (1.2 oz./35 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
10.8 AAU Amarillo® pellet hops (1.2 oz./35 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast
Step by Step
Mill or coarsely crack the specialty malt and place loosely in a grain bag. Avoid packing the grains too tightly in the bag, using more bags if needed. Steep the bag in about 1 gallon (~4 liters) of water at roughly 170 °F (77 °C) for about 30 minutes. Lift the grain bag out of the steeping liquid and rinse with warm water. Allow the bags to drip into the kettle for a few minutes while you add the malt extract. Do not squeeze the bags. Add enough water to the steeping liquor and malt extract to make a pre-boil volume of 7.1 gallons (27 L) and a gravity of 1.081 (19.6 °P). Stir thoroughly to help dissolve the extract and bring to a boil.
The total wort boil time is 120 minutes. This helps concentrate the wort and aids in the development of flavor compounds. The first hop addition comes with 60 minutes remaining in the boil. Add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil. Add the last hop additions at flame out. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Follow the fermentation and packaging instructions for the all-grain version.
