So I’ve had a bit of a hiatus due to an interesting and tumultous past couple of months. At any rate, I’ve finally got around to posting on here and brewing again.
A couple of months ago, we found some of my earlier beers, namely my holiday Beligan Double that I brewed for Christmas 4 years ago. We opened it and I was amazed at the flavor of the now mature ale. Needless to say, I decided try to recreate the spice notes, but not in a Belgian Alte. So listed below is my attempt at brewing a barley wine.
Holiday Barley Wine
- Grain Bill (mill ahead of time)
- 1/4 lb Chocolate Malt
- 1/4 lb Caramunich Malt
- 1/2 lb Biscuit Malt
- Spices
- 4 Cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp Cardamom seed
- 2 tsp Nutmeg
- 6 Cloves
- 2 tsp Coriander
- Hops
- 1 oz Nugget at 60 minutes
- 1 oz Kent Goldings at 2 minutes
- Extract / Yeast
- 9.9 lbs Amber extract
- English Ale Yeast
Method:
Bring 5 gallons of water up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. While the water is heating, place equal amounts of the grain into two large grain bags. Once the water is at temperature, add the grain and steep for 60 minutes. While the grain is steeping, clean and sanitize a 6.5 gallon carboy, cap the lid so no particles get inside and set aside. Once 60 minutes has passed, remove grain bags (be sure to either gently squeeze each bag or run hot water over them until the water runs clear) set aside and bring to a boil.
While the water is coming up to a boil, fill a sink with hot water, and let the cans of extract rest in the bath until the water comes to a boil. Once the wort is at a boil, slowly mix each can of extract into the wort (note: be sure to not add too much at once, or else this will sitck to the bottom and burn). Once the extract has been mixed into the wort, bring it back up to a boil and place the first ounce of hops (the Nugget) into the wort. Once a half an hour has passed, add the first set of spices: 2 cinnamon sticks; 1/2 tsp cardamom seed; 1 tsp nutmeg; 3 cloves; and 1 tsp coriander.When another 28 minutes has passed, add the second addition of spices to the wort along with the last hop addition using the same procedure as mentioned above and continue to boil for another 2 minutes.
When the boiling is over, remove the hops and spices from the wort, and let settle for about 20 minutes. Siphon the hot wort into the carboy (be sure to use a strainer or filter to ensure that none of the bits of grain come along for the ride). When the carboy reaches the 5 gallon mark, place an airlock on it and let cool overnight.
Once the wort cools to about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, take the yeast out of the refridgerator and let it warm up to about room temperature. Finally, add the yeast to the carboy and set in a cool, dark place for about a week. After a week, clean and sanitize another, smaller carboy and siphon the beer from the 6.5 gallon carboy into the 5 gallon carboy and let sit until you’re ready to bottle. This should be about 6 months to a year.
