How to Home Brew Barley Wine
The term "barley wine" was coined by the Bass brewery around 1900 for their Number 1 Ale. It is brewed from grain and, therefore, a beer rather than wine, which is brewed from fruit. However, it is a very strong ale with an alcohol content in the eight to 12 percent range, with a sweetness that is balanced by some bitterness from the hops. Read on to learn how to home brew barley wine.
Things You'll Need
- 10 lbs. DeWolf-Cosyns Belgian Pilsner malt
- 8 lbs. DeWolf-Cosyns Pale malt
- 1.5 lbs. DeWolf-Cosyns CaraVienne malt
- 0.5 lbs. DeWolf-Cosyns Belgian Munich malt
- 0.1 lbs. rbasted Barley
- 2 oz. BC Kent Goldings plug (5 percent AA)
- 2 oz. Northern Brewer pellets (9 percent AA)
- 1/2 oz. Fuggles plug (4.3 percent)
- London ale yeast
Instructions
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1
Heat 2.5 gallons of water to 42 C and add the grain. Cook the mash at 39 to 42 C for 20 minutes. Then add 2.5 gallons of boiling water to raise the temperature to 60 to 62 C for 30 minutes. Add another 1.5 gallons of boiling water to heat the mash to 67 to 70 C for 1.25 hours.
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2
Drain all the liquid wort without sparging to yield about 4 to 4.5 gallons of wort with a specific gravity of 1.080.
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3
Heat the wort to a boil and add the Northern Brewer hops. Add 1 oz. Goldings hops in 30 minutes and add another 1/2 oz. at 45 minutes. Add the final 1/2 oz. of Goldings hops and the Fuggles hops at 55 minutes. Continue boiling the wort until it is reduced 3 gallons, about an hour total boil.
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4
Allow the wort to settle for 15 minutes and siphon it into the primary fermentation container through a counterflow chiller with an aerating cane on end. Pitch the yeast and ferment for about two months at 65 to 70 F.
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5
Rack the beer into the secondary container and add 1 oz. of EKG hops. Allow the beer to ferment for another month and add more yeast immediately before bottling and add enough hot water to make 7 gallons.
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