Dark Cabin Fever

By Ian Cosier

Recipe is part of Recipe Index

BJCP 2021 Style - 22C American Barleywine

A rich amber barleywine with some nice interest from the darker malts. I include this recipe with a little hesitation as it was far too bitter when I brewed it in 2019 and has taken 4 years ageing for the hops to calm down. If I brew it again I will definitely tone down the IBUs to 80ish. Looking at my grain bill I suspect I was finishing off some malts, but I think the general idea was to a reasonable amount of amber to balance out the caramel malts.

The low overnight mash and corn sugar make for a highly fermentable wort and a drier, more drinkable barleywine but either of these could be omitted if you prefer something stickier.

Awards

Brew Con World Series IV (London 2021)

2nd - Strong Ales

UK National Homebrew Competition 2023 (Bristol)

2nd - American amber, brown and strong

Measures

• IBU 117
• ABV 9.9%
• OG 1.081
• FG 1.007
• EBC 41
• Batch Size 30L

Ingredients

Water

• 2:1 Sulphate:Chloride
• Target 200ppm:100ppm

Malt

• 57% Pale Ale (Crisp) (7.9 EBC)
• 14% Vienna Malt (Simpsons) (7.5 EBC)
• 9% Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC)
• 6% Amber (Crisp) (54.2 EBC)
• 6% Munich Malt (Simpsons) (21.5 EBC)
• 2.5% Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC)
• 1% Carafa III (Weyermann) (1034.2 EBC)
• 5% Corn Sugar (Dextrose) [Boil] (0.0 EBC)

Hops

• 76 IBU Columbus (Tomahawk) [17.00 %] - Boil 60 mins
• 17 IBU Centennial [10.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30 mins
• 10 IBU Chinook [10.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30 mins
• 14 IBU Columbus (Tomahawk) [17.00 %] - Whirlpool 30 mins @ 80 deg
• 2g/L Chinook [10.00 %] - 3 Days dry hop
• 2g/L Centennial [10.00 %] - 3 Days dry hop

Yeast

• WLP001 California Ale

Process

Mash

• 6hrs (overnight) single infusion 63C.

Boil

• 60 minute boil

Ferment

• 2 mins of O2 before pitching.
• Started fermenting at 19 degrees and held until 1.020 at which point raise to gradually to 22 degrees until FG is stable.