I enjoyed my second and last bottle of Sierra 30 Jack and Ken’s Ale, which they called a black barleywine. It had just a hint of roast to it that tasted like black patent malt to me. It was a great beer and I wish I had more to cellar for a few years.
I was thinking of reworking my Bigfoot inspired recipe into something like this:
88% pale malt
6% Simpsons medium Crystal
3% debittered black
3% black malt
DME as needed to get the gravity up, as my mash tun isn’t big enough for a really big beer.
I think all black malt would make it too harsh, but a smaller amount won’t get the color.
Thoughts on that grain bill? I haven’t figured out the hopping yet. The beer didn’t seemed to be hopped as much as Bigfoot, but it was also a year old.