I have about a case of NB barley wine that just hit the 18 month mark and is outstanding. I realize it will only get better with time. I bottled the discontinued Lord Fatbottom this spring.
Does anyone brew a barley wine every year or every other year? If so, what kind of inventory do you maintain?
This sounds awesome. I tend to like to brew wild ales, big stouts, biere de gardes, and old ales for my ‘agers’, but I may be swayed if a bottle of this showed up at my door!
I always try to keep either a Barleywine or RIS on tap and age a year before I tap. I usually try to pick a significant date to tap it - like my birthday, Thanksgiving, or Christmas holidays.
I will also bottle a few bombers and place back to try to age up to 2 years; though I do not think I have ever been able to keep one over about 18 months.
Every fall/winter, I make either a big BW or a big RIS. I usually make about 15 gallons and then I try to save most of it for my BierKeller. I have my inventory on google docs and the link to it is on my BierKeller page here →
http://www.mullerbrau.com/Bierkeller.html
[quote=“MullerBrau”]Every fall/winter, I make either a big BW or a big RIS. I usually make about 15 gallons and then I try to save most of it for my BierKeller. I have my inventory on google docs and the link to it is on my BierKeller page here →
http://www.mullerbrau.com/Bierkeller.html
[/quote]
Impressive storage and inventory. I “just” have the space for 18 cases and 4 kegs. I have a handful of 4 and 5 year old bottles. Needless to say, I think this winter I’ll have to make another BW, RIS, and perhaps a nice old ale recipe that did well for me.
I don’t have room or funds to get a 15 gallon setup, but I suppose that’s an easier way to allow BWs to make it that long. :cheers:
My homebrew club has done some vertical tastings of a few BWs, including some mid to late 80’s Thomas Hardy.
I brew a BW two to three times a year. Two batches go into my yearly holiday ale after 8 months of aging (the holiday ale is a solera BW/OldAle I’ve kept going since 1991). The third baych gets kegged to sit in a cool corner of the basement to enjoy once in a while (after aging).
Finally, not a barleywine, but all of my batches of IPA also get bulk aged at cellar temps for about a year each.
Basically, I brew often enough to make sure I always have at least some beer to enjoy that has had more than 6 or 8 months to age.
From '03 to '11 my brother and I brewed 5 gallons of BW. I haven’t brewed one since and we each probably have 2 cases of them. I’m only good for drinking about 5 to 10 BWs a year… I kind of got burned out on them.
I try to brew something big at least once a year.
I have an American barleywine on my tentative brewing schedule for this year and a RIS and imperial pilsner for next year.
Just brewed another NB barley wine kit yesterday. I still have more than a case of my NB barley wine from 2 years ago as well as 2 cases of a 1 year old Lord Fatboottom.
My 2 year old NB barley wine tastes a lot better than some 2 year old Big Foot that I have. I might get another case of Big Foot and hope it tastes a little better in a few years.
