Here’s the all-grain formulation of Briggs-Haldane Barleywine. The wort for this barleywine is made by fully sparging the grain bed, and employing an extended boil to evaporate the excess water. You’ll need at least a 10-gallon (~40-L) kettle, but a 15-gallon (~60-L) kettle would be better. You only need about 7 gallons (26 L) of mash tun space, though. The long boil should darken the wort somewhat, and you can monitor how much color the boil develops, if you wish (see the options in the recipe). Remember that the long boil concentrates everything in the wort, not just the sugars. For that reason, don’t go overboard on mineral additions to your brewing liquor (water used to brew the beer with). Options for both continuous sparging and batch sparging are given.
Don’t even think about not making the appropriately-sized yeast starter. This yeast strain will flocculate out early if underpitched, leaving a sticky-sweet mess of a beer. Pitched at the proper rate, it will ferment like a trooper.
Briggs-Haldane is an English-style barleywine with a complex malt character. It’s made with a blend of English pale ale malt and Munich malt, which gives it a rich, malty character. A little bit of wheat malt and a tiny amount of biscuit malt add some bready and cracker-like notes. The beer is not sweet, and it isn’t loaded with the strong caramel flavors found in some English barleywines. The beer is full-bodied, though, and this and the complex malt character is balanced by the hop bitterness (46 IBUs). The hop aroma is of “earthy” Fuggles hops. At 7.5% ABV, this is not the strongest English-style barleywine ever — but it really is flavorful and nicely balanced.
Briggs-Haldane Barleywine
by Chris Colby
All-grain; English units
DESCRIPTION
A fairly strong (7.5%), deep amber, English-style barleywine. Briggs-Haldane is richly malty and full-bodied, with a firm bitterness and earthy hop aroma from Fuggles hops.
INGREDIENTS (for 5.0 gallons)
Water
adjust water so mash pH falls in 5.2-5.4 range
optional: add gypsum such that sulfate levels in brewing liquor are 100–125 ppm
Malts (for an OG of 1.084 at 75% extract efficiency and 27 SRM)
11 lb. 2-row pale ale malt
2.0 lb. Munich malt
1.0 lb. wheat malt
8.0 oz. crystal malt (60 °L)
3.0 oz. crystal malt (90 °L)
4.0 oz. biscuit malt
2.0 oz. chocolate malt
Hops (46 IBUs total)
Target hops (46 IBUs)
1.25 oz. (of 11% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes
Fuggles hops (0 IBUs)
1.5 oz. (of 5% alpha acids), added at knockout
1.0 oz. Fuggles hops (dry hop)
Yeast (for an FG around 1.025 and 7.5% ABV)
Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast
(3.6-qt. yeast starter)
Other
1 tsp. Irish moss
4.25 oz. priming sugar (for 2.2 volumes of CO2)
PROCEDURES
This yeast strain tends to drop out early if underpitched, so don’t skip making the yeast starter at the recommended size. Make the yeast starter (at OG ~1.020) 3 days ahead of time. Let it ferment to completion.
If you can’t apply direct heat to your mash tun, mash in your kettle. Heat 4.7 gallons of water to 163 °F and mash in grains at 152 °F. Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, then heat mash slowly to 170 °F (or a few degrees higher if you’re mashing in your kettle). Scoop mash over to lauter tun, if needed (and rinse kettle). Recirculate wort prior to runoff.
Batch Sparge Option: Collect first wort (about 3.0 gallons). Stir in 3.3 gallons of sparge water and recirculate wort. The sparge water should be hot enough to raise the grain bed temperature to 168 °F. Collect second wort. Stir in another 3.3 gallons of sparge water and recirculate the wort again. Collect third wort, yielding approximately 9.6 gallons of combined wort in your kettle. Proceed to the boil.
Continuous Sparge Option: Keep your sparge water heated such that the grain bed temperature remains around 168 °F. Run off approximately 9.8 gallons of wort over the course of 90 minutes. Check the pH of the final runnings and quit collecting if it rises above 5.8. Alternately, monitor the density of the final runnings and stop collecting wort when they drop below SG 1.012.
Boil the the wort down to just over 5 gallons (to account for losses to trub and hop debris). This should take 3.5 to 4 hours with a vigorous boil. Watch for a boil-over when the wort first comes to a boil. Your wort density should be SG 1.043 at 9.8 gallons. Add bittering hops with 60 minutes left in the boil. If hops collect on the side of the kettle, knock them back into the wort. Add Irish moss (or whirlfloc) with 15 minutes left in the boil. Add aroma hops at knockout and begin chilling wort. Chill wort to 66 °F. Let chilled wort sit, covered, to let hop debris and trub settle (unless you are filtering or straining it). Let it sit for an hour or two. Transfer wort to fermenter and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F. Option: You can collect the trub and “gunk” at the bottom of your kettle in sanitized mason jars. Let them sit overnight in your refrigerator. This will allow the trub compact a bit more. The next day, pour the clear wort into your fermenter. You may want to heat it to 170 °F to sanitize it, then cool it down before doing this.
Let the beer sit on the yeast for 3 days after all signs of fermentation have ceased. Rack beer to a secondary fermenter or keg, and dry hop for 5–8 days. If you use whole hops for dry hopping, treat them with CO2 so you aren’t introducing the air trapped in between the bractioles to the beer. Carbonate beer to 2.2 volumes of CO2.
Higher Attenuation Option:
You can use Wyeast 3787 (Trappist High Gravity) or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale) yeast, with a 3.5-qt. (3.3-L) yeast starter, for a somewhat more highly attenuated version of this beer. The fermentation may finish as low as SG 1.018, giving you a slightly stronger beer (~8.3% ABV). To preserve the balance of the beer, decrease the amount of buttering hops so the bitterness of the beer is around 35 IBUs.
If You Have a 10-gallon (~40-L) Kettle:
To avoid a boil over, remove wort from your kettle before it comes to a boil. Scoop out enough wort so that roughly 8 gallons (30 L) of wort is brought to a boil. (You’ll still need to watch for a boilover at this volume.) Hold the excess wort in a clean fermentation bucket or smaller brewpot (heated, if possible). As the boil proceeds, keep the volume topped up to 8 gallons (30 L) as long as possible with the excess wort. When it’s gone, proceed to condense the wort to 5.0 gallons (19 L).
Test for Color Development in the Boil:
Before the boil starts, but all the wort is collected, take a sample of the pre-boil wort. The volume of the sample, in ounces, should be equal to the volume of pre-boil wort in gallons divided by 2. For example, if you have 9.0 gallons of wort, take a 4.5 fl. oz. sample. [If you use the metric sample, the volume of your sample in milliliters (mL) should equal the volume of your sample in liters (L).] After the boil, take a wort sample following the same conversion. (For 5 gallons, take a 2.5 fl. oz. sample; for 19 L, take a 19 mL sample.) Dilute the post-boil wort sample to the volume of pre-boil wort sample and compare colors. Use identical glasses to hold the samples. Any added color in the diluted post-boil sample is the result of color pickup during the boil.
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Briggs-Haldane Barleywine
by Chris Colby
All-grain; metric units
DESCRIPTION
A fairly strong (7.5%), deep amber, English-style barleywine. Briggs-Haldane is richly malty and full-bodied, with a firm bitterness and earthy hop aroma from Fuggles hops.
INGREDIENTS (for 19 L)
Water
adjust water so mash pH falls in 5.2–5.4 range
optional: add gypsum such that sulfate levels in brewing liquor are 100–125 ppm
Malts (for an OG of 1.084 at 75% extract efficiency and 27 SRM)
5.0 kg 2-row pale ale malt
910 g Munich malt
450 g wheat malt
230 g crystal malt (60 °L)
85 g crystal malt (90 °L)
110 g biscuit malt
28 g chocolate malt
Hops (46 IBUs total)
Target hops (46 IBUs)
35 g (of 11% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes
Fuggles hops (0 IBUs)
43 g (of 5% alpha acids), added at knockout
28 g Fuggles hops (dry hop)
Yeast (for an FG around 1.025 and 7.5% ABV)
Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast
(3.4-L yeast starter)
Other
1 tsp. Irish moss
120 g priming sugar (for 2.2 volumes of CO2)
PROCEDURES
This yeast strain tends to drop out early if underpitched, so don’t skip making the yeast starter at the recommended size. Make the yeast starter (at OG ~1.020) 3 days ahead of time. Let it ferment to completion.
If you can’t apply direct heat to your mash tun, mash in your kettle. Heat 18 L of water to 73 °C and mash in grains at 67 °C. Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, then heat mash slowly to 77 °C (or a few degrees higher if you’re mashing in your kettle). Scoop mash over to lauter tun, if needed (and rinse kettle). Recirculate wort prior to runoff.
Batch Sparge Option: Collect first wort (about 11 L). Stir in 12 L of sparge water and recirculate wort. The sparge water should be hot enough to raise the grain bed temperature to 76 °C. Collect second wort. Stir in another 12 L of sparge water and recirculate the wort again. Collect third wort, yielding approximately 36 L of combined wort in your kettle. Proceed to the boil.
Continuous Sparge Option: Keep your sparge water heated such that the grain bed temperature remains around 76 °C. Run off approximately 37 L of wort over the course of 90 minutes. Check the pH of the final runnings and quit collecting if it rises above 5.8. Alternately, monitor the density of the final runnings and stop collecting wort when they drop below SG 1.012.
Boil the the wort down to just over 19 L (to account for losses to trub and hop debris). This should take 3.5 to 4 hours with a vigorous boil. Watch for a boil-over when the wort first comes to a boil. Your wort density should be SG 1.043 at 37 L. Add bittering hops with 60 minutes left in the boil. If hops collect on the side of the kettle, knock them back into the wort. Add Irish moss (or whirlfloc) with 15 minutes left in the boil. Add aroma hops at knockout and begin chilling wort. Chill wort to 18 °C. Let chilled wort sit, covered, to let hop debris and trub settle (unless you are filtering or straining it). Let it sit for an hour or two. Transfer wort to fermenter and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and ferment at 20 °C. Option: You can collect the trub and “gunk” at the bottom of your kettle in sanitized mason jars. Let them sit overnight in your refrigerator. This will allow the trub compact a bit more. The next day, pour the clear wort into your fermenter. You may want to heat it to 77 °C to sanitize it, then cool it down before doing this.
Let the beer sit on the yeast for 3 days after all signs of fermentation have ceased. Rack beer to a secondary fermenter or keg, and dry hop for 5–8 days. If you use whole hops for dry hopping, treat them with CO2 so you aren’t introducing the air trapped in between the bractioles to the beer. Carbonate beer to 2.2 volumes of CO2.
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