Board: I plan to very soon brew the Code Blue Barley Wine kit from Hoptech using Pacific Coast Brewery's original recipe. It is a pretty huge brew with 12 lbs. of fermentables and an O.G. of 1.088. Is there a value or need to double the yeast to be pitched?

Also, I have read about using grain bags for hops. I will be using pellet hops. Again, is there a value or need to do this?

Thanks.

Matt

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html can help you figure out how much yeast you need. I'm pretty certain it's going to tell you that a couple of liters of starter and/or multiple packs/vials are needed.



It can help reduce hop crud left in the kettle after the boil if the mesh is fine enough; I can't remember what the mesh looks like on a grain bag but my guess is that it will help to some degree.

You will definitely WANT to make a nice sized starter for this beer and as posted above by JM, Mr. Malty can get you in the right direction.

As for bagging your hops with grain bags during the boil, this is not necessary although some people do it if they are using a large amount of hops throughout the boil (think big IPA, APA, or Imperial IPA) to reduce hop debris that would soak up precious wort in the kettle. Just keep in mind that when you use bags your hop utilization WILL slightly reduce since the hops are not completely free in the boil. I am not sure how much the reduction will be in your case, but it will probably be minimal. I would think you should just throw the hops right into the kettle for the boil. I used to use hop sacks and since have stopped as I feel I can better calculate the IBU's contributed to be more consistent with my brewing. If you are worried about the excess hop debris, simply rack your beer after chilling from the kettle into your fermenter for a cleaner product.

Board:

Thanks a lot. I think that I will check out that website for yeast utilization and skip the grain bag for hops. Thanks again.

Matt