Barley wine and finishing hops

[Westco]

Ok so this has always bothered me and I could never get a straight answer from anyone. Why in the world would you dump 3 to 4 OZ of hops at the end of the boil of a barley wine? Looking at most American barleywine recipes they all show major additions at the end of the boil. Now I have tried many green barleywines and they are just too overpowering to drink. Most people know that they need a MIN of 6 months an some say that year 3 or so is the best. Aroma hops won't carry that far so why put them in? I can see adding flavor hops cause those might last a year or so but aroma? The only thing I can think of is that those massive hop additions would add is a preservative quality that would help keep bacteria out of the beer for its long aging process. Anyone know of another reason?

[BadRock]

Most american barleywine are consumed fairly young, with 3 months of being brewed. If you choose to cellar these beers the finish hop will degrade until they are gone. I think the importance of these hops is that this style really has an emphasis on hops thus you need a fair amount of hops at every stage of the game, I also dry hop the hell out of mine just to give it another dose before packaging.

[beerpressure]

I agree about the finishing hops. I brewed old monster from brewing classic styles, and I sampled a bottle about 4 months into it and the hop aroma died off already. Jamil says to age it for a long time but this thing isnt gonna be like a real hoppy barleywine when its all aged out. I hit all my gravities and temps exactly while brewing this and followed the recipe exactly too.

[ipaisay2.0]

The cool thing with American Barleywine (actually any beer if you age it) is that you get the tale of two beers. First off the dry hopping will give it a nice aroma early on and then fades out within 2-5 months depending on the amount/type/duration of dry hopping employed. Then the beer's flavor and dry hops start of oxidize and they bring a different flavor over time.

The problem I find with many Am Barleywines is that the malt bill tends to be too much centered on carmel malts and long chained dextrines that clash with the oxidized flavor hops over time. I find this with aged Arrogant Bastard type beers as well. Try to make your Am Barleywines with a Double IPA in mind with a cleaner simpler malt bill, less crystal (color and quantities of crystal malt) and you'll find that the oxidized flavor and dry hopping preserve better. I have been successful in taking my DIPA and using belgian candi sugar for some depth and color and I find it more of a Am Barleywine/DIPA hybrid that will age better in time in both a balanced malt and a refined hop experience.

Another approach that I think that works well on many beer styles is to shoot for the low side of OG, IBU, ABV, ETC and you'll fine a much more palatable beer in the end. Especially in the Am Barleywines, people tend to go too overboard in every aspect of the beer and it turns out to be a big mess.

[brewinhard]

That is a smart idea IPAisay2. Maybe a great AM barleywine could be made by simply adjusting the beers peramaters a tad down to make for a more drinkable beer earlier on instead of having to wait 6 mos for it to even begin to start approaching its peak. Maybe a solid 8-9%'er could do well with this style. Big beers like this I find I really only brew once every two years or so. I really gotta make another big daddy soon.

[AaronWesternNY]

If you can get on a big beer program (barleywines, big Belgian trappists, imperial stouts, etc) and brew and dedicate 1-2 secondaries every year, pretty soon you will have so many big beers you won't know what to do with them. Perfect for aging- I couldn't think of a better scenario! A couple years down the road- some vertical tasting...

[ipaisay2.0]

If you can get on a big beer program (barleywines, big Belgian trappists, imperial stouts, etc) and brew and dedicate 1-2 secondaries every year, pretty soon you will have so many big beers you won't know what to do with them. Perfect for aging- I couldn't think of a better scenario! A couple years down the road- some vertical tasting...

Aaron,

I wouldn't secondary those big beers. Once they were done fermenting I would bottle or keg and age them there. Minimize your 02 exposure over time by aging in a serving vessel like a bottle or keg.

Also, if aging in kegs, you can start to work with interesting combination of flavors by blending several of those big beers that you have.