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I didn't think I'd ever be posting a "Is it safe to bottle?" thread, but here goes.

After reading about barleywine, I decided it was time to try one, drinking that is, not brewing. Off to Dan's with a couple of names in my head. By the look on the young kids face you'd think I was asking for materials to make a bomb, all he could do was point me toward the wine racks (even after explaining to him that it really was a beer).
The following week I was just wandering around the LHBS, as we all do, and spotted a Muntons kit, and thought if I can't buy some, I'll just make it.

Recipe
Muntons Barleywine kit (1.5kg I think)
Morgans Caramalt LME (1kg)
Muntons kit yeast (I know, I should've spent a few extra dollars)
14l
OG 1060

Its been in the fermenter for 3 weeks.
after 2 weeks I checked SG 1026 for a couple of days.
I warmed, stirred and swirled.
Last night I checked again and still 1026
I have no idea what attenuation I should expect from Muntons kit yeast, but 1026 just doesn't sit right.
I'll check again this weekend, but I suspect that it's run it's race and won't have moved any further.
Question, is it worth re-pitching, I have in the fridge, US-05, S-04 and heaps of Coopers Ales. I'm guessing the S-04 is closest to style, but will it handle pitching into 4-5% wort?

Planner

You can get american barleywine from a few of the better Melbourne bottle shops.

I bought Sierra Nevada Bigfoot last time i was over from Acland St Cellar in St Kilda. Yet to taste it as its for our BJCP study group. Dan Murphys sells mainstream beers so you will struggle to find much there.

OG 1.060? You need to be 1.080+ to be getting all the characteristics of a barleywine, regardless of whether you are aiming for english or american. You also need extra bitterness to balance the extra OG. I have no idea what the IBU value of the tin is.

As to what yeast you should use i would throw in the coopers yeast (after rehydrating it) as its the highest attenuator of the 3 you have listed. It will also floc out the best. It wont add much in the way of esters as it wont be undergoing a growth phase in the wort. There wont be any O2 available.

I'd expect to get down to an FG of 1.016 or thereabouts.

drsmurto wrote:You can get american barleywine from a few of the better Melbourne bottle shops.

I bought Sierra Nevada Bigfoot last time i was over from Acland St Cellar in St Kilda. Yet to taste it as its for our BJCP study group. Dan Murphys sells mainstream beers so you will struggle to find much there.

OG 1.060? You need to be 1.080+ to be getting all the characteristics of a barleywine, regardless of whether you are aiming for english or american. You also need extra bitterness to balance the extra OG. I have no idea what the IBU value of the tin is.

As to what yeast you should use i would throw in the coopers yeast (after rehydrating it) as its the highest attenuator of the 3 you have listed. It will also floc out the best. It wont add much in the way of esters as it wont be undergoing a growth phase in the wort. There wont be any O2 available.

I'd expect to get down to an FG of 1.016 or thereabouts.

Thanks Doc

Will rehydrate and pitch the coopers yeast tonight, 1016 sounds a lot better @ about 73% attenuation, compared to 57%ish that mine has stopped at.
As for additional bitterness and balance, I wont know for a while. The sample tastes sweet, but at 1026 thats to be expected. In hindsight this wasn't the most thoroughly researched brew of recent times, every brew for the last 25 has had hops added, except for this high OG one I'll look for a good extract recipe and have a proper crack over winter. Planning a big winter of brewing so I can sit back over summer without the hassle of running ice bottles out to the shed.

As for bottlos Dans or Last Choice are the pick of them in town. The pub drive-throughs consider Coopers a special order. I've heard good things about Acland Street, but a 4hr round trip means that I haven't yet made it there. I'll be working in northern suburbs next few weeks, but even then a trip to StKilda and back really stretches a lunch hour.

Planner