So here we go with the second round of cloning Fuller’s barleywine!   Not that I’d know if it’s right as I’ve never had it but this certainly should be closer than the first attempt.   That one was a damned good beer but has too dark a crystal, wrong brand of crystal, wrong yeast and missing Northdown hops.   Thanks to LA Homebrew ordering me what I needed I now have all the right stuff to make what the BJCP labels as a classic example of the English barleywine.

If you didn’t see the notes from my first attempt;  I emailed Fuller”s and one of their production brewers was kind enough to note what I needed to do in order to clone it.   So this beer should be very close.    The only exception is the hop schedule amounts which is more less a guess for me.   At least I know I have all the right hops!  I’ve never used hop stands so this will be new.  Fortunately Beersmith has a calculation for that.   Seems like a lot of hops!

Update 5/29/2017

So brew day went off very smooth.   I did end up with a hop substitution as I missed the fact I only had one ounce of Challenger.   Went with 1 of challenger, 2 of bramling cross, 2 of Northdown and 2 of EKG.   Went a little heavier on the hopping due to hitting about 1.10 on the original gravity which was high.   Wort came out beautiful and the whirlpool was a fantastic learning experience.   I don’t think I’ve been using the concept of whirlpooling right since I first learned about it from Jamil years back so I’m excited about that.   Pitched after cooled down to fermentation temp of 70F and it’s fermenting fine.

Update 6/14/2017

This looks a hell of a lot more like what I was targeting in terms of appearance so the lighter crystal certainly paid off.   One I get it clear I will compare it with pictures of Golden Pride.   I feel like it may still be a little dark so next time around I may only go 3/4 pound.    Flat and cloudy the beer tastes very nice.   Rich, flavorful with a distinct hoppiness that should turn in to something mellow and savory over time.   So far so good.

Update 6/19/2017

A very fine beer young and carbonated.   I still have enough malt to try again so I’m going to rebrew it with half the crystal and see where it comes out just for experiments sake.  But yeah this is a nice beer.