Adjusting Jamil's American Barleywine. Advice?

[Chris_J]

I'm going to brew Jamil's barleywine in the next few weeks and just lay it down until next Christmas but there's a few ingredients I can't get so my plan was to replace the Special B with a bit of crystal 120 and special roast. My idea would be to have a quarter pound of the crystal/roast mixture to replace the special b. And for the finishing hops I planned on using 1oz columbus, 1.5oz cascade, and 1.5oz centennial. I realize this will not be exactly like Jamil's recipe, what I'm more concerned with is upsetting the balance. Should it still end up a good product? Will crystal 120 and special roast not mingle well together? Thanks for the advice.

[DannyW]

When I think of SpecialB, I think "SuperCaramunich." All raisins and plums and dark caramel and such. C120 is one of my favorite malts, but comes across a bit dryer and more roasty. I've never used Special Roast so I don't know what it is like. Anyway, if you have caramunich you might want to work that in there somewhere, and consider melanoidin malt too.

As far as balance, if you keep your BU:GU the same as the original, then you will be real close.

[Chris_J]

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I don't have any caramunich. My options are crystal malts, biscuit, victory, special roast, and munich. That's about it. Should I just use an eighth of a pound of C120 and be done with it?

[DannyW]

It's such a small amount that it's hard to go wrong. Take a couple grains of each malt, in the proportions in which you plan to your them, and chew them. Is the resulting flavor combination pleasant? Then use it!

"You know the grain sandwich tastes just like the beer" - Justin
"your colon won't know what hit it!" - Doc

[BDawg]

Chris-

On another board, one Canadian guy got so pissed at not being able to get ingredients in Canada that he opened his own LHBS.

I sent him a msg over there, and he said to contact him, because he can get you the Special B that you need.

He's a good guy, and he's trying to get his volume up so he can get his prices down, so while his prices aren't as low as say B3, he is relatively close to you so you might at least be able make up the difference in shipping costs.

(He is located in Whitby, Ontario)

http://www.homebrewersretail.com/
info@homebrewersretail.com/

HTH-

[seanhagerty]

I would make the effort to order the ingredients in. (Morebeer would be very happy to send the stuff you need to you.)

Jamil won awards with his recipes as they are, not as they are modified.

If you want a great BW, use his recipe, there are other great BW's out there, but this one has won some awards. Plus its Jamils!!!


Sean

[Chris_J]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Sean: To be honest I'm not looking for awards. I'm looking for a really good Barleywine that I can be proud of to offer to my family and friends. So I completely know where you're coming from, I know it won't be the same beer I'm just concerned that the changes I've made will result in an unpleasant beer. I don't care if it tastes different, I know I'm not going to brew beers like Jamil's just because I use his recipe anyway. Call it a starting point.
BDawg: Thanks a lot for the hook up. I'll be sure to check them out. Unfortunately I'm in between jobs right now (I'm a hobo who goes to internet cafes and doesn't pay) so I can't really afford to buy ingredients, I have to use what I have on hand. There's a fellow in Ottawa who did the same thing as your contact in Whitby, he started selling stuff out of his basement. Really nice guy, brews 20gal batches, gave me discounts for quantity etc etc. So be sure to recommend www.skinaneybrewing.com also. Great guy. But again thanks.

edit: Ok I think I'm stressing a little too much over a quarter pound of grain. I'm just going to go with my gut, use a bit of C120 and have a homebrew. Thanks again for all the advice I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.....in a year or two....unless I pull a Justin(that could mean so many things that result in wasted beer I'll let you use your imagination)

[seanhagerty]

I didnt mean to imply your beer wouldnt be a good one. I'm sure this will turn out to be a fine BW.

Letting it age a year or so is ambitious. I have a hard time letting stuff age that long. Good Luck with it

Sean