I'm thinking of brewing a gallon of barley wine (parti-gyling it from a larger batch). I brew all-grain and was considering using the first runnings for the wort. I'm looking for a rich mahogany beer very much malt forward. I can more or less judge the plato of the first runnings from the split of mash thickness to sparge volume and usually see the first gallon or so at about 1.090 - 1.110. Has anyone done this? Any pitfalls I should watch out for (during the brewing, not the drinking)? Any suggestions of what hops to use, I have Target and Progress and Phoenix and Jester? I have a good yeast slurry from a previous pale ale. What sort of grain bill would suit this type of beer? I have read pale ale malt and crystal but there were no percentages. This has to be ready for April 23rd 2022 so I'm starting the plans now so it has time to condition. I've also read that a year is not uncommon for a barley wine to condition.
Any help, pointers, suggestions would be most appreciated, many thanks in advance. JB.
Any help, pointers, suggestions would be most appreciated, many thanks in advance. JB.