Homebrewing a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Super High Gravity Barleywine!

Welcome to my first brew video! If you like big barrel-aged barleywines, here is how you can brew your own at home.
Yes, it's time consuming, expensive and hard work, but it's so worth it when you taste the finished result!
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Brewing the beer
3:27 - Buying a barrel
3:51 - FAIL!
4:10 - Back to the brewing
6:51 - Preparing and filling the barrel
RECIPE:
share.brewfather.app/w71snUH2...
​⁠‪@midwestbarrelco‬
midwestbarrelco.com/collectio...
FACEBOOK:
/ westumhjemmebryggeri
INSTAGRAM:
/ westum_hjemmebryggeri

[@lachlanmulford9192]

Had this and your 2023 one at MBCC, absolutely fantastic, among the best beers i had the whole weekend. Well done 🍻

[@bombbrew4119]

monster beer! So stoked to see you on KZbin! Subscribed!!

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot! 🍺😁

[@vruychev]

The brew, the music the editing - beast mode activated! Loved it and cannot wait to see the review of the finished product. Cheers

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 😁 I’m glad to hear 🍺

[@vwgolf18cl]

Great video. Keep on making more videos. 🍻🍻

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 😊 There will be a new barrel video soon (hopefully before new year) with more focus on tips and tricks

[@cossack81]

Hell yeah dude, I was literally searching for exactly this style recipe last weekend ! Love the editing and music man ! Looking forward to all your future content.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks s lot, man! I’m glad to hear 🍷😁

[@BentGateBrewing]

Yessssss!!! Finally we can learn your magic on KZbin 🙌

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[@alfredolozano1983]

I not only like what I see but also what I hear, very good work, excellent tools and exquisite musical taste

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot, man 😁 I really appreciate it! 🍺 Skål!

[@51rwyatt]

Congrats on your first brew video. I found this searching for barleywine recipes, because I am making my own in a few days once my hops arrive. I have a huge amount of 2-row barley I am using up for my recipe.

[@Trapped_under_ice_brewing]

Great video man. Brewing my barleywine next week. Aiming for 13.4%. I wish i had a barrel. Good luck from a fellow metal head. 🤘

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot, man! 🤘 Good luck with the brew!

[@droyebakker]

Jævlig bra! Artig å se DIN fremgangsmåte og det mange nyttige små tips innimellom. Mere, mere! Flere videoer!! 🍺😃🤘

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Tusen takk, mann 🍺😁 Ja jeg kan jo ikke gi meg nå 😂

[@Whatisgoingonhere2021]

Taking homebrew to a whole new level 😂 Great work 👍

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot! 😁

[@cesaralexanderruizcardozo8512]

Man, this is taking hombrew to the next level! That FG is dam** crazy for a beer. Lookig forward to hearing about that final beer after barrel aging. Brewed a Barley Wine not long ago and it's looking pretty good but now I feel like mine is not a decent competitor for yours. This makes me just want to try something as crazy as you do. Lovely brewing equipment. Thanks for the inspiration, really loved this video! Subscribed!!!!

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

I’m really glad to hear, man 🍺😁 Thanks a lot!

[@terjesannerholt74]

Bra video Espen🤘🏻💪🏻

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Tusen takk 🍺😊

[@nathanphillips5156]

Can you do an overview of your whole brewing system equipment?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

I can definitely do that ASAP 😁

[@fredrikjohansen2090]

Endelig har du begynt med bryggevideoer! Gøy å følge med og enkelt og fint forklart :D Blir en tønnelagrings-byggvin eller imperial stout etterhvert kjenner jeg

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Godt å høre 😁 Tusen takk!

[@koplandavid]

Damn that OG. Cool really cool.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 🍺😊

[@FallenGenetics]

LOVE your video! ✌

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 🍺😁 I really appreciate hearing that!

[@FallenGenetics]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri I really like your style! You have a great personality, & do very well in the videos. Definitely need to see more of what you do!!! ✌

[@pjoter2243]

What a beast! 42->18P that is a powerful beer

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Just the way I like them 🍺😈

[@TheNextBatch]

Flott video, Espen! 😃 Moro å se hvordan du lager de sjuke ølene dine 😃

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Koselig å høre 🍺😁 Tusen takk

[@woodhouse6553]

Heavy...🍺

[@lbikkjaBryggeri]

Great video and looks good even with the boil over🤘🤘🤘

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Had to add the blooper 😂 Thanks a lot, buddy!

[@lbikkjaBryggeri]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri showing the real life of homebrewing. We all had a boil over👍

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

@@lbikkjaBryggeri haha, oh yeah! It wasn’t the first time and it’s definitely not the last time 🫣

[@jessevanvoorhis384]

BIL!!! Cheers!

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

BiL! 🍷😎

[@vidarbentestuen3819]

Kult, lykke til 🥂

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Takker og bukker 🍺😁

[@WulfPAK100]

Awesome video, love these beers the best.... what's your music please?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 🍻 I use music from Epidemic Sound. Copyfree music for projects like this 🙂

[@jaggersbrewingco]

Nice video, just subscribed!

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 🍷😁 I’m glad to hear!

[@jaggersbrewingco]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri 🤘🍺

[@tomsdavispinkis411]

Awesome video. I also recently brewed a barley wine, and I thought I was a little crazy for having a starting gravity of 1.123. Although it fermented down to 1.010

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 😊 Damn, that’s low. Maybe a bit on the boozy side then?

[@dennislnbrewing]

FG was 1.072

[@tomsdavispinkis411]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri yup, turned out to be 15% abv. although it is actually somewhat sweet, and really complex. definitely the best beer I've brewed so far. looking forward for your video. instead of cheers I'll say - priekā!

[@TheImportBrewers]

Great video, I have a question about the use of extract. Why did you use this and is this common in the pro industry?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Main reason was to bump up the original gravity and to save time. I hate double mashing 😅 I know they use it pro industry as well, but I guess they don’t use this high percentage.

[@xander1052]

I've got my 2023 Barleywine batch (also Chevalier based) sitting in bottle conditioning, will be interested to see how yours looks once aged vs mine in September (taking to a meetup) and December (actual planned ready time)

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Are you on instagram? Would love to see the result

[@dougchaney6723]

Can you do a video for a barrel aged stout? I have a 10 gallon whiskey barrel and would love to age a stout in it.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

My next (VERY delayed 🫣) video is a “how to barrel-age beer” video from brew day to finished (bottled) result.

[@brewmaster97]

Perfect timing for your video! I was already looking for good Barleywine recipes and this sounds absolutely great! However I'm a bit scared of the long boil time, have you had any issues with scorching? Also will a Boil time of around 2-3h already give similar results concerning the viscosity of the end beer or what is theminimum time you'd advise?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Glad to hear 😊 No I never had any issues with scorching, but be careful with the efficiency you use when boiling. I did a boil at 100% efficiency once and it was some burnt wort stuck to the heating elements. Luckily it didn’t create any off flavors. You’ll still get a great result with “only” 2-3 hours, so don’t worry about that 😊

[@brewmaster97]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri perfect then I'll try with a shorter boil time and if it works I can always up that in the future 😉

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

@@brewmaster97good luck 🍺😁 Let me know how it turns out

[@NWsmallbatchBrewing]

How big is that kettle? Looks like you have some fun brew toys.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

It’s marked up to 150L/40 gallons 🙂

[@jrkz]

Nice video! What are you using to raise the mash ph?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Thanks a lot 😁 There was no need to raise the pH here, but I used lactic acid to lower it 🙂

[@jrkz]

Ah right. Somehow my brains was thinking dark malt heavy Imperial Stout when you mentioned 5.5 mash pH 😅 @@WestumHjemmebryggeri

[@loganneff9547]

How clean was the fermentation at that temperature with the gravity being so high? Im curious about using Nottingham for a barleywine as well

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

I only had it on 18°C for two days, then two days at 19°C and then the rest at 20°C. But it struggled a bit with that high OG, but just give it time 😂 When I did a 1.178 OG brew with Nottingham, I had to turn down the ferm temp to slow it down.

[@loganneff9547]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri thanks for the reply. I've heard people saying nottingham can have some weird off flavors if it gets too stressed. Glad to see it's working for the monsters you're brewing lol 👍

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

@@loganneff9547 I have never experienced that. I always taste the beers before barrel-aging them. My guess is that if you use too little or ferment at high temp it can cause off flavors.

[@dennislnbrewing]

Music was a bit distracting. But others seemed to love it. So to each their own. 1.072 is a wild FG. That’s where a lot of my beers start! Let alone finish.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Haha, I expected more to be distracted by the music 😂 But I’m a metal head, so I won’t use that “typical” KZbin music most creators use 🤘😈 The barrel aging will smooth out the high FG a lot. I been measuring the FGs in my favorite barrel aged beers the last couple of years and most of them are between 1.050 and 1.080. The highest FG I measured was a 1.110 😂

[@matthewbrown5677]

Was right for the film

[@andreasflaten8159]

Veldig fin struktur i video. Liker at det er musikk, og det er bra mikset med praten men kanskje vurder å dempe musikken enda litt når du prater. Håper du lager fler!

[@andreasflaten8159]

hah jeg skrev den kommentaren her før alle morsomme referanser kom, gta, cornholio og alt mulig. genialt. dæver her

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Tusen takk 😊 Ja det er ikke alltid lett å finne den balansen. Men skal få teksting slik at det blir lettere å følge med.

[@xValerianx]

Are you able to order single barrels internationally through Midwest Barrel Co? Website says a minimum of 8 🥴

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Yeah just send them a mail and they’ll help you out with that. Just be prepared that shipping outside of the US costs a lot. I payed $256 in shipping for this 15 gallon barrel to Norway. But when you take the first sip of the finished result, totally worth it 🍷🤤

[@suwirwong]

Sheeez..... 7 hour boil ,how long do you plan to age?

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Go big or go home, right? 😈 I will age it for 12-13 months in the barrel. It’s been in the barrel for 7 months now.

[@TheDiRk39]

Can't you save on the CO2 here, if you are aging it this long in a wood barrel I suspect it will oxidize either way

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Well…yeah and no. I didn’t purge the barrel on the first barleywine I did (barrel-aged for 13 months) and a year after bottling it kind of felt like it was already “past it’s prime”. I haven’t experienced that with the barrel-aged beers where I purged the barrel. The one I didn’t purge is still good, but it feels like you get a better result by purging, even oxidation is good for this style.

[@ulissessanchez6832]

Beer zombies, brujos stickers on the fridge sick.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

Oh yeah! They’re both good friends of mine 🍺😁 Got to show my support

[@ulissessanchez6832]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri I live in Vegas and sad to say beer zombies isn’t that great. Beers are below average: kettle sours are very artificial in taste ipas aren’t that great. Brujos on the other hand yeah super solid brewer. Just did a collab with fidens my favorite neipa brewery.

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

@@ulissessanchez6832 I haven't had many of the BZ beers, but I liked the ones I had so far. I was really happy with our collab (Draugar) 😍 But Brujos....unholy mother of god. Sam is a IPA wizard!

[@ulissessanchez6832]

@@WestumHjemmebryggeri totally agree.

[@ulissessanchez6832]

I’ve been wanting to barrel age a beer for a while. I think that will be my next project. Been brewing neipas for the past 4 years and they never get old with so many variety of hops.

[@LarsLunde1965]

King of high gravity beer, is Norwegian 😁😁👌👌🙌🙌😊😊

[@WestumHjemmebryggeri]

🍷😅 haha, thanks

[@jonasboj1]

Nydelig 🤌🍻