Travel Through Time with Randy’s Barleywine

The Story Behind the Recipe

Randy’s Barleywine was originally created by Randy Mosher, an award-winning homebrewer and author of many books on brewing, including “Radical Brewing” and “Tasting Beer”. He started brewing this beer in the late 1980s and refined the recipe over the years, earning several awards at the Great American Beer Festival and other competitions.

The original recipe called for a blend of pale malt, Munich malt, and crystal malt, along with a handful of other specialty grains, to create a rich, malty backbone. The beer is then hopped generously with both American and English hops, lending a balanced bitterness and a floral, earthy aroma. Finally, the beer is fermented with a hearty strain of ale yeast, which gives it a fruity complexity and a warming alcohol content.

The Recipe

Brewing Randy’s Barleywine is a bit of a time commitment, but the end result is well worth the effort. The recipe below yields about 5 gallons of beer and has an alcohol content of around 10%.

Ingredients:

• 14 lbs. pale malt
• 2 lbs. Munich malt
• 1 lb. crystal 60 malt
• 1 lb. crystal 120 malt
• 8 oz. chocolate malt
• 8 oz. wheat malt
• 4 oz. black malt
• 1 lb. corn sugar (for priming)
• 2 oz. Nugget hops (13% alpha acid), for bittering
• 1 oz. Cascade hops (5% alpha acid), for flavor
• 1 oz. East Kent Goldings hops (5% alpha acid), for flavor
• 1 oz. Amarillo hops (8.5% alpha acid), for aroma
• 1 oz. East Kent Goldings hops (5% alpha acid), for aroma
• 1 tsp. Irish moss, for clarity (optional)
• 1 pkt. Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast

Instructions:

1. Mash all the grains in 5.5 gallons of water at 152°F for 60 minutes.
2. Sparge with enough water to collect 7 gallons of wort.
3. Boil the wort for 90 minutes, adding the Nugget hops at the start of the boil, the Cascade and East Kent Goldings hops at 60 minutes, and the Amarillo and East Kent Goldings hops at 15 minutes.
4. Add the Irish moss during the last 15 minutes of the boil.
5. Cool the wort and transfer it to a fermenter, pitching the yeast once the temperature has dropped to 70°F.
6. Ferment at 70°F for 2 weeks, then transfer to a secondary fermenter and allow the beer to age for at least 2 months.
7. Prime with corn sugar and bottle or keg the beer.
8. Let the beer condition for at least 2 weeks before drinking.

Conclusion

If you’re a fan of rich, full-bodied beers with a warming alcohol content, Randy’s Barleywine Time Machine is the recipe for you. It’s a complex yet well-balanced beer that takes a bit of time and effort to brew, but the end result is well worth it. Give it a try and see if you can travel through time with your taste buds.