Barley Wine - I'm going for it!

[Ty520]

We used to have some Korean friends who gave us roasted barley tea. It was very nice. I don't think they used malted barley, and anyway it wasn't fermented. It had a very nice flavor, so I think that roasted barley wine might be good, even without malting or adding amylase enzyme. The barley would contribute flavor, but not sugar. OTOH why not add some amylase enzyme as well?

@BigDaveK When you add amylase enzyme, how do you measure OG? Do you let the enzyme work first, then measure OG?

I found this article: How to Use Amylase Enzyme - Beer Snobs Apparently the amylase enzyme works best around 150 degrees F. Several articles recommend holding the mash at the correct temperature for 1 hour. There is also alpha and beta amylase. It seems like most people are using alpha.

for reference, barley has a max theoretical (important word to remember) potential of about 25 points per pound per gallon (most other grains are around 30-35 ppg), so when trying to put together your recipe, that should give you a base line to know what gravity you could possibly expect - but then you have to factor in the fact that extraction of sugars from grains, whether through mashing or enzymes, is never 100% efficient...i doubt you could get anything more than 80% on a perfect day.

Alpha is pretty easy to acquire at home brew shops, but I've never had any luck getting beta.

I have no idea how it would affect grains other than rice, but another interesting option to try would be Yellow Label Angel yeast used for making kojii, which doesn't require heat.

 

[BigDaveK]

We used to have some Korean friends who gave us roasted barley tea. It was very nice. I don't think they used malted barley, and anyway it wasn't fermented. It had a very nice flavor, so I think that roasted barley wine might be good, even without malting or adding amylase enzyme. The barley would contribute flavor, but not sugar. OTOH why not add some amylase enzyme as well?

@BigDaveK When you add amylase enzyme, how do you measure OG? Do you let the enzyme work first, then measure OG?

I found this article: How to Use Amylase Enzyme - Beer Snobs Apparently the amylase enzyme works best around 150 degrees F. Several articles recommend holding the mash at the correct temperature for 1 hour. There is also alpha and beta amylase. It seems like most people are using alpha.

Barley definitely has a nice flavor and I plan to experiment with it more.

Yes, the amylase should convert the starch to fermentable sugar and I add it to all my wines with starchy ingredients. I always try to give pectic and amylase enzymes a few hours to work before adding yeast. My "official" OG is measured just before adding the yeast.

Ah, beer and wine making are different and I don't know too much about beer. I've read enzymes are destroyed around 120F wet heat and 150F dry heat. With wine making we're usually interested in the wet heat.

 

[Raptor99]

Yes, so many commercial "fruit" wines say grape wine with flavor added. That's one reason why I like to make my own.

That's what I discovered. They are usually very sweet as well. I consider them to be fake fruit wines.

One winery near me that makes real fruit wine is honeywood: Honeywood Winery - Salem OR. Some of their wines are available in my local grocery store.

 

[Ty520]

That's what I discovered. They are usually very sweet as well. I consider them to be fake fruit wines.

One winery near me that makes real fruit wine is honeywood: Honeywood Winery - Salem OR. Some of their wines are available in my local grocery store.

i will admit that in some circumstances, I have found that combining fruit can be advantageous - for example, i have found peach wines and peach meads to be somewhat one-dimensional, but I recently did a peach pyment that i was very pleased with.

but per my original comment, the term "wine based drink" is a catch-all legal term for what would be a 'session' wine in laymen terms, regardless of the fruit composition.

 

[Terryfirma]

Oh, you can certainly judge - I am. My goal is to approach 100% from the yard. Probably not possible but I'll get close. In the spring I'm planting elderberry and aronia berry for sure, not sure what else just yet.

I do have wild wheat and wild oats. The latter is begging for a joke.

The deer ate and destroyed my Elderberry.

They must have gotten my Wild Oats , too..? I’ve not seen them in ages!