Recipe: Beard Papa Ale

An Irish Red that went array and morphed into a dark rich Barley Wine.

Recipe (from Bob at Oak Barrel in Berkeley, CA):

3/4 lbs Special B

1/4 lbs Chocolate Wheat

1/4 lbs Roasted Barley

11 lbs British Pale Ale Malt

1 oz Nugget -- 60 minutes (to bitter)

3/4 oz Armiallo -- 5 minutes

Danstar Windsor Yeast (dry).

OG -- 1.072 (December 12, 2010)

Gravity check: 1.031 (January 31, 2011)

PROBLEM: I was unable to identify why the yeast died. Maybe my garage got too cold or maybe the conversion to fermentable sugars was compromised. I tried agitation. I moved to secondary and pitched WhiteLabs Dry English Ale Yeast WLP007, but no change in gravity.

My next step was to add WhiteLabs enzyme capsules (tested it at the home brew shop first) and it worked.

Gravity reading afterwards: 0.999

Unbelievable! I accidently produced a zero calorie barley wine and it tastes great.

Follow up on July 22, 2011: I racked to bottles today. What a complex and bold taste this wonderful beer has. The body is full and rich to match the dark dark color with tinges of red. When you sip it there are three phases: at first it is smooth & sweet and then a smokey taste catches your attention and the body builds into a bite. Afterwards there is a nice dryness you are left with making you want another sip.

Plan to let the beer mature until next summer, when the beer will be 1.5 years old. Will post a follow-up and photo then.