Brew Day – Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

Several weeks ago, I bought a 5 gallon used whisky barrel. It’s been sitting in my office ever since, waiting to be filled with something… anything. Seriously, dude, just do something with me. I made whisky for christsakes!

I haven’t had time to do an all-grain brew for months, but I was looking at my calendar and saw that I have this entire day free until around 5pm, so I resolved to do an all-grain brew today. That brew is the Old Guardian Barley Wine from the Stone Brewing book, because it’s a simple recipe that will deliver a high gravity monster which is perfect for aging in my whisky barrel.

I have a 2L starter on my stirplate, and a full bottle of propane to get me through the nearly 2-hour boil. This is going to be a lot of fun, and in about 7 months — you know, right around my birthday — I should have some oak-aged barley wine to celebrate with.