About This Course

This course includes 66+ minutes of video

In this 66-minute course, Capps focuses on New Image’s approach to barrel-aged barleywines, from intentions and ingredients and on through brewing, fermentation, aging, and blending, all while harnessing the key components of oxidation, wood, and time. Along the way, he covers: 

  • choosing your approach and selecting malts with intention
  • aiming for different starting gravities to produce different blending components
  • using Noble and aged hops for stability and preservation
  • selecting yeast for attenuation and healthy fermentation
  • using a brewhouse built for high gravities and high boil-off rates
  • using the boil to concentrate the wort for higher starting gravities
  • aiming for high attenuation despite high gravities
  • using nutrients and oxygen to give the fermentation a strong start
  • cool-conditioning and clarifying barleywine before barrel aging
  • degassing before aging, and treating oxidation as a key component
  • experimenting with Madeira-inspired macro-oxidation
  • understanding the flavors in the wood
  • planning for time as a component, depending on the barrel
  • using wood finishing to freshen up an aged barleywine
  • tasting and blending components to assemble great barleywines

And more.




Instructor

Brandon Capps of New Image Brewing in Arvada and Wheat Ridge, Colorado, has a reputation for tinkering with chemistry and technique to pack more flavor into beers. His background in engineering and process design informs his iterative, experimental approach, whether it means finding the best way to use hop terpenes in IPAs or deploying macro-oxidation to get the aged qualities he wants from barrel-aged barleywines.

Brandon Capps

Founder, New Image Brewing

Course Curriculum

  • 01

    Introduction

    Show Content
  • 02

    Planning Your Barleywine

    Show Content

    • Approaching Barleywine for Barrel-Aging

    • Choosing Your Starting Point

    • Selecting Ingredients: Malt, Hops, Yeast, and Water
  • 03

    Brewing Big Barleywines

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    • Brewing for Higher Gravities

    • Shepherding a Successful Barleywine Fermentation

    • Before the Barrels: Clarification and Degassing
  • 04

    Barrel Aging Your Barleywine

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    • Three Key Components

    • The Importance of Oxidation—and Macro-Oxidation

    • Understanding the Flavors in the Wood

    • Planning for Time as a Component

    • Wood Finishing

    • Adjusting Time on Wood for Desired Character
  • 05

    Tasting & Blending Your Barleywine

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    • Brewing and Barrel Aging with Blending in Mind

    • Pulling Nails and Tasting Barrels

    • Cross-Pollination and Blending Barleywines with Other Styles

    • Tasting and Evaluation for Blending

    • Finishing and Packaging
  • 06

    Parting Thoughts, Further Reading, Listening & Recipes

    Show Content

    • Parting Thoughts

    • Recipe: New Image Intent Barleywine

    • Podcast Episode 202: Brandon Capps of New Image Brews Better IPAs Through Chemistry

    • More Perspectives: How Anchorage’s Gabe Fletcher Packs Character into Barrel-Aged Barleywine

    • Brewing Trends: Barleywine, Looking Good in Black

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