After 4 weeks of primary fermentation it was time to transfer my English Barleywine into my 5-gallon Better Bottle aka the fermenter I use for secondary fermentation. Before doing so I prepared and then added the 3oz of oak chips that had been soaking in bourbon (combo of Knob Creek and Buffalo Trace), 1oz of dry oak chips (split between American and French oak), and 3oz of Knob Creek bourbon to the secondary fermenter.

One major lesson that I learned from this brew is that it’s all about the taste in the end. Meaning, despite having not hit my OG and FG target numbers, my barleywine is tasting great and I’m eagerly looking forward to tasting it once it’s done aging in secondary and is bottled.

Current Status: OG 1.090 FG (after primary fermentation) 1.034 ABV: 7.35%

Cheers and Happy HBW!!!