Name: Buttonwoods Brewerys Invisible Monsters Recipe
Cook time: 120 h
Total time: 120 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 13 lbs Maris Otter pale malt; 1 lbs British crystal malt (120 °L); 1 lbs British crystal malt (40 °L); 0.5 lbs Victory malt; 0.5 lbs Aromatic malt; 0.25 lbs Dark (chocolate) crystal or black patent (for color, small); 0.5 lbs Flaked oats; 1 lbs Corn sugar (dextrose) — priming or fermentability boost; 2 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) — bittering; 2 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) — flavor/aroma; 1 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) — late/dry hop (optional); 2 packs English ale yeast (high alcohol tolerant) - e.g., Wyeast 1084 or White Labs WLP002 or an English yeast with 9-12% tolerance; 1 tsp Yeast nutrient; 1 tsp Yeast energizer (optional, for high OG); 6.5 gal Water (brewhouse); 4 gal Sparge water; 1 tsp Irish moss or whirlfloc (clarifier); 1 each Campden tablet (optional: to remove chlorine/chloramine); 1 each Oak barrel or oak cubes (medium toast), bourbon-seasoned if desired

Barleywine - English - Santa Fe, NM - 11.5% ABV - 55.0 IBU Body Isn't Life is an English barleywine, that was designed and brewed in collaboration with our good friends at Pipeworks Brewing Company.

Body Isn't Life

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Barleywine - English
9% ABV
Our English barley wine base before we barrel age it for Monsters in the Closet

If using municipal water with chlorine/chloramine, treat sparge and brew water with crushed Campden tablet and wait 15 minutes. Heat brewhouse water to mash temperature.

Preparation

Heat 6.5 gallons of strike water to ~169 °F (to achieve a mash temperature of 154 °F). Add crushed grains to the mash tun and stir thoroughly to avoid dough balls. Target mash temperature: 152-154 °F for a full-bodied malt profile suitable for English barleywine. Hold mash for 60–90 minutes.

Mash-in

Raise mash temperature to 168–170 °F (mashout) by adding a small amount of boiling water or direct heat. Mix and hold 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity.

Mashout

Recirculate first runnings until clear, then collect runnings into the kettle. Sparge with ~4 gallons of water at 170 °F until you collect the target pre-boil volume (approximately 7.5–8.5 gallons depending on system losses). Aim for a pre-boil gravity that will produce ~1.090–1.110 OG after boil.

Sparge & Lauter

Bring the pre-boil wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boil-overs during the first 10 minutes.

Bring to boil

At the start of a 90-minute boil, add 2.0 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) bittering hops. Boil for 90 minutes total. Long boils help concentrate and develop caramelized malt character common in English barleywine.

Bittering addition

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add 1.0 oz EKG (flavor) and 1 tsp Irish moss or whirlfloc. With 5 minutes left, add the remaining 1.0 oz EKG (aroma) if you prefer a layered hop profile. If you want a very restrained hop aroma, add the aroma hops at flameout instead.

Mid/late additions

After the boil ends, turn off heat and chill wort quickly to yeast-pitching temperature (64–68 °F for English ale yeast) using a wort chiller. If using hop additions at flameout, add them immediately after flameout and whirlpool for 10–15 minutes before chilling.

Cooling

Transfer cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter. Top up with water if needed to reach fermenter volume (~5.5–6.5 gallons). Aerate or oxygenate wort thoroughly (high-gravity beers require good oxygen levels) and pitch two packs of high-alcohol-tolerant English ale yeast. Add yeast nutrient and energizer per package directions to help fermentation of high OG.

Oxygenation & Pitching

Ferment at 64–68 °F for 7–14 days (depending on yeast activity). Monitor gravity — expect active fermentation to be vigorous for several days. High OG beers ferment slowly; be patient.

Primary Fermentation

After primary gravity slows (stable readings over 2–3 days), rack to a secondary fermenter for extended conditioning to clear and mellow the beer. Condition for 4–8 weeks. Optional: add the optional 1.0 oz EKG as a short dry-hop in the secondary for 3–7 days if you want a subtle late hop character.

Secondary / Conditioning

If barrel aging, transfer the beer to a sanitized oak barrel (bourbon-seasoned if desired) or add measured toasted oak cubes to the secondary. Fill the barrel leaving minimal headspace to reduce oxygen. If using cubes, use sanitation-approved addition methods and monitor oak impact.

Barrel transfer

Age for 3–12 months depending on desired barrel influence. Taste periodically for oak, bourbon/vanilla character, and integration. Rack off lees before excessive aging to avoid off-flavors.

Aging time & monitoring

When the beer has reached final gravity and tastes mature/stable, prepare for packaging. For bottle conditioning, calculate priming sugar based on volume and residual gravity; for kegging, carbonate to ~2.4–2.6 volumes CO2 (English barleywines are often lightly to moderately carbonated).

Final gravity and stabilization

Dissolve 1.0 lb corn sugar (dextrose) in 2 cups boiling water, cool, and mix gently with beer before bottling to yield appropriate carbonation. Bottle and cap. Condition bottles at cellar temperatures (60–70 °F) for 2–4 weeks, then cellar for months — barleywine improves with months to years of aging.

Priming (if bottling)

Transfer to keg, force carbonate to target volumes, and serve after clarification. Age in keg if desired for further maturation.

Kegging (if kegging)

Maris Otter pale malt

British crystal malt (120 °L)

British crystal malt (40 °L)

Victory malt

Aromatic malt

Dark (chocolate) crystal or black patent (for color, small)

Flaked oats

Corn sugar (dextrose) — priming or fermentability boost

East Kent Goldings (EKG) — bittering

East Kent Goldings (EKG) — flavor/aroma

East Kent Goldings (EKG) — late/dry hop (optional)

English ale yeast (high alcohol tolerant) - e.g., Wyeast 1084 or White Labs WLP002 or an English yeast with 9-12% tolerance

Yeast nutrient

Yeast energizer (optional, for high OG)

Water (brewhouse)

Sparge water

Irish moss or whirlfloc (clarifier)

Campden tablet (optional: to remove chlorine/chloramine)

Oak barrel or oak cubes (medium toast), bourbon-seasoned if desired

Invisible Monsters

CZECH – STYLE DARK LAGER

ECKHART

AMBRO

BECKHART

Stout - Oyster
10.5% ABV
Barrel aged stout with dutch cocoa, strawberry, and vanilla

Physical/Spiritual/Mental

Belgian Strong Golden Ale
11.4% ABV
BARREL- AGED BELGIAN STRONG ALE WITH OYSTER & TARRAGON

Golden Unicorn

Make Invisible Monsters Recipe in just 120h . Barleywine - English
9% ABV
Our English barley wine base before we barrel age it for Monsters in the Closet

Invisible Monsters Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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