Free State Old Backus Barleywine

Brewed by Free State Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Lawrence, Kansas USA

Earthy red pour with no head. Aroma is great. Sweet alcohol with earthy notes. Flavor is sweet with a thick, sticky mouthfeel. Delicious. Excellent barleywine.

Hand bottled from a growler by csbosox, shared with jeffin7: Ruby-brown body with small lacing of tan head. Aroma is raisins, brown sugar, cereal grains, earthy malt, grapes, plum. Medium-full bodied, light carbonation (hand bottled), oily yet clean body. Taste is brown sugar coated malt, light roasty & earthy malt, plum, grapes, retronasal notes of alcohol and mild hops, malt syrup, wood, and caramel.

Pours brown with a little carbonation. Aroma is very pleasant rich maltiness, slight caramel, slight biscuit. Flavor is caramel, chocolate chip cookie, slight smoke, a slight wood and a very subtle alcoholic fume. This is one of those beer where nothing is out of the ordinary but everything just comes together so well that it makes an excellent beer.

Bottled by csbosox, shared by beerbuzzmontreal. Mega thanks to both!!

The Lure:
Plump cherries and suave caramel turn into luscious candy. Whisky drops in the heavy sweetness of a peach and maple syrup concoction. As a sweet tooth and barley wine lover, this could be my center of gravity.

The Festivities:
Toffee and alcohol merge to lather the resinous, wooden hop bitterness. Hoppiness puffs its chest in the end and frightens the berries back into the caramel. A slick mouthfeel confirms this beer’s capacity to be a superb sipper.

Transcendence:
Lying feet up on a long sofa, eyes glazed with comfort.

Chocolate, lightly roasty, molasses, earthy, vinous aroma. Deep amber-brown with shy but lasting ring of off-white head. Brown sugar, raisins, plums and leafy hop flavours. Roasty bitterness that borders on harsh but never crosses the line is quite strong in the finish. Some alcohol is occasionally apparent. Medium-full body is somewhat slick. Bottled from a growler and enjoyed with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, Olivier_MTL, Rastacouere and Yowie.

Couleur caramel laissant transparaître quelques reflets rougeâtres. Arômes de sucre d’orge, de toffee et de caramel brûlé cachent une quantité impressionnante de houblons d’amertume américains. Flaveurs de pelure de concombre excessivement amer et d’agrumes pratiquement tanniques sur une très solide base de malt caramel. Texture grasse et résineuse, le sucre et la forte présence alcoolique tentent de venir contrebalancer l’amertume presque déchaînée. Intense!

Pours a surprisingly dark amber color. Excellent aroma of burnt caramel, roasted malt, malt and alcohol. Excellent flavor of malt, burnt caramel, barley sugar (sucre d’orge) and alcohol, the bitter is very strong and lasting, it’s a bit too bitter for a barley wine. Medium body, liquorous texture, soft carbonation. Wow, this is an excellent beer and it would have got higher marks if not for the finish. Huge thanks to csbosox for sending this.

Darker than I expected brown hue contains orange reflects and a hint of a light brown head. Huge malt aroma full of molasses and toffee above all, but also comprising tons of nuances in the lines of butter, candyish maple. The earthy component is very bold here, you’d almost believe they’ve used a part of roasted malts. Slight vegetal hints from the hops become more floral in taste. Surprisingly well contained alcohol despite the vaporous notes in the aroma. It just comes out as what it is, a malt monster, beefy and intimidating with rich sweetness. The palate just continues the aroma smoothly like a never ending curve, licorice and citric hops taking a bigger place here. The hops are strong and citric, but you can’t come out on top with those malts. Slick and oily palate, light carbonation. Huge beer. Thanks Denis!