Free State Old Backus Barleywine

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

This beer was sampled at the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Festival 2005 in Pizza Port Carlsbad and comes courtesy of Cquiroga. This beer pours a cloudy reddish brown color with a soapy thin white head which looked messy and disillusioned. No lacing was left on my glass. The aroma was roasted malt, caramel, potpourri and alcohol..fairly consistent with the barleywine category. The flavor is full bodied with mild carbonation....heavy alcoholic front with vanilla and caramel...almost sugar candy tongue coating going on here. Heavy sweetnesses from start to finish....heavy alcohol presence... reminds me a lot of Brown Shugga...

Pours cloudy amber/brwon hue with no head. Aromas of brown sugar, tobbacco, leather, smoke and a hint of spice. Flavors of brown sugar, caramel, honey and old hops.

My first Free State beer. it jumped out of the bottle a light brown color and landed in the glass with only a few large see-through bubbles on top. The aroma was that familiar barley-wine aroma showing its aged malt and caramel, and telling us of its alcoholic strength...Firm bitterness in the flavor with a solid backing of aged malt and swirls of vanilla. An oily palate and pretty damn bitter. Quite nice, though certaintly not top 50 quality.

Bottled from a growler (Vintage 03) - Deep turbid browns and crimsons, super thin white head. A rich nose of musty caramel, fig, plum, chocolate, and rum raisin hit up front, followed by lesser notes of bitter citric fruit. Intense flavors of all the above and extremely well balanced. Lighter side of the full bodied spectrum, very light carbonation (due to re-bottling I’m sure), slightly syrupy, smooth, bitter-sweet finish. This brew was tremendous! I bet this is just as amazing when fresh....so I’ll dream. Thanks csbosox via footbalm via hopscotch.....

(Tap at brewery) Pours a lighly hazy deep mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma of bread, caramel, fruit, alcohol, and spices. Flavor of caramel, some fruit, corriander, and raisins. Reminded me of a vintage English ale. Smooth, somewhat slick and oily mouthfeel with a warming sensation in the finish.

Rerated with a 2003 vintage in November of 2005. The only difference I noticed was a bit more alcohol in the nose and a little note of smoke in the flavor. From the 2001 vintage sampled in 2005. Served in a snifter. Poured a cloudy brown and red with a trace of yellowish head on the edges. Sweet caramel and oranges in the aroma. There is also toast and some rich vanilla. This has orange peels, smoky moss and caramel. Also hints of toffee in the taste. Fairly sweet as you would expect of an aged barley wine. This has a thick and slick mouthfeel. Not sticky at all. An excellent barley wine.

Thanks to footbalm for hand bottling this one for me. Eric is awesome, and this beer is, too. Pours muddy brown with little head. Big, complex aroma of huge malt, dark fruit, some soy sauce, chocolate, black pepper and other spice, cognac, and scotch. Tastes malty, very dark fruity, with some chocolate syrup elements, and big black and Bell pepper at the finish. Very smooth, dense palate. As it warms, this one gets even denser, dark fruitier, with even more chocolate and black pepper. Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Thanks to Captaincougar. Poured a hazy tawny color. Aroma was sweet and fruity with caramel and sugar. Flavor was malty and sweet with more caramel. Long hop bitter finish and light alcohol. Medium to full bodied.