Free State Old Backus Barleywine

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

Shared by bvc. 150 ibu? Really? Apparently this was the 2006 version so it had mellowed a bit. Nose of toffee, caramel, dark ripe fruity sweetness, sweet boozey notes, and some aged floral hoppiness too. Pours a dark reddish brown with a thin white head. Nice sweetness comes through with notes of dark ripe fruits, brown sugar, caramel, woody floral hops in the finish. Drinks nicely for 10.5%. Really malt heavy English Style, this aged very well and I liked the smoothness to the malty goodness.

On tap at Free State for the 20th anniversary. 2005 version. Pours a dark, muddy opaque, brown sugar body with a nice mahogany, fluffy head that dissipated slowly and remained minimally laced. Lots of prunes and bourbon in the aroma. Vinous and rugged malts with a sweet oakiness. A bit of hoppiness to it, but the big boozy-oak aroma really pushes everything else to the side. Really nice. Flavor is great as well. Lots of dark fruit and sweet bourbon oak. Semi sweet caramel and a bit of smooth nuttiness. Soft hops throughout and a very mild linger. The aftertaste is more woody than bitter and very warming. Palate is rather thin, but very smooth and sticky. Minimal carbonation. Overall, a great barley wine. Probably one of the thinnest I’ve ever had, but really packed with flavor. If I put together a "flavor to body" ratio list, this would be towards the top. Aging has done this one well.

Growler--thanks, BVC, Theisti, MReusch, Danny Manning, and whoever else helped us get a taste of this awesome beer. Opaque dark brown. Virtually headless, totally laceless. Big bourbon sweet nose that picks up some oak as it warms and breathes. Thick, sticky body. Caramel, figs, raisins, and port on the mid-palate. Mild nutty finish. Safe to say BA Baracas aquitted himself admirably this night in Seattle.

Growler that was hand delivered to me by theisti. Upon opening, the growler had a decent carbonation ’hiss’. Poured a nice slightly cloudy darker brown with solid head. Nose is sweet brown sugar, prune and leather with some rum and vanilla notes. Very smooth and the hops weren’t overly present in this one. Could be that I had the growler in my fridge for about 3 weeks before sharing. Very tasty barleywine that has the english style characteristics that I love. Thanks for hooking up the Seattle guys with this one...what a treat!

Generously shared by John from a growler. Poured a murky mahogany with a fizzy/frothy white head. Sweet aroma of honey wheat bread and some fruits. Flavor is a nice mix of sweet and dry with notes of maple syrup, fresh honey, a bit of wheat bread, leading to a contrasting hoppy and dry finish. Very flavorful and complex, in contrast to other one-dimensional examples we had experienced previously.

2006 version courtesy of mreusch. Pours brown with a thin white head. Smells of oak, dry malt, dark fruit, vinous. tastes of caramel, chocolate, earthy, nice bread pudding like finish. Excellent!

2006 on tap @ the brewpub, 2 years old. Multiple snifter fills. The color is murky reddish brown, sometimes pours with a small but lasting head, other times no head. Aroma is is strong with sweet, malty, raisin bread with strong notes of rummy black bread. Not strong on hops but I have been told when fresh this is extremely hoppy. Its not over the top on the nose but its still strong. Taste is thick with light fruitiness (in a good way, not astringent or anything), thick maltiness, with some faint roast that works well, and a lightly bitter rosy rum. Alcohol there but works well with the bigness of the beer, does not stick out much. Mouthfeel is very full yet not dead. Just a bit of burn down the throat on the first sip. Velvet-y feel on the cheeks. I kept drinking it, so I guess I liked it a lot. Stands up to the hype.

Bottle at Fins ... Thanks to Fin for a great weekend and some Real intersting beers... Huge Thanks to Casey for this 3yr old Bottle ... But also a huge thanks to mcbackus who posted a thread in trade forum that made me realise i hadnt entered this and about a dozen others. ... Amber ... sweet malts tofeee and vanilla nose .. Rich deep toffee ... some vanilla again ... deep vine fruits ... For me much better balanced that alesmith numbskull..