Free State Old Backus Barleywine

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

Deep brown colour with a tan head. vague roasted, fruity and alcohol sweet aroma with a light hoppy note. fruit and alcohol sweet flavor with hoppy notes.

(Hand bottle 65 cl) Courtesy of Storm. Pours an almost clear reddish brown with a beige head. Aroma of nuts, caramel, overripe fruit and alcohol. Quite full-bodied with sweet caramel, yeast, overripe fruit and aroma hops. Rather bitter finish. 260708

Clear brown with tiny beige head. Sweet vinious aroma with caramel, ripe fruit, chocolate and roasted malt. Sweet flavor with bourbon, roasted malt, caramel and roasted malt.

22 fl bottle. Pours clear and golden dark brown with a tan lacing head. Smooth vanilla and chocolate malt aroma. Flavour is solid caramel and liqourice and towards chocolate. Dark and roasted malt and liqourice flavour. Ends warming and roasted. Great.

Bottle [Sk8viking great American blind tasting] Small beige fizzy head that mostly diminished. Spare lacework. Pale mahogany color. Aroma of lovely thick vinous notes, bread, caramel, dried fruit. Over the palate came some hoppy notes with again alcohol, mild spice feel. Full bodied with a soft carbonation and thick alcoholic texture. Moderated to have sweet flavor with good counter bitterness. Lingering alcoholic and mild spicy – malty finish.

Thanks to glouglouburp for hooking me up with this rare treat!! 2007 vintage. Pours thick, lively, cloudy brown-red, with a solid tightly fizzy / foamy tan head. Dry aroma, woodsy and nutty, like strong sweet caramel malt aged in old oak, with hints of cocoa, marzipan and burnt rye toast. Taste - wow, that’s amazing - strong, near-boozy, but smooth, sweet-yet-bitter; I get light dry wood over a solid body of softly sweet malt, and it seems infused with lightly chocolatey hazelnut - damn that’s tasty. Thick, almost sugary body, not somewhat still, but softly astringent, and a long, long nutty balanced semi-boozy finsh - goddamn this is good stuff. I want more! Big, big thanks, Dany.

In short: A kick-ass barley wine. A bit low on hops but with such an extra decadent body every imperfection is forgiven
How: Hand-bottle from mreush. Drank a week after receiving them. Thanks a lot Matt for this rare kick-ass beer!!!
The look: Dark brown body with a small beige head
In long: Fantastic body, extra-full, somewhat viscous, barley-candy, appropriate medium carbonation. This is one dirty sick barley wine. Flavour wise there is a lot going into that beer, decadent caramel, figs, earthy tree barks, cigar leaves, dates, earthy tree roots, rather vinous, brown sugar and even more. Alcohol is never distracting. The beer is a lot more complex than it is intense, and that’s a good thing. This is an almost perfect digestive beer…. Smooth and decadent. I’m really thankful to mreush for that hand-bottle from Texas for me to drink home cause they don’t like "my kind” over there, I don’t own a gun.

2007 hand bottle from AgentSteve (via mreusch?). Tasted at WeeHeavySDs place. Great musty aged barleywine aroma. High viscosity. Dark amber color. Low carbonation. Some cardboard in the taste and a little past it’s prime. Not sweet or dry. Some bitterness.