Free State Old Backus Barleywine

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

Poured dark brown with small white head. Aroma of sweet malt and raisins. Lots of malt character. Very mellow finish. Thanks to mreusch for the hook up!!

Growler acquired in trade with mreusch (thanks!). Poured a medium and cloudy / muddy brownish color with a very small sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, dark fruits, and a little earthy. Tastes of caramel, dark fruits, toasted nuts, and brown sugary sweet. Alcohol content well hidden.

Much thanks to hopdog. Pour s a deep brown with ruby red notes and a medium creamy/bubbly tan head. Aroma of dark fruits, nuts, toffee, molasses, prunes, cherries, some toasted malts, oak and light smoke. Flavor of prunes, roasted malt, some hop flavor, toasted grains, vanilla, smoke and light alcohol.

Thanks to theisti for this hand bottled selection to the 2nd Houston Tasting. Dirty brown pour with no head. Sweet, sweet malts with honey nose. Flavor is a bit hot with rich bready malts and soft hops. Full bodied, but easy drinking with a chalky finish. Thanks Tim.

Thanks for sharing this gem Yaniv! Reddish copper with a thin tan head. Leathery sweet malt. Earthy to fruit with nice raisins. Low carbonation. A big viscous, really smooth and nice. big and sweet. Hops makes this a bit on the tannic side. A good hit of raisins. Fruity alcohol. A bit caramelly. Substantial raisins in the finish. Substantial hops. A lingering roasty toasty bitterness the only flaw.

Thanks to Ken for this. Brown pour with little head formation. Sweet caramel, sugary aroma with some fruitiness. Flavor is sweet up front with a dry bitterness following. This is nice but an unpleasant lingering bitterness detracts somewhat.

Thanks so much for the growler Matt (mreusch), Shared this with others at In Circle city samplers. It went over well, here’s my (brief) take: The hop bitterness with the sweet caramel make for a great match. I can’t wait to finish this growler (& I’ll be doing it over football tomorrow, what a great day! Update: Old backus + giants win = awesome

Growler, courtesy of Gregis. Thanks, Greg! Pours a murky, deep amber-brown color; small, khaki-colored head with patchy lacing. Very dense, chewy aroma showing dried red fruits (cranberries), caramel, leather, and a solid bitter citrus character; dense with reserved bitterness. Intense, chewy caramel and dried red fruits upfront in a full mouthfeel; some tea-like malts - an almost tannic presence; enormously full and generous barleywine with a solid hop presence and emphasis on tea-like malts and caramel at the core. Lengthy, caramel and tea through the finish.