Southern Tier Back Burner

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Lakewood, New York USA

Hoppy. This tastes hoppy. Soapy and hoppy. The nose is weak. It smells like an IPA. The hops completely overwhelm the barley and malts. I like my barley wines to be chewy and malty. I like ’em thick and earthy. This just doesn’t do it for me. However, I actually like the beer. As a barely wine, I pass. It is overly hoppy, thin malt character, a copper color, and a small head. If you haven’t had it, it’s not bad to pick up. If you’re looking for a non-IPA barley wine, then move along, there are no droids here.

From a 22oz. bottle. A lovely clear dark copper color, not unlike tea. Luckily it tastes nothing like tea. Has a rather thin tan head, otherwise it would score higher for appearance. Almost a coffee/light citrusy aroma and you really can smell the hops, a Southern Tier specialty. A nice malty flavor but balanced with the the abundance of the different hops. A very nice, smooth aftertaste to it.

Sweet fruity caramel aroma. Dark amber with a small head. Nice flavor of dried fruit, molasses followed by a dry hop bitterness. Well worth a try.

22oz bottle. Aroma is toffee, dark caramel, pine, earth, and citrus hops. The aroma is somewhat faint, or maybe my nose is worthless after cooking Indian food all night long. The initial taste is very sweet, with toffee, dark caramel, rough pine, and lighter citrus notes followed by a strong earthiness, sticky residual sugars and warming alcohol. (ProMash has the final gravity at 1.031-pretty freaking high) A moderate bitterness persists in the finish. The alcohol and bitterness is keeping this beers high residual sugar in check. This is a nice enough beer, but it lacks some of the complexity of some of the better barleywines. Maybe some age would smooth this beer out? Of course some age might cause it to fall apart just as easily. If I revisit this, make sure it is an aged bottle.

Aroma is sticky, sweet, and medicinal plus citrus hops. Maybe a touch of alcohol, wood, and vanilla. Mouthfeel is soft and thick; it coats the tongue and is slightly syrupy. Taste is caramel, toffee, grapefruit, and a little vanilla. Smoother than expected, but then I’ve been cellaring this bottle for over a year now. Alcohol is slightly noticable in the taste. Good beer, and surprisingly drinkable.

Bottle. Ruby tinged amber. Small tan head. Nose is toasted malts, toffee, chewy caramel, some fruit notes and hops. Taste is hoppy and fruity with more toffee and chewy caramel notes, sweet malts, toasted notes and perhaps some brown sugar. Bit of alcohol and pine coming through as well. Body is thick and at times syrupy. Carbonation moderate. Finishes with more fruit notes, hops, light pine, toasted malt, sweet malts, dark fruits, alcohol, caramel, spicy notes and toffee.

Deep copper Ruby color. Mild 1 finger head. Great lacing. Aroma was not that big. Mild toffee hop/malt sweetness. GRRRReat thick chewy mouth feel. Semi sweet sticky. Good stuff. Great flavor. $6.49 a bomber.

22 oz bottle. Pours a deep ruby color with a small white head. Aroma is hoppy, malt, citrus, grains. Flavor is seeped in alcohol, with a very surprising crisp hop taste to it. Impressed, but like many of these beers - are difficult to consume when dealing with only one person drinking.