Southern Tier Back Burner

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

Bomber. Pours a rich-looking ruby color with a thin uneven creamy white head. Sharp floral, spicy hop aroma with a rich fruity maltiness lying below. Nice smooth palate. The hops are definitely in the forefront, but as the finish comes through, a sweet fruitiness comes out. Any more English BW character would’ve been too much. A real solid BW.

Very clear, dark brown/mahogany with a thick beige head. Nice Centennial orange/tangerine hop aroma with some caramel. An easy-drinkin’ barley wine - on the lighter side. Starts with notes of wood, toffee, then PacNW hoppy grapefruit, orange, pine, some pipe tobacco, a little raisin and the lightest twinge of mint. Pleasant sweetness level. As mentioned, this one’s easy drinking so the body is on the medium side with with moderate carbonation. Comes across more like a hoppy/malty American Strong Ale moreso than a barleywine. Overall, good.

Fresh 09 bottle with the new labels. Pours a slightly unclear brown with a slight red hue and small frothy head. Really nice and typical American BW caramelly pine aroma. Flavor is similar, typical American BW, nice balanced but strong caramel and fresh piney hops, slightly toasty. Medium body, a bit sticky with a lighter mouthful. Easy drinking for a 10% brew. Really nice.

Semi filtered. Not much head. Odd upfront aroma, mild and not too strong, good amount of hops.

22 oz Bottle. Fresh. Split with friend. Pour is a deep murky purple/red. Head is just wisps of white and ring of white around the glass. Aroma is laden with spicy hops. Dry and dusty but they are well blended with a malt body of caramel candy sugar. The flavor is a pleasant blend of big sweet malt and cleansing spicy hops. An interesting beer. Not sure I would call it an English style BW, but I can see the reasoning with the dusty hops as opposed to the juicy resiny American hops.

22 oz bomber purchased at Oak Tree. Pours rather good looking for a barley wine with a deep mahoganey brown body and a small to average size frothy light biege head. Sweet aroma with notes of caramel, toffee, honey, citrus and a hint of earthy grass as well. Full bodied with light carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel. Sweet flavor with notes of caramel, toffee and brown bread that is just slightly dry. Once again a very solid offering from what is qucikly becoming my go to brewery from the east coast.

Gorgeously dark and deep burnt orangey brown. Firm smallish capping of lightly yellowish foam sits for good length before settling to a soild skim and a big bubbly collar. Tons of thinly placed sheeting which breaks apart into some webby strings and moth holes. Lofty aroma of big caramel malts parched with orangified piney hops and toasted breads. A bit of soft berries, molasses, raisin, and fig grows as it sits. Taste is just as good if not better and carries a very fine complexity to its flavor profile. Big on malts with some soft, soothing caramel mixed with alot of dark fruity acsents of fig, raisin, and berries. Semi tangy and sweet with a soft, silky, smooth body that’s delicately malty rich and thick with just the perfect amount of warmth off the end to round it off as a partial hop tone comes into play. Only a slight bittering bite of orange peel and pine nudges at the palate as it maintains its big malty profile and deep richness settling into the finish. Quite complex with some hints to brown sugar, vanilla, pear, and a whole lot of raisinyness. A bit of toasted grain moves across the finish as it warms with just right kind of Barleywine ABV hint as it finishes. Soft, full, rounded, thick, and rich body, not overly hefty nor hoppy and keeps a nice tone and malty creamyness and chewyness the whole way through. Oh, and the finish is just as soft and alluringly delicate as the rest of its nature with its small amount of warmth floating in over the maltitude of sweetness. Nice... A pretty fuckin’ solid Barleywine by Southern Tier. This will age well for those of you who do that sort of thing. But I found this fairly fresh bottle of Backburner to be dead-on, super nice, and yummalishious!! Brings memories of Old Guardian...when I can get it?!

Thanks to beerlando. Vanilla, molasses, creamy thick aromas. Pours dark amber. Malty upfront, molasses, smooth, with spicy hops, slightly bitter finish with a slight resin flavor.