Southern Tier Back Burner

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

(22 oz. bottle (2008) from Julio’s Liquors, cellared for 8 mos. after purchase) Hoppy and sweet...Pours dark, slightly reddish amber with a thin light amberish-biege head. Aroma initially quite hoppy - sweet grapefruit. Later sniffs reveal some caramel, perhaps toffee and candyish malt. Mouthfeel is sticky and a little thick, light carbonation. Syrupy film coats inside of snifter as well as very light rings of lacing that quickly melt away. Flavor is hoppy with grapefruit and a bit of pine overlaying some candyish malt and light caramel. A hint of fruitiness. Pretty hot, esp. on the back end. Also finishes fairly bitter and leaves a lingering bitter aftertaste. All in all a pretty nice barleywine but not real complex.

Pour was ruby brown with a pretty good head and nice lacing. The aroma and flavor were dominated by caramel malt with a lot of fruity character hitting the tongue as well. Sweet, as expected, but not enough hops to balance out the sweet for me. Hop profile was predominantly pine but also citrus flavors as well. Good, but no where near my favorite in the barleywine category.

Poured a cloudy mahogany with a fizzy off-white head. Rich aroma of ruby-red grapefruit, pine forest, sweet wildberries, a bit of cinnamon. Taste is very well balanced with some citrusy hops nestling against some sweet and tart fruitiness, toffee, and a touch of brown sugar. A bit of tartness as well as some earthy hoppiness and some slight dryness, though nowhere near indicative of 10% ABV. A bit of hoppy tartness remains at the back of the palate after the swallow to serve as a reminder of the delectably balanced strong ale you have just enjoyed. I can’t completely put my finger on it, but everything here just really clicked. An excellent barley wine.

Bottle from jjpm74. Pours a dark amber with nice big off-white head. Carmalized sugar with some bread on the nose. Flavor is caramel with hints of spice and some nice hop chunks to it. Nice thick body with good dried fruit tones that finish this gem off.

From a bottle poured a hazy dark amber color with a fair amount of head. Nice strong sweet malty flavor with a slight alcohol finish.

22oz bottle. Pours murky reddish brown with a thin offwhite head. Smells sugary malty sweet and a bit spicy, maybe faint hops, slight oxidation. Tastes sweet and oxidized malty, slight fruit, maybe a hint of hop spice flavor. Full body, ok carbonation. Ehhh

Pours a deep dark copperish brown with a light tan head. Aroma is loaded with caramel, spices, citrus. and dark fruit. Flavor is initially malty and grows more robust with citrus, dark fruit, and spices. Finish is full bodied.

2008 Bottle - Thanks phhd! - Pours a beautiful ruddy copper with a small off white head...aroma is very hop forward, with some mellow fruity tones and a bit of cotton candy...flavour follows closely, and the hops are present, but it seems to get its bitterness from somewhere else, like a burnt sugar bitterness....finish is biting, but leaves a nice malty taste without any burn...different but solid...