Southern Tier Back Burner

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

Deep brown appearance with a small, off white head and moderate lacing. Slowly developing, nicely balanced aroma of caramel malts playing off the citrusy, resinous hops. Earthy taste is fruity, malty and bittersweet. Notes of citrus, softer fruits, caramel, toffee, biscuits and whole grains. Full bodied mouthfeel with a decent amount of carbonation. Alcohol is noticable but not overwhelming. Long lasting finish.

Deep mahogany colored liquid accompanied by a thin off-white head. Rich fruity aroma, notes of figs, plum, and some lightly toasted malts. Pine-like hops and a moderate bitterness are accompanied by light citrus notes and hints of roast/toast. Light caramel sweetness near the finish followed by another dose of hop bitterness.

This is a solid, solid barleywine. Unassuming warm, typical, nose, as well as an "I’m here, but that’s about it" appearance, but then things get interesting. Big, nicely smoothed taste and extremely crisp palate make this a drinker at 10%. Not sweetened or otherwise altered like some Southern Tier beers. In short, yet another extremely well-done "extreme" beer from ST.

Whoa! Big ole hoppy bitch here gang. 22 oz. brown bomber bottle. No freshness date seen, but none needed at this high an ABV either. Columbus hops assault your nose as soon as it’s opened. Poured out a deep amber color, sticky tan head, exceptional clarity. It has to be filtered. Too bad, because that means it won’t age worth a shit. Better drink it young. Aromas include Columbus hops, sweet malts, some yeast. Flavors are of sweet malts, burnt sugars, hops. Medium mouthfeel, average for a Barleywine. No burning alcohols, bonus points for that. Finished well balanced, which surprised me entirely.

Tap @ Cole’s, Thanks Mike! Deep ruby, no head. Nose is caramel, dark fruits, hops are buried way back. Flavor is caramel, dark fruits, cocoa, tobacco, slight black cherry. Tingly finish but no alcohol is noticable. Very low carbonation. Bitterness builds at the end but is never aggressive. It seems like they were going for something along the lines of Foghorn. They did wonderfully.

I was kind of overwhelmed at the beer store today with the choices of southern tier. they finally had jah-va and now they had a few new ones, backburner and hoppe. I actually bought this because it was $8 which is cheap for a bomber in philadelphia, unfortunately. I like the hop bill on this. Pours dark amber with a thin white head. Aroma is dominated by sweet caramel malts but you can detect a bit of amarillo grapefruit underneath. Body is thick and rich. Very syrupy and sweet. I think i’ve nailed centenniel down. very piney hop bitterness and reminiscent of bigfoot. A hoppy BW, which is my style, but a little too sweet. very enjoyable, but necessitates sipping. I’m glad you can’t detect the alcohol.

Bottle from Rivers Bend. Poured clear dark brown with an average fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished with fair lacing. Heavy dark tart fruit and alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a tingly texture. Heavy complex balanced flavor with a medium bittersweet finish that was long lasting. This is a standout complex out of the box beer.

Bottle from Capone’s. Clear ruby copper pour with 2-finger khaki head. Aroma of caramel malt, brown sugar, figgy fruit, slight nut and port notes. Medium to dense palate heft, with flavor notes of caramel malt, brown sugar, and mid-palate figs, plums, port, slight cognac, and slight oaky earthy notes. I consider this one a very good barleywine.