Free State Old Backus Barleywine

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

Serve in Snifter

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Hand bottled by csbosox(grolsch style) Thanks man! 03 vintage. Small tan head, fair retention, minimal lacing. Hazy, dark brown color. Big fruity nose, hints of raisins and sweet malts, lightly roasty, gorgeous! Med/full bodied, delicate creamy texture, great mouthfeel. Juicy malt and hop flavors. Big fruityness, caramel mallts and some chocolate malts with an interesting roastiness also. A seriously complex brew, need more to get the full effect, hmmmmmm.Finish is medium dry, fruity and lightly roasty. One of the best all around B-wines i,ve had in awhile. Thanks for a shot at this hard to get brew Chris.

Big thanks to Kegatron for sharing this one with us all at Stakem’s Fish Fry. This growler is over a year old. A - Pours slightly hazy dark amber with a nice one finger tall light tan head leaving thin strings of lace down parts of the glass. S - Smells amazing right off the bat. Lots of brown sugar, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, and a bit of dark fruit at the end of each sniff. T - Starts off with a big dose of sweetness - mostly toffee, caramel, butterscotch and a bit of molasses - slowly giving way to a bit of dark fruits and some dulled hop bitterness. Very little, if any, booze is present but there is definitely a touch of oxidation in this one but, like the booze, it never gets in the way. M - Big body with a smooth, creamy feel with moderate carbonation. The feel works extremely well with the flavors to create an easy drinking yet potent barleywine. O - Damn, this is one fine barleywine. I have had some great barleywines in my travels but this one is one of the best. Simply awesome stuff, hope I get to try it again some day.

From notes. First reviewed 2/10/2012. Poured from a 64 oz. growler courtesy of kansascitytrader through AgentZero. Thanks for sharing guys! The beer pours a fairly murky, flat brown color with a ruby miniscus and a small wisp of a tan head. The aroma is harsh and boozy. The smell is heavy on the dark fruits and lighter on the caramel and brown sugar malt notes. Rum-soaked raisins, plums, and figs, with additional sugar and alcohol presence. The flavor is not quite so severe. The flavor starts and stays very sweet, with a little bit more balance than I was led to believe existed from the nose. Brown sugar and toffee coat the figs, raisins, and plums, but the bready malt gets lost behind a still-intense booze and oak character. The finish is fairly boozy. It has a harsh flavor, but there could be a good beer hiding behind the rough edges. Old Backus is very light on the carbonation and the grainy nature of the beer contributes to a fairly rough feel on the palate overall. I have definitely smelled and tasted barleywines with very rough aromas at first that have mellowed out into beautiful beers. Unfortunately, with only the opportunity to try this one fresh, it has not had any time to develop.

It poured a dark brown color with a tiny head. The aroma was of caramel, fruit, and some malt. The flavor was similar, but with added hops. This was a very good Barley Wine.

Growler shared by the BA guys. Always rockin’ it. Pours rich brownish hue, amber glowing edges, with good haze. A frothy whitish head sits atop and laces ok. Aromas are biscuits and toast, dry florals, bread, and dry yeasty spice. Mellow sweetnessn quite dry for such a beer. Initial is heavier end of medium bodied, offering some decent dryness, touches of toast, spice. Mellow biscuits, dryness. middle shows some mellow sweetness, caramel, biscuits. Dryness offers earthy hops. Some mellow spice. A firm beer yet a bit forgetable for such a big offering.

growler... 2 separate pours within a week, the first was atrocious, the 2nd was better but a very poor bw, this must needs tons of time... don’t bother with this batch

The aroma is sweet & slightly boozy yet captivating. The pour is copper with almost no head. The palate is wonderul for a beer this strong! Very robust & flavorful. Similar to dogfish 120 just not as thick. This is a great beer. My only knock would be it’s a little thin.

2009 Vintage A: Brackish orange-brown body, thin pale khaki head, a few stray wisps of lacing. S: Rich caramel malts are accented by earthy notes of tobacco and leather. Some dark fruits and citric hops in the background. T: Like the nose, caramel dominates. Toffee, lightly roasted malts, leather, tobacco, raisins, orange-hop bitterness, and residual booze notes. M: Medium-full bodied. Moderate carbonation, creamy texture, with a clean, slightly bitter finish and some residual heat a few seconds later. Nice. O: Overall I could see why this beer gets high marks, the nose and flavor are complex... ultimately, however, I thought the creamy caramel complexion was a little out of balance and perhaps tiring. M, Wooden Hell, King Henry, Arctic Devil, CWBBBW, and Alpine Great are superior beers in this category.

This is an ok BW. The aroma is pleasing but typical. had good head, and nice carbonation (mouth feel).variety of tropical fruits and some nuts

On tap at the brewpub. Comes a cloudy reddish brown with a tiny biege head. Aroma of malt, caramel, dark fruit and brown sugar. Taste is caramel malt, dark fruit, brown sugar, hops, and alcohol. Complex. Was a nice way to finish the evening.

2009 vintage. Pours a cloudy amber/chestnut brown color with a one finger beige head that slowly settles into a lasting ring. Sporadic spots of lace left behind. Earthy aroma with lots of leathery malt, booze and dark fruit. Hints of caramel, toffee and hazelnut along with hints of sweet fig, plum, raisin and subtle hops. Medium bodied with a good balance of earthy/leathery malt, dark fruit and boozy sweetness. Hints of caramel, toffee, nut and caramel along with notes of fig, plum, raisin, date and alcohol. There is a slight hop bitterness but at this age it has faded quite a bit into a faint presence. Some nice alcohol sweetness and slight heat but the overall the high ABV is decently masked. I would love to try this fresh for a comparison.