Southern Tier Back Burner
“first brew of the year”
Long ago, British farmhouse brewers made special ales using the first runnings of the
mash. These beers, now called barley wine, are brewed in the tradition of days past.
At Southern Tier this long awaited brew is placed on the back burner until the start of
the new year. Back Burner Barley Wine is a celebration of things to come and things
remembered. It’s conceived in three small batches, using voluminous amounts of barley
and hops. The process starts early in the morning and ends late into the night. We hope
this rare brew reignites your spirit for another trip around the sun.
10% abv. • 15ºL
Long ago, British farmhouse brewers made special ales using the first runnings of the
mash. These beers, now called barley wine, are brewed in the tradition of days past.
At Southern Tier this long awaited brew is placed on the back burner until the start of
the new year. Back Burner Barley Wine is a celebration of things to come and things
remembered. It’s conceived in three small batches, using voluminous amounts of barley
and hops. The process starts early in the morning and ends late into the night. We hope
this rare brew reignites your spirit for another trip around the sun.
10% abv. • 15ºL
3.8
834 reviews
Lakewood, United States
Community reviews
Bottle at home. Over three years old. Has a clear, dark amber color and a small, light beige head. Aroma of caramel, black currants, leather, grapefruit, pine and some ammonia. Rich flavor of pine, leather, wood, caramel and grassy hops in the background. Has a silky and rich mouth feel, and a light bitterness. A powerful, round and sweet barley wine with a touch of hops in the background.
Bottle. Pours clear amber, with a small creamy offwhite head. Aroma is sweet roasted malts, with grains and some alcohol. Flavour is sweet roasted malts, with grain, notes of wood and a hot sting of alcohol, as well as raisins and notes of something herbal caraway-ish.
650 ml bottle from Cervezalandia.es, Spain. Dark red color with beige head. Aroma is caramel, bread and vanilla. Taste is sweet with caramel, malts, vanilla, and something like vanilla ice-cream. Some milk notes too on the aftertaste. Full body with low carbonation. Very nice!
Flaska från SB. 2011 vintage. Smak och doft av humle, karamell, honung, torkad frukt, russin, madeira. Rund och len, fruktig, fina smaker, stor sötma men som är välintegrerade med övriga smaker, välbalanserad helt enkelt.
Flaska från SB. 2011 vintage. Relativt stiltypisk BW utan särskilt mycket humle. Stor söt kropp med stora djupa dofter och smaker. Karamell, honung, toffee, molass, söt torkad frukt, russin, madeira väl integrerade smaker och alkohol, komplex, känns nästan äldre än sina fyra år men har fortfarande mycket kraft. Riktigt gott.
On tap at the GA Chapter Room. Dark brown pour, with a thin, beige head. The aroma is toffee, dates, molasses, spruce, black cherries, and some peat and black pepper. Very sweet flavor, with a nice background bitterness. Heavy body, fairly effervescent, velvety, creamy and smooth. This is a fantastic, complex, and well made beer. Brilliant nose, and a nearly perfect mouthfeel.
22 oz bottle. From the brewery.
Clear deep amber colour with a tiny head.
Dessert wine, a ton of sweetness and malt in the aroma.
Super sweet flavour with malt and portwine. Intoxicating.
Dark amber/cider color; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, hops, & fruit; Flavor of slight roasted sweet malt, caramel/syrup, spicy hops, dark fruit, citrus, and spice; Finish is slightly bitter; Nicely balanced; The alcohol is fairly well hidden; Not overly complex - but pretty decent.
Medium to deep copper, thick lace.
Full body, silky texture, well but subtly flavored, wonderful balance.
Sweet but not cloying, enough acidity and bitterness to balance.
Very malty but not surprizingly, almost no hops,
Bottle shared with esp0r & edvard at The "Esp0r #2000 Weekend in The Woods" 2014. Dark brown body with s small tanned head. Boozy aroma with vanilla, caramel, oak. Taste of alcohol, malt, mild fruit. Pertty sweet finish, with an alcohol/caramel aftertaste. Good, but too notable alcohols.
my favorite newbie of the night. nice malty, caramel tofee aroma. hops are there, but take a back seat (in the flavor as well). this is just a really nice sipper, more english leaning than american in style. very smooth."
Reviewed from notes.
This was poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a hazy burnt red color with tints of dark orange along the sides of the glass. The head was about a finger’s worth of white foaminess that mushroom capped and fell gracefully with a delicate lacing sticking to the sides.
The smell had a light prune, light fig with a light cocoa, coffee bean, vanilla, toffee complexities to combine fairly nicely.
The taste was mainly sweet through the previously mentioned flavors with a decent boozy taste to it.
On the palate, this one was a sipper as it came across about a medium to heavy on the body. The carbonation was somewhat constrained. There was a moderate dry vanilla aftertaste that lead to a dry sweet boozy finish.
Overall, I say this was a pretty good Barleywine I’d have again.
22 ounce bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but probably from early 2011. Pours fairly crystal clear dark ruby red color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of raisin, prune, fig, cherry, date, molasses, toffee, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light roast, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruitiness and dark/bready malt sweetness; with good strength. Taste of raisin, prune, fig, cherry, date, molasses, toffee, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light roast, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Minimal earthy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, prune, fig, cherry, date, molasses, toffee, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity of fruitiness and dark/bready malt flavors; with no cloying sweetness after the finish. Light carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a creamy and fairly slick/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice well aged barleywine style. All around good balance and complexity of fruitiness and dark/bready malt sweetness; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering. This definitely tasted older than a 2011 bottling, but there is no real way to know for sure.
Transfer from BA review on 11-10-12-
Poured from 22 oz bomber into snifter glass
Appearance- The beer pours a deep copper- red color with highlights of amber and a small off white head. The head fades very rapidly leaving a few bubbles to linger on the surface of the brew and leaving a light level of lacing on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is bready and sweet. A sweet aroma of caramel, cherries, apple, and toffee are plentiful mixing well with a big bready smell. With the sweet and malty is a decent showing of a nice bourbon aroma.
Taste – The taste starts out of a bready taste with hints of caramel and dark fruit sweetness. As the taste advances, a strong toffee sweetness comes to the tongue with it mixed with a lighter herbal flavor. As the taste moves on further the sweet fades slightly with an oak and bourbon alcohol flavor coming to the tongue. These two flavors grow quite a bit stronger at the end and mix with an earthy hop to leave a lingering sweet and earthy bourbon flavor on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the slightly creamier and thicker side, although for a 9.6 % it is not all that exceptionally thick. The carbonation level is quite appropriate for the style as it is on the lower side. The lower carbonation and the slightly thicker body allow the sweet, boozy, oak and lightly hopped flavors to linger on the tongue.
Overall - A rather interesting barley wine with a rather diverse flavor profile. While on the sweeter side, there are also good flavors of a bready, hoppy and boozy flavor. The transitions in the taste are all rather smooth and with it not being a booze bomb like some barley wines it is somewhat easy to drink. Worth a try if you have a chance.
A small finger of just off white head sits on top of a mahogany reddish brown colored beer. The body looks thick and blurry when held up to the light. Its head quickly fades to a slick ring of lace. In the nose I get a big blast of sweet, rich, bready and somewhat fruity malt. Hops can also be found in the nose and they add just a touch of citrus. The flavor is like caramel covered raisins and baked apples with hints of plum and nectarine wrapped up in sweet bready and pie crust like maltiness. Add to this a nice warm boozy character and some mellow hops with modest notes of citrusy grapefruit rind and herbal bitterness. It feels quite firm on the palate and smooth but still lightly carbonated.
Botella de 65 cl en el lúpulo en septiembre de 2012. barley wine con carácter, tonos dulces de toffes y caramelos tostados con un toque ligeramente especiado y con sabores finales a maderas empapadas. Cuerpo medio con 9.6 vol que se dejan notar en todo momento. Bastante buena y para repetir sin duda.
6/39/14. Bomber on close out from Sam's. Pours a reddish toffee with a thin head. Mild nose with a big sweet toffee and light coffee mouth. Lots of booziness to round it out.
Bottle at home. Pours reddish amber, toffee and caramel, rich, fruity, bitter.
Rousse. Nez: Malt. Cerise noire. Caramel. Café. Sucre caramélisé (crème brûlé). Vanille. Bouche: très sucré. Caramel. Sucre d'orge. Petit côté légume (panais, citrouille). Très Vanillé. Excellente.
Tasty barley wine. Has that nice full raisiny sweet maltyness, altogether with some hops and spices.
Copper amber. Caramel, burnt sugar, malty sweetness, brown sugar, fruity. Maybe too much carbo, but good.
Deep amber in color... Aroma is sticky toffee, tropical fruits, oak... Flavor is maple syrup, caramel, big tropical notes of pineapple, punch... Hints of citrusy tropical hops on palate, oak... Delicious
Bomber, thanks sevenhokie! Sweet caramel and toffee malt aroma with some brown sugar and booze notes. Pours dark, cloudy copper colored with a thin white head and no lacing. Sweet toffee and caramel malt flavors with notes of dark fruit and brown sugar and a smooth mouthfeel. Finishes very smooth with the brown sugary sweetness that lingers on the palate as well as a bit of alcohol. Excellent barleywine!
5 oz pour at 5-17 brewery public day. Poured a red/orange. Aroma was some citrus, toffee, hint of bourbon, caramel, and wood. Taste was sweet, but overall good. I got mainly the caramel and oak in it with citrus following in the background. Overall solid. Wouldn’t drink it daily, but it would be a nice treat here and there.
An absolute must for Barley wine enthusiasts. Yet another fine effort by Southern Tier. Pours a deep mahogany red. A sweet, syrup taste that lingers on the palate. Complex aroma. Recommended.
Bomber from Proof. Amber pour with a sturdy thin off-white. Aroma is pleasant sweet caramel, toffee, booze brown sugar. Tastes are bready, barley, sweet - but not overly. Good balance. Tasty sipper.
Pours a nice maghonany red with a nose of vanilla. Hints of cherry, bourbon and candy sugar mingle for a complex taste that lingers on palate. Taste changes as it warms. A great Barleywine!!
Una travolgente ondata di gusti si riversa sul palato con questo barley wine davvero speciale. Caramello, toffee, per una consistensa quasi burrosa che sostiene la forte e equilibrata presenza alcolica e rilascia un sottofondo fruttato ed effimero di uva e buccia d’arancia. Incredibilmente gustosa.
Poured from bomber, clear amber orange with two fingers of foam. Slight nose of cherry and molasses. Tingly tongue of sweetness, dark candy sugar, alcohol tingle, vanilla, bourbon notes.
13 dec 2013, bottle. Light red, clear, no bubbles. Nose is sweet malt, mild grassy hops, mild alcohol, faint raisins. Thin body and mildly fizzy. Rich malt, fresh wet grain, alcohol. Great!