Hop Grail
The Crossed Eyed Cricket
- Barleywine / Strong Ale
- 12% ABV
- Label approved Jul 23
Had it? My score
90 seek it out · 80 would buy again · 70 fine, wouldn't seek it · 60 disappointing · 40 flawed or drain pour
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Back Porch Brewing's Barleywine / Strong Ale. Label approved 23 July 2026.
Where to find it
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Readers' scores
About this beer
It's the only label we have from Back Porch Brewing. It is one of 10 barleywine / strong ale labels approved in July 2026. Its label was approved 8 days after it was submitted.
A cartoonish anthropomorphic cricket with exaggerated crossed eyes sits at a wooden barrel in a tavern setting, holding a glass of beer and raising one leg in a jovial gesture. The illustration is rendered in muted greens, golds, and browns with fine detail and shading, occupying the central two-thirds of the label against a dark olive background. The beer name appears in large bold serif capitals above the cricket, with decorative flourishes flanking it, while an ornate banner reading 'English-Style Barleywine Ale' anchors the bottom. The left side carries brewery information and tasting notes on a dark field; the right holds regulatory text and a barrel illustration.
From the label“The Crossed Eyed Cricket is a rich, malty English barleywine ale with a bold character and a warm, satisfying finish. This beer was aged for 4 months in bourbon barrels and then poured into a secondary hold more maple syrup at PATTERSON FARMS in Westfield, PA. The maple syrup absorbed the bourbon's depth, and those notes of maple now complement the rich-malt complexity of this English style classic.”
Brew it
A starting-point recipe from the style and the ABV on the label: derived, not tasted, and the sheet says which is which.
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Style: StrongBrewery: Back Porch Brewing