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Stone Old Guardian (Vintages through 2003) 3.98 289

Stone Old Guardian (Vintages through 2003)

 (RETIRED)
Percentile
99
overall

bottling
unknown

on tap
unknown

distribution
unknown

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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
2894/5.03.98/5.0Winter9.91%97.3Snifter
Commercial Description:
A beautiful bold barley wine. Massive malt and hop notes. Silver Medal winner at the 2000 Great American Beer Festival in the Barley Wine category. Gold Medal winner at the 2002 World Beer Championships in the Barley Wine Category. Look for it in the first quarter of each new year. Can be cellared or enjoyed upon its release.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 21iceman40 (1731), vienna, West Virginia, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20

Jan 24, 2002    Updated: Feb 7, 2003
Remarkably powerful, yet very enjoyable. I feel it only appropriate to give this some more words. I actually got to enjoy samples of the last five years of this brew. The 99 was great, the 03 was damn fine also, but it was the o1 that had the greatest blend of hops and malts and just pure old age brewing power to create one of the best barley wines I have ever sampled. I appreciate how stone has five different tasting b-w's for each of the last five years. Respect/

 JohnnyJ (1436), Carlsbad, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Feb 11, 2010  
02 bottle from winter storm 2010. Pours a deep amber with creamy caramel color head. Dominated by chewy sweet caramel malt, lots of sugar, bready malt, notes of dried fruit, and very old hops. Very enjoyable, wish I had a few bottles of this.


mcbeyond (96), Newport Beach, California, USA
4.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/510/105/520/20
Feb 2, 2010  
Early 2003 Edition. Pours a dark copper with minimal head. Complex nose with fresh apples, vanilla, demerara sugar, berries, and wine vinegar. Palate is incredibly fruity on apples, melon, baked pears, tangerine with peel, bread fresh out of the oven, dark chocolate--strong dark chocolate all the way through to the long, dynamic, caressing finish. Absolutely divine!


 BierBauch (678), Cape Coral Waterfront Wonderland, Florida, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
Jan 30, 2010  
Deep golden with an orange hue and a thick head of foam that slowly developed as I poured. This is one heavy looking brew. Aroma is exploding with hops and sweet malt. Tropical fruit and citrus come to mind also with a bit of doughiness in the background. Hops are really out front here. Body is ultra smooth and full with low carbonation. The flavor here is really fantastic and I wouldn’t expect anything less from one of the best breweries anywhere.(God how do they continue to do it?) Lots of fruit in the flavor and bittering hops with a huge malt base that blends everything together. There’s also something spicy in there that I can not define yet adds to the enjoyment. Overall one I could drink often as with anything by Stone. Nice going guys!


 philbertk (855), Seattle, Washington, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/516/20
Jan 17, 2010  
Stone Brewing Company--Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale--2002 Release--22 oz. Bottle--9.91% ABV. (4.0 / 5.0) Barleywine--Clear rich dark amber color. Mild Barleywine flavor. Rich sweet hop front. Sweet thick body is hot with caramel alcohol hop flavor. Easy smooth end. Mellow Barleywine is odd for Stone. Sampled 4/10/2002.


 radagast83 (1357), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Sep 27, 2009  
22 oz. 2003 release. Pours an dark orange color with a small white head. Even after all this time, there is quite a bit of carbonation. Aroma is citrus, sweet caramel, with a touch of alcohol, though well hidden. Flavor is sweet, touches of citrus but not very hoppy after all this time. Aged quite well.


 LooseCannon (938), Norfolk, Virginia, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/105/518/20
Sep 15, 2009  
22oz Bottle 2001 vintage courtesy of TheBeerGod at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Pours copper in color with tan head. Aroma citrus hops and malt. Taste malty, sweet and citrus hops with bitter finish.


 zizzybalubba (455), Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/59/105/518/20
Jul 20, 2009  
22 oz. bottle courtesy of TheBeerGod at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown (2001 vintage). Pours reddish-orange with an off-white head. Surprisingly well carbonated considering this is 8 years old. Also surprisingly hoppy aroma for an 8 year old beer. This is just smooth for a barleywine. Incredibly well-balanced caramel sweetness balanced with bitter citrusy hops. The recent ratings are way too low in my opinion. This is extraordinary.


 dkachur (2666), Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/105/517/20
Jul 20, 2009    Updated: Jul 25, 2009
2001 22 ounce bottle shared by TheBeerGod at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Thanks Mike! Pours a red color with floaties. Medium head with good head retention and lacing. Aroma is toffee, nutty notes and citrus hops. Taste is strong citrus hops with toffee and caramel notes. Very bitter and well balanced. Full bodied. Extraordinarily impressive after all these years.



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