Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine (Red Wine Barrel)

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Snifter

[Draft @ UJ’s Manatawny] Murky red brown color with a small, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of pine, floral hops, caramel malts, red wine, citrus fruits, sherry, vanilla oak, toast, and toffee. Taste of pine, tobacco, sherry, red wine, citrus, caramel malts, red grapes, grapefruit, dark fruits, and a good amount of hops left, finishing with a fair amount of alcohol.

Moeder Lambic vs Stone. On tap A bit more cloudy then the BELGO one, bit darker as well. Nice light brown, off-white head. Sweet, nuts, fruits in the nose. Very sweet, bitter, well balanced. Powerfull aftertaste, bitter, with those hops coming back again.

Growler… Cloudy dark caramel ale with a small, fizzy, white head. The nose furnishes caramel and toasted oak with a splash of red wine. It’s just a hint medicinal, but fortunately no more than that... very slight. Full-bodied with a milky mouthfeel and pillow-soft carbonation. Bittersweet, caramely flavor with additional notations of toffee, brown sugar, oak and a faint medicinal component. Lengthy, lingering, bittersweet finish. Growler courtesy of Dstructo!

Pours a golden orange colour with no head. Aroma of malt, caramel or toffee, and red wine. Flavour is slightly vinous combined with the additional flavour of sweet malts, toffee/caramel.

On tap at Small bar as part of the Stone event. Drank side by side with the bourbon version. 2008 batch...Pours a medium mostly transparent copper, looks watery with a light tan head. Looks exactly like the bourbon...The aroma is rather dead, at first I thought I was getting aroma fatigue because the bourbon is very strong but finally I comes to the conclusion its just a very dead nose. A light hint of red wine and oak on the tail end of the finish...The taste brings a lot of flavor, more than enough to make up for the aroma. The taste is a typical barleywine, caramel, light hops but this is very smooth due the barrel aging. The wine barrels don’t bring out a much of a vinous character I think it more contributes to killing the alcohol of the barleywine. I prefer this version over the bourbon, but both are worth trying.

UPDATED: MAR 8, 2011 Draught @Brasserie 4:20 (Rome) - Red barleywine, good aroma of malt, sweet toffee and caramel. Taste is pleasantly sweet, then a bit of bitterness, not pronounced, quite shy. Medium body, a bit vercarbonated. Good.

Had on tap at the Stone Total Tap Takeover in Baltimore. ’09 Vintage. A-pours a deep dark amber color with a thin white head. S-the nose has hints of oxidation already, cardboard up front, light notes of oak with hints of the juicy red wine but faint. T-same as the nose with a little bit of envelope glue towards the back and some light bitterness in the finish. M-syrupy feel to it with a decently carbonated finish, juicy on the palate with a chewy malt body. D-oxidized, not horribly like some others at the event, barrel adds some nice flavors but they are light. i do enjoy their wine barrels I just wish they held up better.

Appearance: Served up a modestly-hazed orangey body with a wispy, near-white head. Smell: An initial sniff yields a faintly sweetish scent of bready malts with toffee and encrusted sugars. Then, some citrus rinds, follow by a whisper of oak wood and even less when it comes to the wine. Taste: Sweet uprush of toothsome, candyish caramel maltiness towing a subtle grainy breadiness behind it. Touch of citrus. Tart red wine character bringing in modest tastes of raspberry and rosehips. Slight flutter of tannins, follow by a pop of hop bitternes, which somewhat scuttles the wine character leaving only a dry, bitterish finish with plenty of alcoholic warmth. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: The wine pulls you in one direction, the bitterness pulls you in another direction, the alcohol pulls you in a third. It’s interesting, though, perhaps, not the smoothest presentation.

Tap at RnH for Stone tap takeover: much better than the belgo. Sweet toffee and caramel, vineous, raisins, woody, earthy. Nice complexity, prunes and figs. Nice bitter hoppiness.