Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

Serve in Snifter

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Draft at crunchys. Nice color and aroma but much more bitter flavor than I had hoped. Hop heavy taste. Almost like an IPA.

Draft at Stone tap takeover at Crunchy's. caramel/amber color with a beige head. candy, dried fruits, and dark sugar aromas. Bitter and a bit hot.

Red orange appearance. Aroma is big toffee. Taste is toffee, bitterness, resin, with a good balance of bite. Massive malt build here. Palate is lingering hops. Overall, great American style barley wine, comparable with the Bigfoot.

Aroma is caramel malts, medium sweetness and a hint of earthiness. The flavor is caramel malts, fruit, a good hint of hops and a lactic/sourish finish.

22 fl oz / 650mL bottle into a tulip. Served cool. Aroma: Unlike anything I have smelt before, as far as beer goes. It smells pretty boozy. Pretty malty, too. The hop profile smells like a Stone beer’s hop profile, if that makes sense. I’m having a hard time describing the aroma, but I assure you it is wonderful. Appearance: Very handsome. Barely translucent deep, dark amber with a tan-ish head. Taste: Incredibly malty and hoppy. The 11.6% ABV is nicely masked. You can taste that it’s strong, but you’d never guess it’s that strong. Quite lovely. Palate: Full body. Long, long finish. Flavors linger. Kind of warms. Overall: My first barley wine ever! Pretty fantastic. Flavors are direct, but have lots of depth and character. Delicious stuff.

Wonderful huge IPA front end with smooth sweeter finish. Barrel aged taste without smokiness. Fantastic continually developing palate as the beer progresses. Comes in a bomber size bottle, one is all you need. It is fairly strong but not overly alcoholic tasting. Great beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Crystal clear amber pour. Medium off white head. Very smoky woody aroma. Very smooth flavors. All malt up front with a medium hop presence in the middle. Alcohol starts to show up in finish. Nice beer. ---Rated via iPhone

2007 vintage on tap at blue monk. Dark golden amber pour with a substantial off white head. Smells sweet with citrus - hops have definitely subdued a bit over the years. Taste is very sweet up front. Orange blossom, citrus, toffee, almost taste some bourbony overtones even though it isn’t barreled. The hops take over quickly on the back of the tongue, but have an interesting relaxed aggressiveness. Long bitter finish.

Aromas of red berries, raisins, caramel, toffee, and light cocoa. Light ruby with orange highlights, and a mostly lasting, rocky, white head. Off-dry, nutty, bitter, and savory bordering on salty. Medium body, low carbonation, strong, and with a somewhat briney finish.

Malty grapey slight soy and woody smell. rusty dark amber color. Dry bitter hop flavor with dry grapey malt and little sodium kick and hot booze finish. Smooth dry and a little hot on the palate.