Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

Pours and orange-ish peach color. Creamy head and very carbonated. A lot of grapes and alcohol in the nose. Great spice presence and a small amount of hops. Strong alcohol flavor, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and grapes. Great mouth feel smooth and comfortable. Good beer but a bit unbalanced.

Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 01-29-2007 23:16:39 I had been anticipating this one for a while. It pours a nice ruddy orange color with a really good head (maybe I poured too fast). The smell is not very strong. The taste is average barleywine and alcohol. This is the first Stone beer that has ever disappointed me. it wasn’t bad but I always expect to be blown away by Stone seasonal beers (I usually am). The alcohol was pretty noticeable but I think in a year or two this one will be awesome. I plan on picking up a case for aging purposes. Update: 06/2007: This tastes much, much better after having six months behind it. I have to adjust my review accordingly because the flavors really made me smile this time.

So I’m crushing with my Honkeybra, aight, and he’s like, "I wanna hear the description." So I pull out my microscope and read the whole thing off and by the end he’s almost done with the brew. Needless to say, he was in a much more intense mood than I by the end of the description.

2008 Version: Apricot colored with a white head sitting atop it; spotty lacing and little head retention. Pine, strawberries, caramel, and even some mint in the aroma. Brown sugar, caramel, toffee, some citrus, and some strawberries in the taste. Medium to full bodied with medium carbonation. Alcohol is very well hidden for 11+%. I always look forward to trying this every year, the 2007 was a bit disappointing, but the 2008 was quite enjoyable.

2008 bomber poured reddish orange with a generous head that grew substantially after the end of the pour. Great retention and lacing. First impressions on the nose were of malts with a bit of caramel, then some citrus hops seemed to poke through. Barley flavors were distinguishable in the taste, balanced by the citrus, most notably grapefruit, hops flavors. Well carbonated, medium bodied, the alcohol is evident but not overpowering.

A cloudy bronze beer with a modest head that dissipates quickly and leaves lace. Quite light in color for a BW. The aroma is fruity hops and dried fruit with some sweet malt and a hint of roast notes. The flavor is quite bitter, not as much maltiness as I’d like, with a similar dried fruit (perhaps fig or prune) to the aroma and some definite alcohol heat. Finishes quite bitter, not unlike an imperial/double IPA. All in all, a quite hoppy BW, not bad As it warms the alcohol becomes much more prevalent in both aroma and flavor, which hurts the beer.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a red amber with a small to medium white head. Aroma is not very strong, but is fruity and sweet with some alcohol and some light honey aromas. Taste is spicy and hoppy with significant grapefruit and bitterness, along with a significant alcohol presence and some more fruity and caramel flavors, which all work together fairly well after the first couple sips. Palate’s a bit watery, but still solid. Definitely grows on you as you drink more of it.

Pours deep hazy dark amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of fruit, malt, hops, toffee, and pine. Taste is of toffee, caramel, citrus, fruit, and pine. Finish is bitter and a little alcoholic. Mouthfeel is smooth and somewhat stickey.