Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

2-3-08 bottle shared at tasting
Smell is malty sweet cheap booze with some floral hints in there. Thick amber brown with white head and light lacing. Alcohol is very present and not well balanced. There is nothing to this aside from the sweetness and the abundance of obvious alcohol. Just not impressed. I thought this would be at least fairly enjoyable - but not at all really. Ho hum.

’07 Old Guardian BW [released 1/07]-on tap -pours an off white head and gold color. Aroma is medium malt-sweet, medium/dark fruit, raisin/plum/prune. Taste is medium malt-sweet, medium/dark fruit, raisin/plum/prune, spices, secondary hops, alcohol, syrupy. Sipping.

05’ on tap at Stone. Amber-copper...holding up nicely with a rich, smooth, full body of malts and hops and a touch of oxidation. I’ve had this when it was fresher and will give some points remembering Old Guardian as always being lovely.

ajm’s review below mine sums it up well. I found this to be very lackluster, and bland.

bottle shared with MiguelMandingo Pours dark amber to copper with a fair amount of transluscency. Smell is very mildly malty with a hint of alcohol and almost what I would expect an oxidized beer to be like. Taste is equally mild flavorwise with a hint of maltiness, balancing hops, but a subdued flavor overall with good bitterness on the finish and a noticeable alcohol presence. Below average for sure, I felt.

I don’t drink this often, but I don’t need to. A massive double IPA hop profile with a very distinctive burn like there’s bourbon in it. Sharper than I like the style to be, but balanced all the same.

Bottle. Pours copper with dense moderate beige head, lacing. Aroma is sticky toffee malt, mild fruity hops - pineapple, passion fruit, strawberry - grain spirits. Flavor is grainy sweetness, mild fruitiness, vanilla, heavy alcohol burn, resiny hops. Prickly alcohol and light lingering bitterness in the finish. Palate is thick, mildly oily, with lots of alcohol notes. Powerful stuff, alcohol flavor is prominent.

Beautiful caramel color with caramel sweet aroma. The sip begins with a caramel sweetness and ends with a pine hop bite. Really sweet, really hoppy. A lot of everything…taste bud overload in a delicious way. A good way to end any session, as it will kill your tastebuds for the rest of the day.

2008 Bottle. Pours amber colored with thin head and decent lacing. Very sweet and strong aroma of malt, alcohol. Hops are not all that present in the aroma but come through in the taste. Very well balanced by the malt (caramel, toffee). Will definitely be picking up a few to cellar.