Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

2007: Pours a rich honey copper color w/ a medium sized, semi creamy froth. A full canopy w/ a thick and creamy ring of lace. Aroma is that of richly carameled leather. Full nectar w/ mellow residual effers creates a creamy texture. A decadent malt profile meets a persistant hop component that performs a beautiful balancing act. It takes alot to tame these two beasts but they work simultaneously in unison to create a work of art to be remembered. Flavors of viscous caramel, leather, and citrus rind are dominant. Then comes the apple nectar, vanilla, ripe black cherries, and a bit of toffee w/ a burnt match, sulpher saltiness. Theres a peachpit bittering on the finish that lingers forever breaking down the malty sweetness. It leaves my tongue parched. Awsome! ******2006 scores 3.7: Malted caramel nose. Pours a rich, thick nectar w/ minimal froth. Seemingly mellow from the nose, it comes right up from underneith you and bites you w/ raspy citrus blades. Big time malted caramel w/ a hop that steals the show leaving your palate useless. What ever may have been there is now gone. Not sweet at all. brb. moments later...wow, the flavor has changed drastically. Has become so mellow, where’d the citrus go ? Now I can grasp the candied fruit, even cinnamin, and leather. The followthrough is kinda week for these guys. I wanted more flavor. Overall; a good barley wine

Bottle. Pours nice looking amber, ruby with nice head. Strong roasty aroma. Bold, flavorful, complex, malty flavor, some smoky notes, very hoppy as well. Very aggressive but well balanced. Strong.

Another solid brew from Stone Brewing Co. Aroma has a bit of alcohol, fairly mellow. Tastes quite hoppy, but very tame compared to a ruination or something like that. heavier mouthfeel. I’m generally not a big fan of the alcohol flavors, but this finishes very warm, and even the high alcohol% is not a problem with all the hops involved.

2007, 22 oz bottle. Pours with a small frothy off-white head. There is hardly no lacing and the head fully diminishes. Looking through the glass it looks flat, there are no bubbles floating to the surface. The color is half-way between brown and orange, probably mahogany. The aroma is of caramel, some citrus and slight alcohol. Then for the first taste. Very deep caramel malt notes, along with pine and citrus hops, possibly lemon? There are also hints of raisin, pineapple, cherry and some brown sugar. The first taste is very sweet with a moderate bitter bite to it, then the sweetness falls back and the true bitterness comes through which sticks to the back of the tounge for quite a while, it has a slight alcohol finish. It also has a very full body with a creamy texture. The carbonation is very soft. Overall I feel this is very good, I bought 2 bottles, one to drink fresh and one to celler for a few years to compare notes.

Glass: snifter Purchased at: Joe Canal’s Lawrenceville, NJ Price: $6.49 Size: 22 fl oz ABV: 11.26% IBU: n/a Estimated Calories: 400C RateBeer Rating: 97 Aural: uneventful opening, quiet carbonation, simple easy pour Aroma 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: sharp (alcohol) Impression: nice Malt Aroma: bread sweet nut caramel roast coffee Hops Aroma: mud mold clover rum rubber mango Other Aroma: grapes arugula pepper Notes: An amazingly deep set of aromas - very interesting. Appearance 4 out of 5 Color: dark Clarity: slightest cloudiness, almost clear Head Retention: poor Lace: poor Notes: The color has great depth and character, but there is little head to speak of. Flavor 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: sweet start with bitter finish Impression: amazing Malt Flavor: brown sugar rye walnut caramel dark chocolate liqueur roasted espresso Hops Flavor: dirt grasses star anise smoke grapefruit Other: mango, ashes Notes: One of the best barley wines I’ve ever had, and no surprise from Stone. Palate 5 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: drying warming Body: full Carbonation: average Finish Length: very long Intensity: very strong Balance: very bitter Notes: A fantastic finish that leaves you looking forward to the next sip. General Impression: 19 out of 20 Craftmanship: excellent Freshness: fresh Personal Taste: loved Notes: Except for the slight critique of the missing head, which is forgivable considering the alcohol content, which is well hidden, this is a nearly perfect BWSA. Great job, Stone, as per the usual. This brew was purchased to celebrate the finish of my summer 1 Mediation class at Rider University in the Graduate Program for Organizational Leadership. The review of this fantastic ale is dedicated to the efforts of Jon Millen and the COM 390 class. Collaboration, not litigation. Address : <http://beercritic.wordpress.com/>