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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Bottle-In the vaults of HI International. Super hoppy and intense, as expected. Some caramelly malts, huge pine orange hops in here, and pretty bitter. Some lychee. Very noticable alcohol in the finish, tasty, but a bit raw.

UPDATED: JUN 11, 2011 Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is medium to dark amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (caramel, cookie), lightly to moderately hoppy (apricot), with notes of dried tropical fruit (mango, papaya), tangerine, alcohol. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium to full body, watery/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, heavily alcoholic. Starts off relatively promising with a very fruity/estery nose, but it’s too boozy and watery and stark in the mouth to be as much pleasure to drink. Not bad, but needs work.

Draft. Light orange color with big ivory head. Citrus and malt aroma . Nice lacing. Another Stone over the Top beer. Alcohol is the firstthing that hits the palate. This stuff will kick your ass. Sour and sweet and bitter. I thought the alcohol taste was a bit much.

Bottle, 65 cl, thanks deft. Hazy amber, medium tan head. Earthy malt aroma, some burnt sugar, spicy and citric hops. Full bodied, medium carbonation. Dry finish with a firm bitterness, and slightly metallic. Overrated.

’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.

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.

From a bomber into a water glass. Pours a dark brown/red with an inch of fluffy, cloudy head. Moderate amount of lacing. Aroma is of flowery and piny hopps. Mouthfeel is actually not as thick as I would have thought for a barleywine, but sticky nonetheless. Taste is piney hops with some grapefruit and pineapple. This is a VERY hoppy barleywine. Not a personal favorite of mine, I prefer my barleywines a little maltier. This is more like a quadruppel IPA. Not my thing but good none the less.

Bottle - Pours amber with a ring of white head. Nose is real malty and sweet, with caramel with light yeast. Not much hops left in this one. Taste is the same--sweet and malty, with caramel and yeast notes and a bit of oakiness on the finish. A touch of hops left on this one. Thick and slick, with lots of warming booze. Would like to try this one fresh when it still had hops.

Pours a dark, hazy amber with a medium off-white head that falls quickly but not completely. Nose is hoppier than I would expect, but in a good way, pine, citrus, and some floral notes over malty toast, hay, hazelnuts, and a somewhat odd sugary aroma, almost like bubblegum. Taste is a nice balance of malt and hops, with the hops finishing strong and long. Very bitter finish, but the malt character on the front end is nice. Still, perhaps a tad bitter for my tastes within the style. Palate is definitely strong alcohol, full bodied. Alcohol is a bit heavy, but I’m sure would mellow with age. I’d actually much like to age one to see if the hops mellow as well. Overall a bit hot and hoppy for my tastes, but those characteristics could change with age and reveal an excellent brew.

Amber clear. Tan head. Powerful but has a bit if mellow to it. 2011version. This beer makes me wish I had a cigar. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone