Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

Bottle of limited early2009 fro m 3 Sons. Sweet with tobacco and grass notes, better as it warms, nice finish with plenty of hops and malt packed in for a great beer. Fair head and dark amber color.

Limited Early 2009 Release. 1 pt 6 fl oz bottle poured into 16 oz snifter. Sweet, thick ,hoppy aroma reminicent of an imperial/ double IPA. Nose is subtley warm and very malty. The body is huge with very rich malt and hop notes and tons of alcohol. There’s a pleasant amount of sweetness in this barleywine but you’ll get knocked on your butt after a few gulps. Finish is full of malt and alcohol. Less like a barley wine and more like a titanic Imperial IPA. A fantastic beer for deep cold of a Rochester winter and one that will last you all evening. A pleasure to drink and another fine brew from Stone!

Pours hazy amber with a nice aroma of hops and candy. Flavor is dominated by the powerfully sweet malt and bitter and sourness from the hops.

pours out in a cloudy dark sunset oarnge with a tannish off white head that appears to be thin but is holding well. there is nice lacing and the body is cloudy dark oarnge with no to many bubbles rising. smells of a yankee candle citrusy fruity pine sol aroma. very piney and floral. it has awsome mouthfeel to it with notes of roasted malts that give it a toffee taste and kind of wheaty with the unmalted barley used in this this beer. hoppy also ,but not like an ipa or an american strong and does not leave a bitter aftertaste. moderate carbonation and i can sense some of the alcohol in the flavor. finishes kind of dry and has a plesant aftertaste. nice barley wine.

had the 2009. super potent barley wine with a nice malty flavor. hops were also present and balanced out the flavor very nicely and gave it good aroma. would like to try some of the older ones for a vertical tasting.

22oz 2009 bottle. Pours copper with a nice white head. Smells of hay, some citrus, and hops. Tastes of brown sugar, floral hops, and some dryness on the finish. I expect more complexity from a barley wine like this. The hops just dominate both the flavor and aroma. I would have no idea this was a 11+% or a barley wine if I tasted this blind.

Vintage 2009. Cloudy garnet with a cap of off-white heat which recedes to a patchy film. Aroma is bitter, resinous hops, alcohol, and sweet fruit. Taste is extremely bitter and alcoholic, though the malt shows up as the beer warms. An odd ash-like flavor gives this barleywine a refreshing crispness. Nice.

22oz - I try to like barley wines. They smell great, look great too. Then I have to taste them, and for me, sometimes more is just more. This one was better, but there’s too much going on for me. Too sweet, too strong, too much.