Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

2008 Bottle – Pours a bright orange/red that is rather cloudy. Smells of fruits, malts and hops. First sip is surprisingly light, creamy, and fruity. The hops are huge, even borderline sticky but not biting or overpowering. Finishes with a strong alcohol presence and a sharp bitterness. Great mouthfeel and a great Barley Wine.

From bottle. Part of April Dayton Beertasting event. Pours dark amber with large tan head. Aromas of toasted malt, toffee and hops. Excellent barley wine with slightly bitter finish. Love the Stonies.

Bottle. Poured a clear amber with a three finger tan head. Aroma of toffee, caramel and malt. Flavor was sweet with fruit and caramel, and finished with a hop bite. Full body with soft carbonation and an oily mouthfeel.

Pours a nice auburn with a big off white head. Aroma is sweet fruit, malt and some caramel. Flavor is more bitter than anticipated, but still has a ton of malt. Lasting finish. Good body/mouthfeel.

2008 bottle. Clear, light copper. Nose of toffee and other malty sweetness and that hoppy aroma that I love from Stone. The taste is a balanced explosion... Syrupy sweet malt giving way to pine/citrus hops. Full bodied, oily/syrupy thick. Great beer.

Clear amber with large beige head. Sweet aroma with notes of toffee, caramel, toasted malt and hops. Sweet flavour with alcohol, caramel, citric hops and toasted malt. Bitter finish with warming alcohol.

Early 2008 version poured into a Stone Old Guardian tulip glass for a perfect union of beer and serving container. Appearance is super clear bright orange hue, head is a good amount of white, condensed creamy foam, great swaths of lacing on the glass. Smell is fairly muted for a barleyiwine, some subtle caramel malts and a mix of pine/grassy/floral hops, tinges of alcohol. Taste is pure Stone, big pine resin hops and caramel malts mix together initially, transitions to some grassy sweet floral tones, finishes with sweet malt and alcohol warming. Mouthfeel is full-bodied, thick oily texture coats the mouth region, nice ample carbonation. Drinkability is good, this is a surprisingly sweet and mild barleywine and the 11+%abv is very subtle, a good candidate for aging- while it is solid now I can imagine that it may move into the exceptional range with a few years of aging as noted by some of the aged OGs at the most recent Stone Storm.

A dark orange with a fluffy, pillowy head. Aromas of pine and malt. Tastes of resinous piny hops and sweet flavors of turbinado sugar and brown sugar. Has about the viscosity of a double IPA and drinks a mature one.