Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

A vertical tasting from 2007, 2006, and 2005. Thanks to santoslhalper for the latter two. They get smoother and better with some aging. 2007 had some fusel notes, with caramel, oak, and some vanilla. Nice hoppy fruitness with alcohol vapors. Mild aroma overall but musky and sweet. The older ones were smoother and deeper in character. Very nice. Amber golden clear with a thin off-white lacing head. Heavy bodies, with medium carbonation. Gets smoother but no thinner as it ages. Color doesn’t really change too much either. Starts sweet with big malt presence - this doesn’t really change throughout the years. What does change is the amount of alcoholic burn and fusel notes that are heavy in a fresh batch but dissipate over time. Vanilla, oak, caramel are all there, and the sticky sweetness gets a little lighter. Medium bitter finish with some cloying after, but this too, diminishes with age. I’d say the 2005 was the best of the three, and I’m definitely going to wait a few years before having another 2007.

2006. Really this makes me think of a thick double IPA mixed w/a barlyewine. Nice and hoppy and not that sweet. Certainly a quality beer, but what else would one expect from Stone.

Sweet barley wine aroma. Amber body with good white head that settled to a thin layer on top of beer. Sweet hop alcohol flavor to this one. Good beer if it is your last one for the night.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, tupalev & jerc - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Early 2006 vintage. Orange-amber with a small head some some little floaties. Aroma is very warm and sweet - definately some booze in there. Flavour starts sweet and candyish, with hops creeping up in the finish. Quite easy to drink - the booze does start to come through as it warms, but you feel it more in the chest than in the mouth. It didn’t rock me quite as much as I’d expected, but it was still pretty damn good.

22oz bottle 2004 edition - Pours a magnificent ruby red with a fluffy offwhite head that stays pretty well anc laces down the glass. Aroma is caramel malts, cherry, and some grapefruit. Flavor is much the same. Quite malty. Many caramel overtones but some rich ripe fruit notes as well. Finish is rather hoppy and nicely covers the alcohol. Palate is smooth and very drinkable for a beer of this magnitude. Warmed me just enough on a cold November night.. Very nice brew..

On tap at Redbones: Orange with no head, brown sugar aroma, with dark fruits, thick body, full mouthfeel, starts very sweet, tastes like oranges and then becomes bitter with a sweet sugar aftertaste, yummy.

Pours a clear copper color with a frothy tan head. The aroma is of thick chewy crystal malts and hops, though the malt character seems to surprisingly dominate. The beer itself is thick and chewy, with lots of malt character. There is hop flavor in the finish with notes of orange and a grassiness. A bitterness then kicks in at the very end. This beer is surprisingly malty, though with definite hop character, it is quite subdued for Stone. I much prefer the regular Stone lineup to this one.

22 oz bottle, early 2007 vintage. Pours a slightly hazy dark copper with a one finger tight bubbled beige head. The nose is heavy resiny and citrusy hops with tons of caramel and toffee malts. Just a slight bit of oxidation creeping in. The flavor is still very harshly bitter with a thick almost syrupy caramel malt base. A little bit of oxidation on the finish, but nothing that I would call beneficial at this point. I’d like to see a bit more actually. The body is thick and viscous with a clingy resiny and sticky finish. Nice soft pinpoint carbonation. Overall, this is just a little bit too brash and bold for my tastes, I guess I’m more of an English Barleywine type of guy and this is about as far from that as possible.