Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

bottle, one aquaried from cbkschubert. Very odd appearance. Very pale/amber looking with thin head. Nice aroma with malt being present and slight cherry scent. First taste reminded me of burton baton and did not taste like a barley wine. Very heavy cherry taste and hardley enough character. As it warmed it changed a few times. Ending up as a decent barley wine. The problem was that I had to let it warm up for atleast a half an hour. Pretty good barley wine but not one of Stones best. I got another bottle that I’m aging for another 3 years at least. Update: Smoother and a nice malty flavor to it. Long legs in the appearance. Hides the alcohol well. Another 2 years could really make this shine. Old rating - 3.1

Bottled from Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam. 2008 Release. Orange-amber coloured, small head. Very fruity notes, orange, grapefruit, hops and caramel too. Strong hopbitter flavour, very dry. Lasting finish. Powerful brew, perhaps a bit too harch, but very solid.

22oz bomber(Early 2006 Release)- A cloudy copper body with a very small ring for a head. Aroma of malt, citrus, hops, and grapefruit. Taste of malt, citrus, piney, hops, and slight alcohol. Not a fan of barley wines but I enjoy this one. 22oz bomber(Early ’07 Release)- A copper body with a decent tan ring for a head. Aroma of malt and hops. Taste of the same wi th a bit of lcohol on the back end. Same rating 8/4/8/4/15

The sweetness isn’t dominating due to the good hoppiness of this beer, alcohol is pretty well hidden for being 11% Can’t wait to age some more, and try it again!

Bottle 2008 - Pours dark brown with a mostly maintained tan head. Aroma of mango and citric hops, pine resins, and caramelized malt. Taste is sweet and hoppy with notes of caramelized wort, toffee, plums, and dark fruit. Mouthfeel is full bodied and resinous with soft carbonation. A good beer, but needs to be laid down for a few years.

Made a good appearance, poured a reddish orange hued amber with a foamy beige head that settled into a thin lacing, very minimal amount of sticking, good barley wine catbonation. Had a nose of caramel and toffee, herbal, pine resins and orange zesty with whiffs of alcohol, not in your face alcohol, but tamed and subdued. A crisp, hop slick, chewy and creamy smooth medium bodied mouth feel, very good sipping barley wine drinkability. Delicious tasting, caramel, toffee and bready malts, orange juicy with a little citric rind, herbal and pine resins, a smooth rolling bitterness, a nice, slow alcohol warmth in the palate, for 11.2 ABV, quite tamed, dangerously quaffable, and a sweetish caramel, bready and hop oily and resiny finish with a mixture of spicy alcohol, caramel and toffee lingering in the aftertaste. I’m a fan of IPA’s, but this is the best brew I’ve had so far from Stone Brewery, you can call it complex while at the same time simple, as in simply luscious and mouthwatering, just plain marvelous.

(on bottle 2004 thamx Rasmus) Sligtly hay, dark orange, small beige head. Very mild aromas, surprice for me.Has some canesugar and tads of fat hops. Very sweet, almost cloyingly sweet tastes and and huge alcohol lash to the finish. Somewhat unbalanced, still.

on tap at papago...i got to taste these side by side

2008 release... rich amber color with a fluffy head that fades slowly to a ring. the aroma is caramel, malt, breakfast cereal, spicy hops and sting alcohol. it’s hard to smell because it burns... the flavor is amped up maltiness and spicy hops with bitey alcohol. it’s got a yeasty character in the aftertaste. medium bodied with out the usual stickiness as the alcohol won’t allow it. these have to sit for a while... far too sweet and too harsh. 6/3/5/3/15 =3.2

2007 pours a hazy rich amber color (a bit lighter than the ’08) topped with a white ring. the aroma is full of raisin like fruit, cereal and piney hops. the alcohol has calmed down noticeably but is still present. the palate is a lot less fiery allowing some of the nuances to show through... caramel, honey, pine and grassy hops. the body is medium but it is much smoother than the new batch. it’s neat to see what a year can do. 7/3/7/4/15 = 3.6