Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

Gentle alcohol in the aroma. Pine, earthy, sweaty, spicy, citrus hops in the aroma with an underlying malt sweetness. Clear orange colouation with off-white head that recedes to thin cover and a nice ring around the glass. Assertively hoppy. Very alcoholic. Strongly malty with a very bitter finish. Medium body. Good carbonation. Lively mouthfeel. Flavours don’t play well together. Will probably be much more integrated in a year or two. Needs to grow up. Bottle (enjoyed with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT and Rastacouere). Thanks for this trade from eyedrinkale.

2004 Winter release: Rich ruby brwon hue with a small fading head and some lace. The aroma has notes of massive pine leaf hops, woody, vinous, and big caramelized/toffee malts. Noticed phenols as well. The taste is a sharp balance of bitters and malt. Works well and will only get get better with some aging (unless you are a hophead, then drink now). I like the spicy quality found on the finish along with the surprising dry wood notes. I dig this and am sure I will continue to in the future. An underrated barleywine IMO (if you could call this underrated).

Winter 2004 bomber, been looking forward to this one! Poured brilliant, translucent medium orange with a stately initial cap of off-white head... settled down to a dusting after a couple minutes. The aroma picked up a rich, deep bouquet of darker, vinous-inspired fruits, rum-laden caramel, deep earthy herbs, and a solid dose of alcohol (more as an amplifier than a distraction). The flavor had deep caramels and vinous sweetness at the core like the aroma, accented by bitter herbs, warm alcohol, and sherry-like oxidation.. quite a lot of bitterness on the warm finish, but it seems to be more from age than hops (which are markedly faded). Thicker-bodied and syrupy on the palate with some graininess on the middle.. enjoyed the feel. This certainly showed signs of age, but I thought the change in character did more to increase complexity than to degrade the goodness.

Poured an orange color with a thin off white head. Malty aroma. Sweet and fruity with apples and peaches. Malty sweet, caramel, hints of peach, hop bitterness. Medium bodied, almost syrupy, with a long bitter finish.

Dark copper, full mouthfeel, significantly hoppy. Salty and complex flavour, woody, hop leaf and pine, sweet malt

Bottle (650ml - 2006 vintage). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc and tupalev - my bottle. Clear ruby with a large foamy off-white head. Simple, almost mild aroma of toasty malt, alcohol, woody and yeasty, perhaps a hint of soapiness, even citrus and a hint of lactic tang - pretty nice. Taste is somewhat boozy and bitter, citrusy and neither over-hopped nor too boozy-hot, although it snuck up on all of us, wow we felt it after; at the time, I thought "pleasant." A little light-bodied, astringent and alcoholic, I liked the mild citrus and woodiness - this one’s ready now, we didn’t think aging would really improve this brew greatly - consensus is it’s scarily easy to drink, I could have downed the whole bomber - I would have been face-down in the gutter later, but I could have done it.

Dark brown with average creamy head. Woody, sweet spruce, forest after rain effect. Slightly alcoholic at front, warming, plenty of malt to balance thing out. Not bad.

Medium brown color. Large foamy white head. Aroma is malty and fruity. A medium to full bodied barley wine. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are grapefruity and spicy. Hints of an alcohol bite, but pretty smooth for a 10% alcohol beer. Nice touches of orange, cherries and citrus in there as well. Seems a little hoppier than the older versions. Still very nice barley wine and well age well. As usual a nice etched beer bottle. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.