Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

a great solid example of a barley wine. balanced malty hoppy. I like all my beer warm and flat in a brandy sniffer. usually warm it up with my hands and let it sit for a bit... i spend some time with it. great front side and top of the tongue flavor, leaves a slight bitterness at the back.

Just drank the bottle and assumed I had already written a review. Guess not so I’ll have to do a "review light" until I drink again. Aroma: wonderful, full hops. Appearance: slightly cloudy dark golden, off amber. Flavor: Simply wonderful. I would put this close to Behemoth and my dark horse candidate, Big Foot. Palate: nice balance. Overall: Love it will but it again.

Bottle from Utobeer market stall. Pours dark amber with a good off-white head. Aromas of raspberries, butterscotch, caramel, malts, freshly baked bread. Splendid nose. Rich flavours of orange marmalade, malts, dark fruits, bitter chocolate. Severly warming alcohol mouthfeel. Has the atypical Stone huge hop finish. Definately one to sip beside a roaring fire contemplating life’s mysteries.

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.

Bright orange appearance, slightly cloudy with a thick, frothy white head. Aroma is decadent, smells like a fresh produce stand, particularly as you wander around to the citrus section, also has hints of maple syrup and sherry. Flavor has similar qualities with raisins and dates thrown in there for good measure with chocolate making a late appearance to top things off. Mouthfeel is nice and thick but not syrupy and cloying like some Barley Wines lean to from tme to time. Excellent Barley Wine. The label is lacking though compared to others tomes by Greg - hard to read all the way through this one - perhaps the 10.06% ABV had something to do with it!

Absolutely beautiful glowing deep orange color with a perfect creamy off-white head. The aroma was not what I expected. I didn't get a lot of hops here. Instead, I got some great brown sugar, molasses, grape candy, and alcohol tones. The flavor was very sweet...brown sugar, grapefruit, and alcohol. Thick, yet crisp feel...creamy! Very nice.

Name: Old Guardian
Date: April 19, 2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Whole Foods Market, DC
Vintage: 2004
Appearance: clear dark amber, fine white head
Aroma: nice floral and citrus aroma
Body: incredable soft and creamy body
Flavor: big hop flavor well balanced on a nice sweet carmel base, long esb bitter finish
Overall: like a really big really nice esb

Name: Old Guardian
Date: April 17, 2005
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2004
Appearance: big strong earthy hop aroma with lots of sweet fruity essence
Aroma: lots of sweet fruity malt flavor, nice bitterness, the fruity character is coming out really nice after only one year, the hops have backed off to aroma and nice bitterness
Overall: still a very nice creamy esb, but now with added fruity character

Name: Old Guardian
Date: January 06, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: blind tasting
Vintage: 2004
Score: 3.2
Appearance: muddy orange, wispy white head
Aroma: sweet fruity bitter malt aroma
Flavor: nice fruity malt flavor balanced by earthy hops, light alcohol essence

Name: Old Guardian
Date: February 01, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Vintage: 2004
Body: body is thining out
Flavor: picking up some oxidation in the malt flavor

Name: Old Guardian
Date: September 06, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: vertical tasting
Vintage: 2004
Appearance: hazy amber, wispy beige head
Aroma: sweet caramel and crystal aroma
Flavor: sweet caramel and crystal flavor, touch of fruityness, plenty of balancing lo

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.