Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

2007 vintage. Nice deep amber pour. The sweetness of the malt is accompanied by alcohol in the aroma. Strong alcohol flavor with a lingering taste of hops. I actually understood what was written on the back of the bottle for a change. Early 2006 vintage. Coppery orange pour with an off white head. Aroma is alcohol, some sugar, and a bit of fruit (dried apricot). Taste is strong and sweet and the alcohol is well hidden. It gets to be a bit syrupy.

Clear light amber with a thin head. Aroma has notes of caramel/toffee butter, sherry, resin, and fruity esters. Sweet malty flavor with a smooth hop finnish. Medium-light flavor with residual alcohol warming. Great barley wine.

Tried on draft at Pizza Port in San Clemente. A really incredible brew. I am actually surprised it is a barley wine style ale. The flavor is an awesome sweet balance of hops and malt.

2007 bottle. Def in my top 5 barley wines. very small head which leaves in an instant. Very sweet and complex. Hides the alcohol very well. love it

Bomber, 2009 vintage. Pours a hazy copper with an off white head with good retention. Lots of hops in the aroma, floral and earthy. A touch of caramel, but surprisingly not as much as expected. Flavor is very bitter. Not overpowering, but enough bitterness to overpower the malt. I have had aged bottles of this beer that were far more balanced. While this is good fresh, a couple years of cellaring really makes it amazing. Still very good at this point but too much hop bitterness to allow the malt to shine. Quite sticky and well carbonated..

UPDATE 10/30/09
Drinking an 08 bottle and wow...this beer can’t get any more perfect than it is right now. Smooth and sophisticated in every way, tons of toffee and caramel, a bit of earthy and citrusy hops left in the aroma, mellow and wonderful. Bumping my score up a few points as this is definitely one of the best barley wines I’ve had.

caramel, resin, floral, citrus, woody, orange, hazy, frothy, tan foam, medium sweetness, very bitter, lightly sour, medium body, creamy, soft carbonation, bitter, long finish

This thing is amazing. It actually tastes more like an Imperial or Double IPA than a BarleyWine. The pour is a golden red with a little of a white head. The nose is powerful; full of pine from the hops and a very sweet malt from the barley. There are hints of caramel, and citrus as well. The flavor is wonderful, sweet malts and then huge hops. I tasted licorice and cognac??? The palate was oily and stuck around awhile. Great one Stone! I need to cellar one of these...

22oz bottle poured into tulip Pours an orange blossom golden color with a thin sudsy head. Head leaves nice lacing with scattered bubbles. Smells mostly of hops, no real fruit smells. Taste is heavy on the hops, but washes away with a nice and very light caramel flavor with light peach colored fruits. This is extremely drinkable for a barleywine, mainly because it isnt overly sweet or cloying. Easily in my top 3 fav barleywines. Its a slam dunk like every year.