Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

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

This ale pours a hazy copperwith a nice sized head and great lacing. Flavors of caramel,mild hops, and slightly floral. full bodied and very nice.07 vintage at The Petrol Station.

08...22oz bottle. pours a golden hue with a floral, citrus aroma. Piney, hoppy, fruity citrus flavor and feels almost sticky on the palate. Despite the alcohol content, it was very well hidden in this multi-dimensional brew. Definitely one of my favorites!

Brassy colour with minimal white head. Aroma hints at banana, caramel/toffee, nuts and hops. Suprisingly syrupy and pushing towards sweet. hop bitterness is present, but not as strong as i’d have first expected... esp. in a beer from Stone. the 11.26% abv is well hidden in this beer with the exception of the syrupiness. Excellent.

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.

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...

Wow. Wow. Wow. The best looking pour ever. solid amber with a huge powerful head that lasts. Smells of sweet malt and alcohol. Tastes of much the same but with a big hop. Long lingering finish that is both bitter and sweet. Love it.

2007 spring vintage. Pours from the bomber a slightly hazy copper-bronze color under a creamy beige 1" head. Admirable head retention throughout the snifter with just some spotty lacing coating the sides. Aromas are nicely balanced with notes of dark caramel candies, toasted malts, toffee and honey initially coming to the forefront with supporting background notes of citrus, oak and herbs. Palate was quite full, round, creamy and slightly oily. Just a touch of fine carbonation to tinlge the tongue. Flavor profile was expertly balanced between the malts and hops. Sugar Daddy candy, toffee, caramel are perfectly balanced with moderate tones of citrus, pine, spice and oak. No gettin’ away from the 11.26% abv. It makes its muscular presence well known in the finish, but is just right for a relaxed sippin’ big ole’ Barley Wine.

Looks more like an IPA in the glass than a barley wine. More golden than amber and fairly hazy with a nice thick head. Lots of sweet malts, toffee and caramel. Nice hoppy finish.