Old Guardian - Pekko Dry-Hopped (2016)
(Batch of Old Guardian - Pekko Dry-Hopped)
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.57
|
|
Old Guardian Barley Wine Dry-Hopped with Pekko Hops
From time to time, we like to tweak the recipes of some of our most long-standing beers—like Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine—to create unique variations. This year we’re taking it to the next level by dry-hopping it with Pekko hops—a new varietal from Washington’s Yakima Valley—which in turn add notes of stone fruit, orange, lemon and mint to this bready, toffee-like beast of a beer.
Pekko is a variety from the American Dwarf Hop Association that we ran through our hop evaluation program and really liked its attributes. Our brewing team enjoys the fruity flavors it provides in beers such as IPAs and now in this version of our annual barley wine. It has intense stone fruit and tropical fruit character, adding a great touch to our classic Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine recipe.
From time to time, we like to tweak the recipes of some of our most long-standing beers—like Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine—to create unique variations. This year we’re taking it to the next level by dry-hopping it with Pekko hops—a new varietal from Washington’s Yakima Valley—which in turn add notes of stone fruit, orange, lemon and mint to this bready, toffee-like beast of a beer.
Pekko is a variety from the American Dwarf Hop Association that we ran through our hop evaluation program and really liked its attributes. Our brewing team enjoys the fruity flavors it provides in beers such as IPAs and now in this version of our annual barley wine. It has intense stone fruit and tropical fruit character, adding a great touch to our classic Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine recipe.
Sign up to add a tick or review
8.4/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
A very engaging nose featuring lemon, mint, orange and caramel malt. A well laced white head on a rich, dense caramel body. Could be called a BW/DIPA hybrid, this is a nice combo of varied fruit tastes, sweet elements and nice rich body. Stone fruit, toffee, big orange rind and zest, and generally fruity hops work well with dense sweet malt. The fruit elements are fresh and punchy, balanced by toffee and butterscotch, nice light effervescence, and a dense slick mouth feel. Nice job!
Tried
on 23 Sep 2025
at 20:08
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
22oz bottle. Bottle Share at HBS. Murky orange rust colored pour. Still strong and hoppy after 5 years. Plenty of fruity and floral hop flavors. Intense a d remarkably fresh tasting. Plenty bitter but still plenty of flavor. Not bad
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Nov 2021
at 23:23
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 5
Aus der Flasche (bottled 02.04.2016) im 2020-05 getrunken. Vor paar Jahren als noch das Stone Brewing Berlin gab konnte ich einige Versionen dieses American Barley Wine probieren. Und für diesen Stil ist es sehr gut trinkbar und das gerade weil die deutlichen Hopfennoten einen nicht gleich erschlagen. Gerade das ist mir zu oft bei den vielen Hopfen-Monster von Stone passiert. Daher ist dieses sehr gut trinkbar.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 May 2020
at 16:35
5.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Bottled On: 04-Feburary-2016 // Purchased: 15-December-2016 // Sampled: 25-December-2019 (Christmas Day) Deep dark copper and almost light brown coloured body with a bit of a bronze glow and even a glimmer of ruby when held at an angle, all with a thick-ish, three to four centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of deep pitted fruits, a good hit of earthy and nutty malts with a lot of bread, yeast, alcohol and a touch of hops noticeable, but i'm not sure I notice anything Pekko related, not that I'd be able to differentiate, but after these years, the dry hopping that these hops did is surely gone. Medium-bodied; Rich earthy and very nutty malts dominate at first with a lot of alcohol and apples right at first that show some light sweetness from the pitted fruits, but much more bitterness - from the malt and a dash of hops are noticeable, but again - nothing showing any specific varietal - these actually taste more of an English/earthy bite than anything from North America. Afteraste is dry and earthy with a lot of nuts, tons of alcohol still (not much has been hidden in the time that I've aged it) and a touch of hop bitterness. Overall, a respectable, but deep and earthy/nutty Barley Wine that I wasn't really expecting, without any real hop elements (which is okay, but with the label touting the hops, I was thinking of some qualities from them would be noticeable) and a lot of still-noticeable alcohol that should have died down quite a bit, but hasn't. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from the Airport in San Diego (SAN) at Stone Brewing Company on 15-December-2016 for US$13,00 sampled a touch more than 3 years later on my next trip (all five of my family members) to San Diego, right before leaving for California on 25-December-2019, Christmas Day 2019.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2020
at 22:12
8.9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Foggy amber, tall and well-lacing beige head. Nose: caramel, nuts, fruity hops, dried fruit, some barrel tartness. Full body. Taste: mighty, malty, hoppy, fruity, nutty. Warming alcohol. This was the barleywine how I love it. Bomb.
Tried
on 02 Apr 2019
at 20:28
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
2015 vintage, bottle gushed when opening. Dark amber with small, tight head. Big, bold malty aromas, leathery, woody. Very smooth texture, malty flavors, less potent than the aroma. Finishes with a warm glow. Held up extremely well.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Jan 2019
at 03:33
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Flaska från SB, vintage 2016. Flaska från SB, vintage 2014. Klar bärnstensfärgad med smutsvit/beige krona. Apelsinmarmelad/kanderade apelsinskal, kola, karamell, ljus maltsötma. Beska från granskott, kåda och lite grapeskal. Fortfarande en del liv i humlen, men tror nästan denna hade tjänat på att drickas färskare. Behövs den där old school humligheten för att bära upp denna, tror inte den har tillräcklig kropp och umph för att hålla för längre lagring.
Tried
on 06 Jan 2019
at 11:13