2003 bottle at Stone Bistro. It pours deep ruby-amber, with a thin white head. The nose is very sweet : brown sugar, caramel, toffee and honey. The taste is brown sugar, wood, ginger, nutmeg, alcohol, good bitterness, hay, over-baked cake, leather and caramel, with a dry, warming finish. Full body and moderate carbonation. Good balance of sweetness and bitterness..

(Bottle, thanks Marsiblursi!) Winter 03 version. Shady copper color, small tan head. Sweet, hoppy, chocolate and grainy scent. Also apples, yogurt and acidic. Strong raissin and grains taste. Smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness. Coconut scent also in the back. Alcohol taste lingers a bit.

Thanks to kp for adding this to the 12 hours of beer at his cellar party as part of an Old Guardian vertical. After 3 years in the bottle this pours with little to no head over a hazy orange/amber body. Complex rich aroma. Lots of dark caramel and dried fruits such as you’d find in an English style barleywine, but the strong hops of an American barleywine are all still here in this and haven’t begun to fade in the least. Very smooth, nice supporting bitterness balanced with lots of sweet malt. This one won’t ever go bad if cellared properly, it will just thin out over time.

2003 bomber, cellared at cellar temp, from Footbalm, shared with OldGrowth on 4/6/06
Bottle opens with a large burst of CO2 being released. Encouraging. It pours with an absolute mountain of creamy, corn-mixed-with-white colored head that is well-retained and leaves behind plenty of lacing. Light sediment in the bottom and a ruddy-amber colored body with gentle effervescence notable, growing hazier towards the bottom of the bottle, but only marginally so. Pretty striking appearance for a filtered beer (even though it is bottle conditioned).
Aroma is a thick, English butter toffee-meets-caramel-and-munich malt sweetness. Strong, but with a remaining hop bitterness, that is reserved yet does provide relief. Dried pine resin, hard, dry leafy notes and some drying earthiness all provide balance to the sweetness up front. Deep apricots and fiery peaches (overripe peaches soaked in grand marnier perhaps) combine to put the finishing touches on a surprisingly strong, vibrant and moderately complex aroma. The nutty, lightly salty, English butter toffee really adds that extra oomph that gives it a little more appeal than just your usual straight up cara-munich plus hops and alcohol note that you get from the usual American barleywine.
The flavor is as equally well-malted as the nose suggests. Rich, sticky, warm caramel notes run hand-in-hand with light munich sourness, while hop bitterness adds a zestiness and perhaps some lightly dry orange rinds. Almost a spicy vanilla and tart orange fruitiness as well, which complements the full maltiness with similar flavors, but also balances it, not allowing it to cloy on the end. Ample, tight carbonation aids in the clearing of the palate at the end, but enough toffee and caramel texture are left behind to provide a satisfyingly rich aftertaste. Nuttiness is strong, perhaps a bit too much so, with growing munich malt heaviness/breadiness. But it never builds up too much, coming off as just a richly malted barleywine, ultimately. Furthermore, the boisterous, semi-acidic fruit and spice flavors really save the day, in regards to balance. And it’s hard to not appreciate that. What’s truly incredible is the almost complete lack of oxidation. Perhaps only about 5% or maybe less of the flavor is oxidation. That’s impressive for a filtered beer. Smooth, creamy, sticky on end, texture. Moderately warming on end as well, but without any sharp or overly apparent alcohol flavor.