Old Guardian - Belgo (2011)
(Batch of Old Guardian - Belgo)
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.32
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2011 Odd Year Release
The über malty, super hoppy mega beer that you know and love is back. We've been making it for a while now… gosh, since 1998, and we love it, just as we love all of our liquid children. But you know kids; as they get older, they start to rebel. They want to start thinking for themselves and challenging authority. Defying the rules. Talking back.
It's a trying time for any parent, but at some point you have to loosen the reins a bit and let them experiment. Yes, the recipe has always varied a bit from year to year, but this time, it was a much bigger change. And so was born the "Odd Beers for Odd Years" program. The thought being that in odd years – odd as in not even (2011, 2013, 2015…) – we would release odd beers – odd as in different takes on our special releases.
Enter Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine. It's our classic Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, but tweaked with our Belgian yeast strain. We'd originally planned on only releasing the BELGO-ized version, but due to a slew of vituperative emails popular demand, we decided to concede a little… by making both. You're welcome.
The Belgian yeast takes this beer into a totally new direction. The yeast esters dominate the flavor, with the malt character present in the background, providing ample fullness and balance. Hop flavors, while muted slightly up front, end strong on the finish.
The über malty, super hoppy mega beer that you know and love is back. We've been making it for a while now… gosh, since 1998, and we love it, just as we love all of our liquid children. But you know kids; as they get older, they start to rebel. They want to start thinking for themselves and challenging authority. Defying the rules. Talking back.
It's a trying time for any parent, but at some point you have to loosen the reins a bit and let them experiment. Yes, the recipe has always varied a bit from year to year, but this time, it was a much bigger change. And so was born the "Odd Beers for Odd Years" program. The thought being that in odd years – odd as in not even (2011, 2013, 2015…) – we would release odd beers – odd as in different takes on our special releases.
Enter Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine. It's our classic Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, but tweaked with our Belgian yeast strain. We'd originally planned on only releasing the BELGO-ized version, but due to a slew of vituperative emails popular demand, we decided to concede a little… by making both. You're welcome.
The Belgian yeast takes this beer into a totally new direction. The yeast esters dominate the flavor, with the malt character present in the background, providing ample fullness and balance. Hop flavors, while muted slightly up front, end strong on the finish.
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7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2011 bottle. Poured a read brown with thin whitish head. Floral and fruit aromas. PreTty smooth and not as dark or syrupy as other barleywines. Mild alco burn
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 May 2025
at 01:02
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Poured from a 2011 bottle. Aroma is malt forward with tons of caramel and toffee with lighter notes of burnt sugar and toasted bread and crackers. Fairly fruity with notes of dates, figs, and hints of stone fruit. Hints of oxidization in the form of honey and sherry. Pours a hazy, ruby brown color with auburn hues and a small, moderately thick, tan head that recedes quickly to the edges where it lingers. Flavor is fairly sweet with strong caramel and toffee notes. Lighter notes of toasted bread, crackers, and burnt sugar. Fairly strong bitterness and light alcohol notes. Light fruit notes of dates, figs and stone fruit. Faint honey and sherry notes. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Hints of woody, pine hop notes. Overall, this beer has held up surprisingly well for being 12 years old. Nice malt notes with solid, fruity fermentation characteristics. Hops and bitterness have faded quite a bit. Alcohol is well hidden and balanced for being 12% and not a big bodied beer. it's crazy how thin bodied big beers were back in 2011 compared to beers now.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Dec 2023
at 05:46
8/10
Backlog
Tried
on 06 Sep 2018
at 09:35
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
Vom Fass Stone Brewing Berlin 2016-10 getrunken. Ein sehr leckeres typisches Barley Wine, wo eine leichte Süße gegen die elegente Hopfenbitterkeit bei wärmeren Temperaturen den Kampf ansagt. Sehr ausgewogen, lecker und spannend. Wäre mal noch spannender wenn dies noch paar Jahre durchreifen könnte. Frisch ist es aber auch schon klasse.
Tried
on 08 Aug 2017
at 14:43
7.8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 6
A crazy clear Amber orange red color with a rich poignant sharp hoppy aroma. Medium to light bodied and very dry with lots of raisin+plum, malt and a sharp boozy finish. Nice but not so belgian. 3.6/7
Tried
on 20 Nov 2016
at 06:27
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
2011 Vintage, Sampled from tap at Stone Garden Berlin. Hazy amber color with big eggshell head. Aroma is toffee, slightly oxidized, some fresh yeast, resinous, piney, dark fruits. Taste is more toffee, piney, sticky, slightly oxidized. Oily mouthfeel. Very good!
Tried
from Draft
on 29 Sep 2016
at 10:10
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
From a 22 oz bottle. Vintage 2011 courtesy of Ryan. Pours a clear amber with an off white head. Flavors of caramel. Sweet, but mellow finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Mar 2016
at 20:39
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bomber bought @ Systembolaget five years ago. Pours hazy reddish brown with a small offwhite head that doesn’t leave much trace on the glass while dissipating. Smell is malty and piney with caramel, toffee, sweet dark bread, while grapefruit a, caramelised apples, pine needles, resin, minerals, alcohol and lemon zest. Taste is sweet, bitter, malty, resinous, dusty and tiny fruity. Mouthfeel is soft, sticky, tiny oily, astringent, boozy and near full bodied. Finish is sweet and bitter with caramel, toffee, sweet dark bread, grapefruit, tangerines, apples, pears, pine needles, resin, moist soil, alcohol and lemon zest. Big and heavy. Oxidised with both dark fruit and cardboard notes. Light belgo notes. Quite enjoyable...
Tried
on 12 Feb 2016
at 14:11
8/10
Tried
on 13 Jul 2015
at 14:43
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Originally rated 30122011. Colour is dark copper with small white head. Aromas and flavours: Dark fruits, Belgian yeast, spices, sweetness and malts.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Jun 2014
at 09:05