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.