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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7.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught at Moeder Lambic, Fontainas, vintage 2011
Amber color, bright, with creamy generous head. Mild malt aroma, with some yeast and alcohol, later some light aroma of roasted nuts. Malt and caramel flavor, with moderate sweetness, and an evident nutty touch; medium to low bitterness.
Not enough sweet to be a true Barley Wine, not enough character to be Belgian; just a normal pleasant beer.
Amber color, bright, with creamy generous head. Mild malt aroma, with some yeast and alcohol, later some light aroma of roasted nuts. Malt and caramel flavor, with moderate sweetness, and an evident nutty touch; medium to low bitterness.
Not enough sweet to be a true Barley Wine, not enough character to be Belgian; just a normal pleasant beer.
Tried
on 01 Aug 2012
at 09:50
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a thin lazing orangey head. The aroma has notes of alcohol caramel, and wood. The flavor is sweet with notes of alcohol, malt, wood, caramel, and brettanomyeces, leading to a tart finish. Thanks joergen for sharing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jun 2012
at 13:21
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
22 fl oz bottle. Pours hazy orange with a small tan head. Aroma is toasted dark malty and dense caramelish. Sweet caramelish and smooth overripe fruity. Toasted caramelish, sweet, light alcohol presence. Dense malty and alcohol into the finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jun 2012
at 11:08
6.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle 65 cl. Couirtesy of joergen. Pours a cloudy amber with a smallish beige head. Fruity and phenollic aroma. Rich body, heavy caramels and then a massive, brutal bitterness. Fortunately not so yeasty, but not really balanced. Quite rough. 130612
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jun 2012
at 11:04
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Medium beige head. Hazyish deep red body. Deep sugary malty caramelly aroma with funky Belgian yeast notes. Dry-sweet alcoholic strawberry and Belgian yeast taste with mealy notes. Hot, sharp mouthfeel. Full-bodied. Dry strawy alcoholic aftertaste with chocolatey mealy resiny vanilla notes. Interesting and unusual. (0.65l bottle, City Beer, San Francisco.)
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Feb 2012
at 10:02
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
A copperbrown beer with a medium and blond head. Aroma is fruitfull, belgian yeast, overcooked bananas, some alcohol if beer is too cold; very rich aroma. Taste is belgian yeast, fruits, herbal bitterness and some alcohol. Full bodied, slippery and nice to drink. I’m not totally convinced, more fruits and freshness would be needed, now this beer is slightly acrid.
Tried
on 14 Jan 2012
at 00:36