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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6.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Sehr süßer Geruch und Antrunk, zuckrig, Alkohol. Etwas stürmisch, weitestgehend aber eben nicht ganz harmonisch. Die Süße könnte geringer sein, die würzigen Aromen dahinter sind dagegen durchaus gelungen. 12/9/9/11//10
Tried
on 13 Nov 2011
at 08:51
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
650 ml bottle from Systembolaget. Beautiful, clear, red/deep amber liquid with small to medium off-white head. Aroma of pine, caramel, belgo yeast, banana, fruit, a little booze and biscuity, nutty malt. Medium sweet, malty, medium to heavily bitter with belgo notes and lots of malt. Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation and warming alcohol. Nice one, but I like the normal Old Guardian more.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Nov 2011
at 11:30
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
22oz bottle
Appearance: Poured clear copper/amber with a big creamy beige head and lots of lacing
Aroma: Sweet caramel, dark fruit, dusty and spices
Taste: Toffee, vanilla and woody
Nice, could use some aging to smooth it out some.
Appearance: Poured clear copper/amber with a big creamy beige head and lots of lacing
Aroma: Sweet caramel, dark fruit, dusty and spices
Taste: Toffee, vanilla and woody
Nice, could use some aging to smooth it out some.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Oct 2011
at 23:56
7.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
draft@Stone vs. Moeder: red amber with a decent white head, I am getting bitter grapefruit hops mixed in with “Belgian” yeast, slight fruits (mango, peach,…), caramel, touch of black liquorice, spices, touch of herbs, overall bitter/sweet but the bitter “Belgian” yeast is really dominating this beer & I am not really getting it, it is not per se bad but it a huge step back from the regular Old Guardian, what is up their yeast?
Tried
from Draft
on 02 Oct 2011
at 02:22
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas during the three day Stone Event, 16-18 september 2011. Cloudy, hazy dark orange color, medium sized white to off-white head. Smell malts, fruits, some hops and a little bit sweet. Very sweet taste, too much sugar. Medium to full carbo, medium body. Doesn’t taste like 12%ABV, more like 9%. Alcohol is well hidden.
Tried
on 18 Sep 2011
at 11:36
7.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
First ratingDraught at Moeder Lambic, Brussels, for the Stone beer festival. Sampled on September 16, 2011Clear copper color, big tan head. Sweet, spicy, phenolic, acidic, malty taste. Warming alcohol. Smooth mouthfeel, medium high bitterness. Acidic, sweet, malty scent.7/4/7/4/14=3.6RerateBottle at ekstedt tasting on December 2, 20111 pt 6 fl oz, 2011 editionHazy brown color, smallish yellow head. Sweet, sugary, spicy, licorice scent. Sweet, Belgo yeast, spicy, bitter taste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium high bitterness. Warming alcohol.7/3/6/4/13=3.3
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Sep 2011
at 11:19
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draft @ Stone vs. Moeder event, Moder Lambic, Brussels. Ambrée/cuivrée, col épais et soyeux beige. Arôme de houblon, levure belge allant plus vers un style d’abbaye et que je ne retrouve pas nécessaire dans cette formule. En bouche, levure belge est à noter en évidence, sans pour être certain que cela soit le mieux pour ce style. Note sucrée et caramel, aspect fruité noirs sec, de date et figue avec tout le bon qui caractérise le Old Guardian. On retrouve là, une bière dans la lignée des Cali-Belgique à laquelle je n’accroche pas trop. Stone fait du bon, donc pourquoi vouloir mélanger du belge à toutes les sauces?
Tried
from Draft
on 18 Sep 2011
at 10:26
6/10
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Appearance 2
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught Huge, dense & fine cream-coloured head over red-chestnut beer. Coriander, human sweat, garden herbs, terribly yeasty. Sweetish-bitter, chestnut flour, with a strange, wild bitterness. Medium bodied, very wry finish, dry-out effect. Severe beer, for those liking ultra-dry, strong beers. Again this "Belgian" yeaststrains... I mistrust them, sorry.
Tried
on 18 Sep 2011
at 00:56
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle 22fl.oz. @ home.Clear medium to dark amber orange colour with a average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, moderate hoppy, moderate to heavy yeasty, wood, fruity - berry, alcohol. Flavour is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Good balancede and dry. Body is medium, texture is oily and sticky, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light to moderate alcoholic. [20110813]
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Aug 2011
at 06:30