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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7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at petrol station. Pours a slightly hazy amber orange with a near white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a good amount of sweet grains backed by a hint of caramel, sweet fruit and a bit of yeast. Flavor begins with some light fruits and sweet grains that are joined by caramel, slight flora and a bit of pine hops. Nice and smooth.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Aug 2011
at 10:52
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bomber from Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA, rated 3.25.11. Pours a clear auburn color with a medium sized creamy tan head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of toffeeish malts, spicy hops and lots of fruity notes including mango and stone fruits. The taste is toffee, cherries, stone fruits, bubblegum, bitter hops, alcohol. Full bodied. Decent, but I think I prefer the non-Belgo better.
Tried
on 06 Aug 2011
at 20:32
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle from Asahiya. Cloudy orange-brown with lace. Funky, spicy, fruity aroma with dust, apricot. Complex nose but not integrated. Flavor of dried apricot, spice, nutmeg?, citrus. Very sweet, yet very bitter too. Complex but not integrated, really more like complicated. Chaotic. Rather typical of Stone’s Belgian styles. Hard to finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Jul 2011
at 18:17
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Brown bottle, 1 pint 6 ounces, 2011 vintage, purchased at Beers of the world, savoured on July 23 2011; eye: coppery, clear, minimal effervescence, tiny ring of brownish head, no lacing; nose: malt, slight hops, slight yeast, caramel, slight candied fruits, slight alcohol, yeast, clove, celery, molasses; mouth: hops, malt, caramel, slight fruity, alcohol, light clove, slight celery, slight molasses, finale in alcohol with presence of malt, full body, below-average carbonation, lightly sweet, alcoholic texture; overall: fine FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 1 pinte 6 onces, millésime 2011, achetée chez Beers of the world, savourée le 23 juillet 2011; œil : cuivrée, limpide, effervescence minime, petit anneau de mousse brunâtre, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, très léger houblon, très léger levure, caramel, très léger fruits confits, très léger alcool, levure, clou de girofle, céleri, mélasse; bouche : houblon, malt, caramel, très léger fruité, alcool, léger clou de girofle, très léger céleri, très léger mélasse, finale en alcool avec présence de malt, corsée, carbonatation sous la moyenne, légèrement sucrée, texture alcoolique; en résumé : correct
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Jul 2011
at 09:38
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty hoppy yeasty aroma with hints of dark fruit. Sweetish malty hoppy bitter yeasty flavor with dark fruit hints. Has a fruity malty bitter warming dark fruit finish with yeasty hints.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jul 2011
at 05:49
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2011 vintage. Pours clear red orange color with a dense 1 finger light orange head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Not much lacing left on the glass. Aromas of dark fruits, spices, caramel, citrus, and sweet malt. Definitely some interesting aromas. Taste of sweet caramel, spice, honey, molasses, and fruitiness. Decent amount of bitterness noticed on the finish, but mostly a lot of lingering flavors of caramel, molasses, fruitiness, and some citrus. Very smooth drinking for 12% as well, still quite a sipper though. Medium carbonation and full bodied. No alcohol in the taste and a fairly large warming on the finish. Overall, a very nice barleywine with Belgian characteristics. Tasty stuff!
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jun 2011
at 18:21
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bomber from Imbibe Wine. Nose is very sweet honey, alcohol, golden raisins, and light bubblegum; not a traditional barleywine. Hazy rust-copper with a medium, short-lived beige head. Flavor is sweet candi sugar mixed with a moderate bitterness along with some toffee and finishing with moderate lingering bitterness. i like the regular yeast version much better.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Jun 2011
at 20:51
9.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
Rating of the ’10 version. Enjoyed on tap at Smallbar Division in Chicago, IL while watching the final week of Premier League relegation battles. Appearance very vibrant ruby copper with rich off white head, looks great. Aroma very nice, rich with a fantastic hop/malt mix with a unique yeast backing that is apparent in Stone brews.. Taste is the smoothest barley wine I’ve ever had. Fantastic mouthfeel, rich, has a bitterness attributed to the hops which are of the earthy variety, the smoothness is probably attributed to the yeast or even aging of this brew. I remember drinking the newer old guardian and feeling it was a bit harsh/boozey, but this one is very smooth and probably retains the ABV. One of the best Stone brews I’ve had yet and better than the first OG that I had.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 May 2011
at 12:34