Old Guardian (2004)
(Batch of Old Guardian (2004-))
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.38
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7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bomber, 2004 vintage. Oxidized, even aroma. Spicy, with citrus and alcohol. Glowing dark orange color. Super smooth, clean, and rather light. Vineous and hot, with a very bitter finish. Well integrated and interesting. The palate improved with age, but I felt the flavors were probably past their prime.
Tried
on 27 Mar 2010
at 18:20
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
On Tap @ O’Brien’s. 2004 vintage. Clear orange color with chunks of creamy tan head floating along the viscous barrier between air and elixir. Sweet malt and dark fruit aroma punctuated by some hop nose. Full Barleywine malt and fruitiness with thick smooth peanut butter mouthfeel. The hops have really evened out. Delicious. The 2005 I sampled next, here at O’Brien’s, had no head. The aroma was very light. The flavors are similar to the ’04 but a bit brighter. There was malt, molasses, a hint of toffee and a full dark fruitiness flavor. Wow, good stuff.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Nov 2006
at 18:11
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
2004 release. This poured nicely. Good head with an amber/brown color that displayed just a bit of murkiness. Rich complex aroma of malts, hops and dark fried fruits. The palate was well balanced, with enough hops to differentiate this from an English Style Barleywine, yet not too over the top either. Sweetly complex flavor to match the aroma. This one is well done.
Tried
on 11 Feb 2005
at 16:27
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Golden bronze, thin head. Chewy, resiny aroma with oatmeal cookie dough. Deep resiny hop palate with that tongue-scraping bitterness that extends past the taste threshold. Rich malts in the finish with alcoholic warmth. I’ve had too many beers like this.
Tried
on 19 Dec 2004
at 12:30
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Hazy orange lae with a creamy white ale. Sweet vinous aroma with a bit of horseblanket. Nice candied sugar with licorice notes. Alcohol warmth marries well with the sweet hop juice. Rich bodied. Wow.
Tried
from Can
on 12 Dec 2004
at 20:56
5.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
2004 bottle. Pours a warm toned orange/light marmalade color. Hint of sediment in there and a good white head. Aroma of dry nutty hops, lightly bitter. Damp forest soil, some very dry toffee. Dough and grainy malt. Flavor is dry, nutty, bitter and thick. Even though I didnt have the patience to age this, it quite clearly needs it as this one is just a bittersweet monster right now which has had no time to let any complexities emerge. This is like a super-amped up version of their pale ale. Good potential, though I must admit, I miss the caramelly sweetness and tons of munich malt dosent a great barleywine make, but that’s just my preference. Rerate 04 draught A bit more lively mouthfeel than I remember and even some light tropical fruits and juicy citrus. Not nearly as malt heavy and purely bitter hops burn, but it still needs a lot more time.
2006 bomber
Way too much for me still. Heavy, heavy bittersweet malt, with a fair amount of acidity and alcohol showing through. No relief in sight, especially as highly bitter hops hit the palate. Pleasant texture, but that’s not going to do much when it’s mountains of sugar, breadiness, bitterness and alcohol on top.
2006 bomber
Way too much for me still. Heavy, heavy bittersweet malt, with a fair amount of acidity and alcohol showing through. No relief in sight, especially as highly bitter hops hit the palate. Pleasant texture, but that’s not going to do much when it’s mountains of sugar, breadiness, bitterness and alcohol on top.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Nov 2004
at 08:07
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Not quite as good as last year’s version but I liked it well enough. Pours golden orange with a thick off-white head. Nice lacing through the entire glass. The aroma is big on malt, along with some hops, butter and alcohol. Rich-bodied and smooth despite the bitter hops and borderline harsh alcohol. There are also malt and grapefuit flavors in the mix. Despite being a little rough this is a good Barley Wine.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jun 2004
at 11:21
9.4/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9.5
This is my favorite Stone product. +++Coming in the typical 22 oz bottle from Stone. As always I loved the art/write up. It pours an opaque orange-red color. Small tan-orange head. Really a very pretty beer. The aroma is grapefruit and sugary sweet. The texture is thick and sweet. The flavor is sweet, malty and very hoppy. Far better balanced than most of Stone’s beers. The hop presence dominates but does not overwhelm. There is enough sweet maltiness to balance the beer quite well. Another hophead’s delight!
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jun 2004
at 14:52
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle. Amber colored beer with an off-white head. Toffee aroma with a hop backing. Flavor of hops, then a strong alcohol presence, followed by a toffee/coffee malt that lingers in your mouth. It's balanced between the hops and malt, but the alcohol presence is much higher than I'd like (yes, it's a barley wine, but in this one the alcohol is too much in the forefront). Leaves a nice hop bitterness in your mouth.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Apr 2004
at 22:17
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Burnt orange, nearly copper pour with medium lacing - heavy hop aroma, with touches of grapefruit and caramel - flavor is like a wonderful mix of SN Bigfoot and Old Horizontal - bigfoot hoppiness (with corresponding citrus aspects) and the sweat malt profile (with all the caramel and fruity esters) of the Old Ho mix in near perfect harmony - tasty but slightly out of balance - I'm sure aging will work out the kinks.
Tried
on 05 Apr 2004
at 20:39