Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Rated Dec. 2006. 12/02/06 Walk the Line Barleywine Festival, Dunedin, FL. 2001 vintage. The beer was an orange-ish color with an off white foam head. The aroma was light and consisted of pine hops and a light sweet maltiness. The flavor was really smooth. No sense of the ABV at all. The taste whisks you into a slippery slope of sweet caramel malts and slight dark fruitiness. What was once a sharp pine hop bitterness has mellowed to allow the sweeter pine hop flavor to come on out. Very nice. I wish I had the fore thought to let a couple of these ’01 bombers age. I just drank as I bought ’em.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

The beer pours a cloudy golden orange color, the head is off-white, frothy, and lasts several minutes. The aroma is cereal grains, pine, molasses, and earthy hops. The mouthfeel is average. The flavor is sweet malty notes up front, and a solid bitter hop finish. The alcohol is definitely noticeable in this one.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Apparently I am "patient enough to squirrel bottles away," because this is the 2008 edition and it's now 2014. It's brick red- quite red- with a light head that quickly dissolves to a lace ring. The aroma is crazy sweet & complex fruits: raisin, plum, fig, apple, banana, strawberry & lemon with traces of molasses and cream. Maybe some floral hops, but they're hidden away under all the sugary fruit. Sweet bread & strong fig flavor. And I mean FIG. Bitter is in the background, almost like licorice, but the fig is all over it. The bitter is the backbone, and sweet is the main event. Very smooth, teeny tiny bubbles.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

It pours a copper and burnt-orange with a thin light-tan head and some surrounding lacing. A light aroma of caramel malts, hops, oranges and citrus, tea leaves and bitterness, some raisin, honey, and mild spiciness. The mouthfeel is smooth, silky, chewy, and rich. Flavors of caramel malts, hops, orange and citrus, raisin and dates, honey, some bitterness, and subtle alcohol and spiciness. Wow! haven't had a barleywine in awhile .. this is pretty awesome!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

From Consumers Beverage (Elmwood), in a bomber. 11.1% ABV! Poured a foamy ivory head and a nice retained body of rich copper with some haze. The nose had hops, malt, and the alcohol. Flavour was strongly malter, then the alcohol, the the hops. Robust mouthfeel.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Shared bottle, from Ølbutikken, Copenhagen. ABV was 11.1%. Deep orange to amber colour, moderate off-white head. Rich and intense sweetish aroma, notes of malts, fortified wine and molasses, some fruity hops too. Intense malty flavour, very sweet, but nicely balanced by distinct American hops. Yummy.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

2011...12%- A darker, heavier barleywine. Medium orange-light brown appearance. Has some decent hops to it and good alcohol bite. Nice buzz on a single full glass! Had to divide this into two sittings. Sort of basic in the flavor, otherwise would be a 9...but not as complex as some stronger belgians, etc. Mostly barley, slight caramel malt, and a little fruit....ended by some citrusy hop. Like a very strong/imperial IPA. A fine addition to the Stone family.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Glowing hazy burnt orange. Nice aroma of heavy wood, mild alcohol, sweet purple grapes and molasses. Taste is much of the same add in caramel, bitter pine hops, some astengent and a very yummy addition of marzipan…….my review notes seem to go downhill and trail off into scribbles at this point. I think that says “yummy sweet melon” and I think I see “head swimming”…………”grape”? or maybe “grass”? ……………..stupid alcohol how dare it ruin a perfectly good thought process. Hahaha at the very end of the scribbles I see “Yaaaa violence!!!! Macheta just killed Randy Couture!!!!” great review Brad just awesome.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Pours deep rich mahagony to ruby red... thin head as expected. Notes of malt, caramel and sweet vanilla in the nose. Rich and sweet to the pallette with a mild hoppiness on the back on the tongue - unexpected, but very nice. Flavors of roasted malt, fig, caramel and vanilla/oak are appropriately intense. Very little hint of the rather high ABV. I enjoyed mine at room temperature which in my "room" is about 68-degrees F - and it was very nice.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Immediately visually appealing, murky orange-amber tones with a thick frothy slightly tan head. Smell is strong with malt syrups and fruity esters. Taste is quite a bit more hopped than expected, the excess of hops deffinitely fights the heavy malts and makes this very drinkable. Deffinitely a sipping beer, this one's big.