Old Guardian Barley Wine – Stone Brewing

Sometimes I forget to post about some of my favorite beers because I’m too busy enjoying them. Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine is one of those beers. For those who may not be familiar with this brew, Old Guardian is Stone’s special release barleywine that comes out toward the beginning of every year. Every year they subtly tweak the recipe in small ways. This year the hop bill got switched up by replacing Magnum with Nugget as the bittering hop and Cascade for CTZ in the whirlpool. This beer has also been a part of the Odd Beers For Odd Years series, with Belgo and Oak Smoked variants having come out in the past.

While we’re on the topic of barleywines, let’s take a moment to examine what a barleywine is. barleywine, or barley wine (both are correct), is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to beer styles. As the name might lead you to believe, malts play a big part in this style providing a wide range of malt profiles. Generally split into American and English barleywines, the main difference being that American barleywines have much more hops present in the aroma and flavor. Between the two versions, you can get beers that are straw color all the way to dark brown and ranging from 8% to 12% ABV with varying amounts of hop intensity. This style lends itself to aging very well, maturing similarly to wine. American brewers have also taken to barrel aging barleywines in a variety of spirit barrels as well.

The beer pours a dark amber with just a slight bit of haziness and a good amount of bubbly tan head that slowly dissipates to a nice ring around the glass. The aroma is definitely malty, with a pleasant mix of barley, toffee, and bready notes, with a good amount of fruity citrus hop and just a hint of earthiness. It’s a full-bodied beer, which you’d expect nothing less from a barleywine, with a pretty lively amount of carbonation. The flavor follows the nose pretty closely, starting with a subtly sweet barley and toffee malt but makes a u-turn to a pretty intense hop bouquet of tropical and citrus notes. The beer finishes with a pleasant dryness accompanied by a lingering citrus rind bitterness, subtle toffee malt, and a noticeable burn at the back of the palate.

This is one my favorite special releases from Stone and I look forward to it every year and the subsequent aged vintages, as this is a beer that develops layers of complexity with each year of aging. This brew will run you about $8 or $9 for a 22oz bottle, which makes it a really good value and a pretty good representation of the style if you haven’t had many barleywines. You will be able to find this beer at most retailers that carry Stone’s beers starting February 24th.

Cheers!
Beer Guy LA