Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2015) - Extra Hoppy
Stone Brewing

Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2015) - Extra HoppyOld Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2015) - Extra Hoppy
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From:
Stone Brewing
 
California, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
11%
Score:
92
Avg:
4.13 | pDev: 6.78%
Reviews:
121
Ratings:
434
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 29, 2024
Added:
Dec 29, 2014
Wants:
  11
Gots:
  84
2015 Odd Year Release
First Release: February 2015

This one-time-only release, part of our “Odd Beers for Odd Years” series, takes a downright excessive brew into uncharted, extra-hoppy territory. We did this by dry-hopping it with Azacca hops, essentially turning an American barley wine into a triple IPA. Azacca adds big candied-fruit character plus pineapple and citrus aromatics to the base beer’s onslaught of toffee, tropical fruit and vanilla flavors and robust bitterness. Like its Classic counterpart, this delicious oddity will evolve into an even more glorious beer with age, challenging your ability to wait any longer to drink it.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Tuck_leepulin:
Photo of Tuck_leepulin
Reviewed by Tuck_leepulin from Texas

4.29/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
22oz bottle poured into a tulip and bottled on 02/11/2015

Appearance: Pours a hazy ruby with 2 fingers of head

Smell: Aromas of toffee, dark fruit such as plums and raisins

Taste: Wow, the aroma is very subdued compared to the hop flavor present in the taste. Comparable to hop flowers dipped in syrup and baked into toffee; flavor profile is complex

Mouthfeel: Some warmth from the alcohol but not uncomfortable

Overall: For any Hophead, this is an awesome American BW. I already enjoy a fresh, hop-forward barley wine but this takes it to another level. My only complaint is the aroma is so lacking relative to the complexity in the flavor.
Mar 28, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of BeerAndGasMasks
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

4.1/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Opened on leap day 2024, it pours a clear mahogany color with a modest head that reduces to a very nice ring and leaves a bit of lacing. Sweetish scent of caramel malts and a definite unsurprising bit of alcohol. The taste follows with an alcoholic hoppy bite followed by a pleasant caramel malt flavor and ending with a lingering light bitterness.
Feb 29, 2024
 
Rated: 4.54 by GlenFarclas from Connecticut

Dec 23, 2023
Photo of cardfan212
Reviewed by cardfan212 from Minnesota

4.57/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Poured into a tulip glass. Recently bought from a local store, so storage conditions are unknown.

Look - A cloudy honey-amber with a gorgeous and long-lived mocha colored head. And I mean long-lived. That cap sticks around for a while. Real good business.

Smell - Beautiful caramel malt aromas crowned with citrusy hops. Very bold and prominent odor profile, that's good business.

Taste - A full journey of flavor. Rich bready start, a sharp chicane of icky sticky hops bitterness, and a gradual coast into sweet chocolate/caramel maltiness. More noticeably hoppy than other years of Old Guardian I've had, but not overwhelmingly or distractingly so. Pretty good business.

Feel - Thick, rich, creamy, chewy. A liquid snack. Slight alcohol tinge, but it doesn't hamper the experience at all. Truly good business.

Overall - Brilliant, beautiful, bold, a true wonder to behold. I'm all about this. Every new year of Old Guardian I discover when I journey out to the various liquor stores around me quickly becomes a new favorite, and I wish I could always have easy access to this nectar of the gods. Good business.
May 20, 2023
Photo of TooManyGlasses
Reviewed by TooManyGlasses from Canada (AB)

4.18/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
8 year old bottle - stored at cellar temperature of 60 F.
Pours a clear bright copper amber colour with short lived tawny coloured head. Second half got significant haziness from dregs/sediment.
Aroma fruity - tropical, citrus - caramel - boozy - resin.
Taste is sweet with caramel and toffee, vanilla, fruity, pineapple, ripe citrus, boozy and resinous bittersweet.
Full sweet mouthfeel with brisk carbonation for age - lingering boozy sticky bittersweetness.
May 01, 2023
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

4/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Stone old guardian
Bottle. Khaki head with lace. Caramel brown color.

It’s a cross between and English old ale and an American barleywine. A lot of hops and a lot of malts. Bready, caramel, toffee. Sticky, earthy, resiny, dank hops. Bitter, but smooth. Orange citrus. Floral. Toffee.

Finish is bitter with a perfume aftertaste.

This was actually solid for being 6 years old.
Aug 20, 2021
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25
Still delivering hop flavour in its 64th month which happens to be my 64th year. Tons of lace, even an initial gusher. Drying, but bringing along its American strong" hop character.
May 11, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by RochefortChris from North Carolina

Jan 26, 2020
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A: Poured into a snifter to a deep golden beer with a slight reddish tint which is topped by a finger and a half of rocky cream colored head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of candied tropical fruit, resin, and some caramel sweetness
T: Taste is candied fruit with some notes of juicy pineapple, pine resin, and some earthy notes with more candied fruit along with some caramel sweetness and hints of toasted malts. On the swallow there's more candied fruit and tropical fruits with a strong pineapple note with a hint of resin and some lingering caramel sweetness.
M: This beer is on the heavier side of medium with a slightly creamy feel on the palate. Carbonation is light but adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is a very well done barleywine. The extra hops added some really nice flavor elements that aren't found in the usual Old Guardian. It still has a really nice amount of hop flavor after almost four years in the bottle as well which was really surprising. Worth a try if they make it again and worth drinking now if you're sitting on one.
May 30, 2019
 
Rated: 4.35 by Beer21 from Florida

Apr 16, 2019
 
Rated: 4.49 by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

Feb 25, 2019
 
Rated: 4.23 by Brob245 from Missouri

Oct 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.04 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

Apr 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.2 by InfernoBoss from California

Mar 24, 2018
Photo of scottfrie
Reviewed by scottfrie from California

4.46/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22oz bottle into snifter. Bottled 1/23/15.

A: Pours a deep, dark, iced-tea mahogany with a large, very dense, and very greasy, khaki colored head that took forever to slowly fade into a fuzzy film leaving rocky, sticky, lace down the glass.
S: Light oxidization pleasantly mixes with fragment perfumey notes of fruity hops, and tons of bitter, leafy, scents. Fruity, slightly candy-like notes as well. Hints of caramel and booze.
T: Cardboard, tons of caramel, toast, burnt caramel, chocolate fudge, toffee, leather and tobacco. Aggressive hop presence with tons of leafy aged hop, pine resin, and sticky greasy hop oil. Chocolate and leafy bitterness linger in the aftertaste along with notes of tobacco, leather and cardboard.
M: Very frothy and soft carbonation really foams up in my mouth. Full thick body, chewy mouthfeel that's greasy, sticky, bitter, and slick from the hop oils. Alcohol gives a sharp bite but overall is smooth and compliments the other flavors.
O: An awesome barleywine with a solid bitter punch that's complementary and not rough. Interesting how much chocolate I'm getting out of this. Delicious and strong.
Oct 14, 2017
 
Rated: 4.54 by JuiceMan818 from California

May 23, 2017
 
Rated: 4.35 by shigg85 from Japan

Apr 27, 2017
Photo of BeerDawgs
Reviewed by BeerDawgs from Georgia

4.42/5  rDev +7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
2015 Odd year release, with a bottled on date of 2.11.15 - making it 21 months old

L - Dark amber, with 1 full finger of head, lots of lace left on top of the brew and all over the glass. This is as pretty as a beer can get. Just gorgeous

S - Grain malts, bitter hops, toffee, caramel.

T - The hops have definitely faded, so straight up barleywine with a bitter aftertaste. The high abv packs some heat, but very well balanced and an enjoyable slow sipper. Still fairly boozy.

F - Medium body, well carbonated

O - A very tasty slow sipper packing some heat. I like it better than the normal Old Guardian. The extra, albeit faded, hops add some very nice bitterness that really balances the beer even better
Nov 11, 2016
Photo of Coffeematt
Reviewed by Coffeematt from Maine

4.54/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
I don't know why this beer isn't rated more highly. The myriad disappointing or disgusting malt/hop bomb DIPAs tht litter our beer landscape currently shouldn't have the same score as this gem.

Come to think of it, this beer exhibits what those shitty imperials do not.

It's delicious, and balanced, even though it's a pretty big and boozy beer. Tasty sweet biscuit and stewed fruits, but the cool thing is the hops add a layer of bitterness in the finish that keep the former from being too cloying. This, coupled with carbonation and a body that is not super thick, make it incredibly drinkable. I'm having to pace myself, because I want to keep going back to it.

I wish I bought a bunch of these last year.
Oct 28, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by NickMunford from Wyoming

Oct 27, 2016
Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2015) - Extra Hoppy from Stone Brewing
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 434 ratings