Old Guardian Vert.

I have been reading the beer styles book on Barleywines and I figured this would be a good week to open a vertical. Each night I will be pulling out a different age of Stone's Old Guardian and taking notes each night of the different vintages. I have had samples of most OG vintages, but it's rarely that I've set down with a nice pour of them.I'll be jumping around each night with different vintages instead of doing them in order. I have always thought that the beer hit it's sweet spot at about 5 years, so we'll see if that's true by the end of the week!

I believe I have 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015. I had the BA version from 2011, but drank it a month or so ago.

I'll try posting reviews each night in case anyone is interested. Cheers!



Appearance: Semi opaque orange brown body with nice ring of head along with med. lacing

Smell: Brown sugar and caramel, complex alcohols and esters lending themselves to fruit notes of dried and fresh apricot, raisin and dried cherry.

Taste: Balanced bitterness supports sweet caramel and massive notes of dried cherry. Alcohol warmth with a lingering bitterness on the back leaves you wanting another sip.

Overall: 5 years has always seemed to be the sweet spot for Old Guardian and even at this point there are only faint signs of oxidation.

 

Wish I would have saved this for this week....

 

I've been holding on to them all for the last year waiting for a good time to open them. Then I realized hell, anytime, as long as I appreciate it, is a good time.

 

In general I am not a big fan of barleywines. I appreciate them and can enjoy them, but they're one of my least favorite styles. With that said I prefer English examples more than American ones.

I've always thought Old Guardian was just ok, but it does hold up really well to age. Over 8 years though and it can start to become pretty oxidized and muddled.

I used to work for Stone, so these aged bottles were pretty easy for me to get and although I was planning on sharing them. I tend to build up too large of a collection and need to start enjoying all the tasty beers I have lying around!

 

Did you grab those at Stone or is there an awesome secret beer shop somewhere around?

 

Skipped drinking one last night as it's been pretty hot and I didn't feel like drinking such a big beer. Still hot, but busted the 2015 vintage out tonight!

Appearance: Crystal clear, ruby orange in color, and great head retention for such a big beer

Smell: Loads of caramel, grassy earth note, fresh baked rye bread, cinnamon, cherry

Taste: Big bitterness upfront which gets quickly backed up by a burnt caramel sweetness, with enjoyable warming heat on the back end

Overall: I've had the fresh next to aged versions a few times before, but I'll admit I've never thought about them as much as I am now. WOW they are massively different beers and both very enjoyable. While this beer is very tasty, it is far less complex than the aged version.

 

I believe it was. Funny enough I bought the book and had that bottle but traded it away. This one was purchased more recently.