Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2016) - Dry-Hopped With Pekko
Stone Brewing

Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2016) - Dry-Hopped With PekkoOld Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2016) - Dry-Hopped With Pekko
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From:
Stone Brewing
 
California, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
11%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.17 | pDev: 7.43%
Reviews:
72
Ratings:
216
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 07, 2023
Added:
Jan 14, 2016
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  37
From time to time, we like to tweak the recipes of some of our most long-standing beers—like Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine—to create unique variations. This year we’re taking it to the next level by dry-hopping it with Pekko hops—a new varietal from Washington’s Yakima Valley—which in turn add notes of stone fruit, orange, lemon and mint to this bready, toffee-like beast of a beer.

75 IBUs
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.99/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2015 vintage, bottle gushed when opening. Dark amber with small, tight head. Big, bold malty aromas, leathery, woody. Very smooth texture, malty flavors, less potent than the aroma. Finishes with a warm glow. Held up extremely well.
Jun 07, 2023
Photo of KaBoots
Reviewed by KaBoots from Florida

4.09/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
L: who cares what it looks like if it tastes great
S: Nothing super
T: Really well balanced barleywine, There's still plenty of hops but is balanced by a lightly sweet malt character. It's not wildly fruity or anything like that. It's slightly malty sweet, but no wildly fruity characteters. Think light brown sugar with a neutral hop presence
F: Medium bodied. It doesn't have legs so to speak, but it's certainly thicker the average American lager.
O: An excellent, unadulterated, barleywine. Many brewers add lots of extra fruity bits or barrel aging, but this is an exceptional expression of a neutral barleywine, not an Imperial IPA with a bit of extra malt and not a pure sweet English malt monster barleywine.
Jan 09, 2023
Photo of daliandragon
Reviewed by daliandragon from Maryland

4.26/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
This is the last long timer in my diminishing cellar., and has been waiting for this moment for five plus years. Pours a full body rust maroon with little head and a syrupy sweet smell of malty thunder; hints of dark fruits, citrus, and pepper.

So, this still has a big flavor, is luxuriously smooth and velvety on the tongue, and has minimal alcohol burn or harshness. Obviously half a decade of mellowing helped but this is still a high quality effort. Too bad it has been retired.

Top contributors to the taste are orange and fig among a mélange of varied fruit flavors, Hops provide excellent balance and flavor but not the bitter bomb you sometimes see. Worth the wait.
Apr 24, 2022
 
Rated: 4.37 by jmbeerdude91 from Arizona

Apr 12, 2021
Photo of StoutElk_92
Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.57/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
22oz. bottle

Pours a semi-transparent foggy bright ruby red with some darker brown shades, and a dense compact creamy beige khaki colored foam head that has good lacing and retention. Smells like a complex blend of sweet toasted malts, dark dried fruits, and herbal earthy savory hops, toasted bread crust notes, dark caramel, bold toffee, light molasses, hint of roasty char, raisins, grape, apple/pear orchard fruit, dried apricot, fig, date, prune, hint of berry, with some woody earthy herbal fresh piney savory hop notes reminiscent of twigs and leaves. Tastes big and strong, plenty robust, rich and malty, toasted, sweet, charred, fruity, lightly bitter, fairly strong herbal earthy piney hop presence, similar flavors as the aroma, some toasted bready malts, dark caramel, toffee, molasses, roasty char, hint of red apple, raisin, grapes, pear, apricot, fig, dates, prune, dark berry, dark dried fruits, brief floral citrus rind, bale of hay, subtle spice, earthy herbal woody piney savory hop notes, a touch of leather, with a really nice lingering seedy nutty whole grain dark toasted bread crust aftertaste. Feels medium plus bodied, heavy, thick, viscous, slick with smooth moderate carbonation. Overall a real nice and interesting dry-hopped barleywine ale.
Jan 31, 2021
 
Rated: 4.18 by arzt from Germany

Jul 21, 2020
Photo of janubio
Reviewed by janubio from Spain

4/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle from 2010, bought at The Situation about 3 or 4 years ago, served at home in a snifter glass. Pours an amber coppes small head that fades to a thin ring, tiny lacing,
aroma has hops, caramel, chocolate, raisins or plums, a bit of citrics and pine.
Medium body, creamy texture, normal carbonation. Finish is sweet but also hoppy.
Taste of hops, caramel, chocolate, wood, dried fruits. Great.
Apr 25, 2020
 
Rated: 4.38 by BeardedWalrus from North Carolina

Feb 23, 2020
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

3.79/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
A 22 fl. oz. bomber, 2016 release, bottled on 4th February 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: A hazy rusty orange brown colour with a nice one finger orangey beige head that had pretty good retention while leaving lots of nice lacing.

Aroma: Caramel, toffee, citrus zest, orange, pineapple, bread, maltiness, booze.

Taste: Sweet, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, citrus zest, pineapple, grape, plum, herbal and boozy.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: The combination of sweet, citrus and boozy generally doesn’t work well for me, and it could be because of a terrible experience with mandarin vodka way back during my university years, but I can’t change that, and in this case, probably affected my view on this beer. The slight dark fruit notes probably saved it a bit for me, but in the end, not one of my favourite barleywines.
Jan 03, 2020
Photo of Brutaltruth
Reviewed by Brutaltruth from Ohio

4.31/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Form the growler via Jungle Jim's (a vintage no less which was a shocker!).
This mighty fine barley wine pours a nice murky burnt auburn with a decent
dissipating white head that fades to a thin ring. Nose of peach, pine, apricot,
lush caramel, toffee, dark raisin bread, and herbal hop notes. Flavors surpass
the nose with peaches, white raisin, herbal and pine hop notes, rum, caramel,
apricot, and herbal notes on the rear of light mint and almost a Thai basil note.
Nice mouth feel; full coating body, low carbonation, and a bitter hop and sweet
malt finish that is nicely balanced.

Overall, a real treat!

Cheers
Dec 28, 2019
Photo of Lucular
Reviewed by Lucular from Maryland

4.36/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
5 oz pour on tap. Pours a deep amber-brown with a smallish off-white head. Smells like citrus/pine hops and tastes similar, with a rich caramel and toffee flavor that is fairly sweet without being cloying. Full-bodied and complex flavor profile with a creamy mouthfeel. Delicious.
Jun 03, 2019
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A: Poured into a snifter to a nice shade of reddish gold topped by a dense and slightly rocky finger of cream colored head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass
S: Smells of brown sugar sweetness and caramel with some aged hop oils. Slight fruity notes with a hint of herbalness and citrus
T: Taste is brown sugar and caramel up front with some light stone fruits and bitterness, hint of citrus and some herbal mint like notes as well. Citrus and stone fruits are slightly juicy and stand up well to the base beer and age. On the swallow there's a nice herbal kick with a little mint, more stone fruits, and a little more citrus with some lingering caramel sweetness and brown sugar.
M: This beer is full bodied and slightly creamy on the palate. Carbonation is adequate and slightly effervescent while the beer has a drying finish that's just a little oily from all the hops that went into it.
O: Overall this is a really nice beer. It has some great flavors and the complexity from the hop switch is really nice. I'm always amazed at how well Old Guardian ages. It's currently drinking quite well and tastes like it could stand up to some additional aging.
May 31, 2019
Photo of cardfan212
Reviewed by cardfan212 from Minnesota

4.59/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a goblet.

Look - Pours a hazy honey-like brownish amber color. A mild sand colored head pops up and dies down into some strong lacing.

Smell - Light caramel or brown sugar sweet notes, almost like a bowl of warm oatmeal. Strong notes of raisin, maybe some fresh apple. Surprisingly fruity. Surprisingly, despite the prominent labeling of being dry hopped, the scents I typically associate with hops are rather tame and fall to the back.

Taste - My initial reaction was stunned wordlessness. There was an immediate explosion of flavor that was too dense to describe. On closer examination, I can pull out most of what I was getting on the nose, but also black licorice (not just anise but also the waxy sort of taste I associate with the candy) and a healthy dose of baking spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Some sweet red wine aspects in there too. There's a lot here to unpack.

Feel - Smooth, creamy, thick, and fulfilling. The alcohol isn't in your face and offers up a comforting warming feeling, perfect for this cold winter night.

Overall - Really blown away. Normally I find dry-hopped beers to be too much, but this really doesn't play into the hopiness that much, if at all. Maybe it's the 2 years of aging on the store shelf it had, but this beer is a real winner. I'm very happy I got to experience this, but I'm also pretty sad I'll probably never get to experience it again.
Dec 08, 2018
 
Rated: 4.3 by SadMachine from New Jersey

Aug 30, 2018
Photo of FFreak
Reviewed by FFreak from Vermont

4.38/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
This was surprisingly good. I bought it over a year ago at Costco for maybe $8.99. Bomber into a teku. Nice copperish color with pink hues and a huge, frothy head that persists. Candy and dried fruit aromas. Great taste in line with the smells. Mouth is medium body, nice carbonation, sweet but nicely balanced. Overall, very impressive for Stone.
Jun 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.92 by dsshuck from Delaware

Mar 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.5 by RochefortChris from North Carolina

Feb 28, 2018
 
Rated: 4.02 by sparx1100 from Minnesota

Dec 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.18 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Dec 02, 2017
Photo of StJamesGate
Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

3.89/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Cherry with speckles. 4
Cough syrup. 3.75
Speck of chocolate, glace cherry, rum barrel, slight herb, and vague citrus. 4
Hot tingly end.
Chewy, medium, sticky. 4

No sign of Pekko, which is a pretty delicate hop for a barleywine anyway. Playing like a liqueur more than a barleywine; malts are just too candy sweet. This could be in the dead spot of aging where the aroma hops are gone but the heat hasn’t smoothed out - I’ve seen that with year-old Bigfoot. Either way, a tooth-rotter right now. 3.75
Oct 09, 2017
Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (2016) - Dry-Hopped With Pekko from Stone Brewing
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 216 ratings