Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale 2006 - Stone Brewing Co.

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.15/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 22 ounce screen printed bottle that retains the same overall Stone Old Guardian screen printed design as last years 2005, which differed from prior years. A few minor changes to the design include the fact that words “Limited Early 2006 Release” are now relegated to a smaller text and situated as a single line at the bottom the main label. As with the OG2005, this one also clicks in at a mighty 11.26% Alc.Vol.

Appearance: Striking clarity runs through this lucid orange-brown beauty. At its darkest it has a polished chestnut body which lightens to a shimmering yet rusty dark orange when backlit. Sticky deep tan colored froth forms a concave head riddled with inner marrowbone-like passageways and cavities. Soft swirls reveal a finely dissolved carbonation which keeps the head at ¼” thick; the lacing though is very delicate and spotty. Solid looks.

Nose: Cracking the cap off of this one immediately filled the surrounding air with a stench of alcoholic malts and some dark caramel. Classic Old Guardian traits from last year are repeated. This one has a strong and very deep alcoholic skeleton, fleshed out with caramels, thick malts and piney hops.

Taste: Thick malty start with a big hop-fused middle that deposits an oily hue on the tongue and lower part of the mouth. Alcoholic orange is thick and transitions through a distilled pine oil phase to finish with a warming gullet swallow which teases at first, then finishes kicking and screaming. As it warmed the complexity opens a little and reveals Aniseed, thick home-made Cob crusts, a hint of vanilla just before the swallow and the singe that follows. Long after the swallow and between sips the lingering finish softens and turns into a fruity hoppy reminiscent memory.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied, powerful, demanding and just damn “big”, with a little swaggering Stone brashness mixed in for good measure, not totally unexpected. Moves between dark and malty, hoppy and oily with a fruity aniseed ending.

Drinkability: The heat did not seem as harsh as past years; either that or I can handle it better these days. I always look forward to cracking an Old Guardian when the time comes around.

Overall: I think this is good to go right now, I would even go so far as to say that I think this is one of the best fresh samples of Old Guardian that I have tried to date. A more rounded and palatable 2005 version which retains all of its flavors and strength whilst adding a little more Drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2006 05:19:46 | More by TheLongBeachBum

dirtylou

Washington

3.88/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

limited early 2006 release...i believe i have only had the 04 release prior to this

enjoyed during bears-titans with a funky bleu mont dairy reserve cheese

appearance: served in a hopleaf tulip, bright amber body, autumnal highlights...light beige ring with very light lacing. Its not as aggressive on the eyes as i would have imagined

smell: sweet malty nectar, notes of a once-bitter hop profile come through after the brown sugar and alcohol whiffs fade...2 years out from the release of this and the aroma is a bit messy

taste: This Stone release has a big malty center and heavy notes of nut and fig...brown sugar, alcohol, and a fading bitter hop profile make this a very powerful ale. This is good, but not great....i much preferred the 04 version and hope the 05 i have will be drinking nicely

mouthfeel: creamy and full, very high bitterness

drinkability: rough stuff for sure

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2008 20:06:46 | More by dirtylou

GClarkage

California

3.75/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

08/11/06- Purchased at Beverages and More in San Mateo, CA.

Presentation- 22oz bottle. Vintage 2006. Poured into my Old Gaurdian Barleywine glass.

Appearance- Off brown, slight reddish watered down iced tea colored. Looks very lifeless. Pours with a 1/2 inch head, immeadiately evaporates into nil. The slightest sight of lace left behind.

Smell- Even smells a bit watery. Pretty harsh pine and grapefruit hop scent with a bit of fusel alcohol. A touch of caramel malt underneath.

Taste- Thankfully it taste better than it looks and smells. Gee, what a suprise...all hops. Not as harsh as I was thinking though. More grapefruit than pine, but the pine is there. Caramel roasted malt is hidden, but if you taste and smack your gums enough you can make it out. A tiny bit of cherry flavoring as well.

Mouthfeel- A bit watered down, about average maybe lower carbonation level. Bitter lasting aftertaste.

Drinkability- As all Old Gaurdian's....put them away for 1 year...no, make that a decade! A hophead delight as is if you like harsh numbing bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2006 01:22:31 | More by GClarkage

Vancer

Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Holy moly, look what I found in the back of the closet cellar! Cool!

Oh yeah, pours a cascading hazy amber with a cascading tan head, plenty foamy even after 3 years and a whopping 11%+ Oily sheets of lace ripple around the Corsendonk tulip.

Classic, pure classic Barleywine aroma - sweet caramel malts back with the orange liquor. Progresses into the quaff nicely, add a bit of stinging alcohol and hop bite for an enjoyable Barleywine afternoon while March madness prevails. Finish has plenty of hops to balance with the initial sweetness.

A full bodied beer, to say the least. A true sipper, the hot alcohol is still there and biting me in the arse.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2009 19:51:52 | More by Vancer

Mebuzzard

Colorado

3.88/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A nice dark amber pour with hints of red. The head was foaming and chunky with fairly nice lacing. Aroma was dominated by a glazed donut tinge, hops, malt and caramel.
Taste was kind of plain for Stone. Simple caramel, malt and sticky sweet molasses.
The finish and aftertaste is where the alcohol kicked in. This was a 1.6 Liter bottle, too much in one night.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2006 00:50:49 | More by Mebuzzard

Metalmonk

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Really wanted to cellar this bottle for a year or two, but I cannot resist opening it as I've been very interested in Stone stuff lately. Will have to buy multiples and age a few. (Thanks to jabocu for the trade)

A good pour offered a nice big creamy head but it thinned very quickly. Color is an amber/copper, a more reddish hue than most barley wines I've seen so far. Very very mellow bubbles.

Smell is citrus and dark fruits, pine, molasses, cherry Twizzlers.

Flavor is hot and medicinal, with hops giving a grapefruit wang and a butter/caramel/malt sweetness adding balance. It's a little acidic, not as smooth as I'd hoped. Maybe aging is just what this needs. Adds a pleasantly sticky mouthfeel in the finish, mightily enjoyable.

All Stone beers I've had so far have been absolutely delicious and this is no exception. But I do come away with two thoughts 1) there are barley wines out there with more depth, and 2) this would probably be better with some age on it.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2006 19:28:39 | More by Metalmonk

Floydster

California

2.93/5  rDev -29.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

8 ounce glass at Stone Winter Storm for four dollars, split with my girlfriend

A-Murky amber color that looked a little sketchy for a barleywine, 1/2 inch foamy off white head, some retention, minimal lacing

S-Big malty aromas, apricot, caramel, toffee, cherries, some interesting hoppy scents

T-Sweet flavor overall, lots of toffee and caramel tastes just like the smell, grapefruit, hint of dark fruit, particularly raisins, faint dark chocolate flavor, not very balanced, needs more hoppiness

M-Too thick, not enough carbonation, taste lasted a very long time, sweet and syrup-like mouthfeel

D-Heavy stuff, eleven percent ABV, could drink a glass or two maximum, taste is too sweet to be anything else other than a sipper

Certainly not my favorite vintage of Old Guardian, this one needs some age to become more enjoyable, one of my least favorite beers of the day, and probably one of the worst Stone beers I have tasted in general

Serving type: on-tap

01-30-2008 05:18:01 | More by Floydster

ArrogantB

Colorado

4.22/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the brewery, this was the last sample I tried. It was identical in color to the 2007, golden with a white head. Aroma was syrupy. The taste was also syrupy, toffee, chewy, delicious. To be honest I couldn't tell the difference between this and the 2007 except maybe less hops. This was by far the best beer I sampled at Stone with fresh Bastard coming in a very close second. It was also nice to not have to track down a bottle of this to try.

Serving type: on-tap

10-04-2007 16:55:35 | More by ArrogantB

Overlord

California

3.48/5  rDev -15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

What is going on with this beer?

I don't know what it is about the Old Guardian series, but none of them taste like any of the others, as far as I can tell.

This beer either was significantly less hoppy than the 07 and 08 versions, or the hops have been obliterated by the aging process. The result is an almost cloyingly malty/sweet beer, with a tinge of pine hops and maybe a hint of floral hop aroma.

Just not sure what to make of this.

Serving type: on-tap

02-13-2008 23:48:29 | More by Overlord

flexabull

California

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle courtesy of BeerBeing from way back when, thanks again! (wherever you are...)

Have been thinking of drinking something from the cellar, figured this one would be prime for the drinking now that it's 3+ years old. Let's see...

Pours a bright and dark orange color, a little cloudy, with a nice off white head.

Aromas are quite grainy, like sweet grape nuts, a little bit of hard candies, and with some earthy hops on the nose. Very complex and nice.

Taste has some definite boozy flavors, but it doesn't totally kick you in the teeth with all the alcohol. Up front, there are light malts, a little creaminess, easy and sweet cereal grains, and some bright stewed fruit flavors. Finish has a mineral hop bite, a light bourbon flavor, and some alcohol warmth. As mentioned before, there is plenty of alcohol here, but it manages to not overwhelm.

Mouthfeel is nice, and this beer manages to be smooth and full, without being to heavy on the mouth. Manages to go down and feel easy on the mouth.

Drinkability is quite good. This beer is drinking quite nicely. Goes down very easy for such a huge beer, and is light years from the big beast that Old Guardian tends to be when released. If you have one in the cellar, it wouldn't be a bad idea to crack one open, and see what you think.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2009 03:15:54 | More by flexabull

sweemzander

Illinois

4.28/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

22oz. bottle poured into a snifter. Thanks for sharing Chris!

(A)- Pours a fairly dense reddish chestnut color. Some tan froth.

(S)- A nice rich profile of toffee and caramel. Bits of fig and wood.

(T)- A nice malt profile and smooth finish. Lots of toffee and caramel.

(M)- A great carbonation level and a great balance too. Smooth and malty with almost no bite to it.

(D)- Aged gracefully, but I think it can go for even longer and longer.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2012 23:08:38 | More by sweemzander

mcallister

Ohio

3.7/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Had this against the '04 last night the review for the '04 is also posted. '04 won in every category accept appearance in my book but this will be much better with a couple years to settle down.

Very clean vibrant amber/copper color. Slightly less frothy head and lacing than it's brother from '04 but much prettier.

Cleaner more distinct hop aromas, a little brown sugar, and less malt noticeable. Not as delicate as the '04.

Subdued complexity overall compared with the '04. When I tried this in the bottle I thought the '06 was less hoppy and thinner bodied than the previous vintages I'd tried from bottle ('04, '05 withouth aging). But compared with the 2 year old '04 the '06 seemed like a monster. This was much more hoppy with a bitter caramel component, and toffee in the mid palate. Very clean tasting but after trying the '04 cellared for 2 years I would'nt touch a bottle till at least '07.

Drinkability was hit once again because of the high alcohol factor.

Serving type: on-tap

04-21-2006 11:20:41 | More by mcallister

lackenhauser

Maryland

4.3/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep, somewhat cloudy orange in color. Huge nose of dried fruit-apricots and figs come to mind. Very malty up front. Slick and viscous flavors of fruit, malt and alcohol. Very heavily hopped. Big, wet, slick grapefruit flavors. Loose some of the alcohol to round it off a bit more-aging would do that I am sure. Good body-pleasant tongue stripping quality to it. Very drinakble and enjoyable barleywine. It has been a year-a few more would calm this down into a real gem. Get some/horde some.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2007 02:55:39 | More by lackenhauser

blitheringidiot

Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Striking screen print label explains Limited early 2006 release, 11.26% ABV with decorative fonts.

Pours with a light polished copper hue containing a few rising bubbles to a thick 1/2" solid island of spotty craggy beige coating. Some solid lace holds firm. A rather bright color for an American Barley wine.

Perky scents of caramel and hard candy malts with an impressive array of hop balance. Solid sturdy scents of beer ingreients that state bold sugar and malt bomb all the way. A tad of cherry fruit and bubble gum in the fruity mix of aromas.

First swigs: Rich sugar meld of hard sugar rock candy that just oozes clean American barley wine. Tricky flavor that would beguile the most discerning tastebuds. The hops create a swiggable big barleywine to crazy proportions. All the pear and apple fruit in the world is in here.

Feel is gentle with a subtle restrained carbonation. This one is ready to go! No cellaring needed. Gawd! Fresh barleywines can be awesome!

Last swigs: To assuage my personal tastes I'd pump a tad more malt backing along the lines of a SNBF and this is golden! It's tasty as it is.

Beer is good. Happy American barleywie beering.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2006 05:44:45 | More by blitheringidiot

DogFood11

California

3.83/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

My first dive into the old guardian series. I admit it the barley wine style was one of the last styles that I learned to enjoy. I'd always found them so wildly ranging in taste that it was a complete crapshoot. The Old Guardian is the one that brought me back and the 2006 version to me, as a novice, is exceptional.

An aggressive pour produces a nice sized eggshell white head that sits atop a copper body, with decent spider web like lacing. Any hop bitterness seems to wait until very late in the game to make its presence felt but when it does they are sharp and clean up nicely. Caramel, or rather more of a dark rich sugary quality makes up the jist of it, although there are subtle complexity that keeps me interested. The hop presence actually crispen this brew up quite a bit. Warming is evident, red cheeks wouldn't suprise folks who have that sensitivity.

I would say that this leans toward the malted, sweet side of the wide ranging style. Mouthfeel is a bit on the syrupy, rich side as well. I picked up 24 bottles and plan on sampling one every couple of months. So far this is my 2nd bomber sampled and its growing on me. Solid offering, well brewed.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2006 04:23:56 | More by DogFood11

mentor

Colorado

4.43/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Happened to notice this is review #500 for me. Pours a full finger of yellow-tan head over a clear rust-colored liquid (has some red character, too). The beer holds some fine particulates and has three streamers racing to the top. Smells richly of caramel in a creamy, smooth, and wet sweet disposition. Hops are much less than I was expecting. Oranges with a hint of pine. Tastes wonderful. Wet sweet malty. Caramel, chocolate, biscuit. Leaves the mouth feeling like I've eaten cotton candy. Hops are gentle orange-like and mix with the alcohol such that I can't define a boundary between the two. Rough alcohol bite on the sides of my tongue. Not fusel, but grassy. It's well hidden by the malt, IMO. The aftertaste shows the alcohol stronger and serves to dry the experience. Thick mouthfeel is creamy smooth and modestly carbonated. Delicious. Buzz...yeah. Drinkable...yeah. I'd have another except i eager to keep the bottle in my cellar in my cellar

Honestly, I was reluctant to open a 2006 bottle this fresh. I find American BWines to be quite offensive when fresh...so much so that I tend to avoid the style altogether. This beer, however, was quite nice. Yet another fine offering from Stone. With this, I am convinced. There only only three breweries that have successfully transitioned to large micro brewery. Bell's, New Belgium, and Stone. My future dream is that, someday, these three breweries will be the 'big three' in America...displacing AB, Miller, and Coors.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2006 07:57:48 | More by mentor

IntriqKen

California

4.43/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This year is my first in trying Barley Wines.
Ok...I like them...and enjoy the differences between them.
This old Guardian is surprisingly smooth...
Pours a med redish orange with a small head that ends up very fine lacing.
Aroma is only lightly hops....heavier on citrus and toasted malts.
Mouthfeel is pleasant with it's very fine carbonation.
Taste is slight orange....a little toasty...then nice hop bitterness ending in a grapefruit tang. Nice alcohol warming on the finish.
I enjoyed this one and was surprised at it's mild smoothness with no aging. I can definately drink this one "green" and will be interested in how it matures (If I can restrain myself enough to cellar some for a year.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2006 01:28:41 | More by IntriqKen

arizcards

Arizona

4.53/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Had on tap at the Bistro this past Wednesday for $5.00 for an 8 oz snifter. Reviewed from notes.

Beer poured orange with a nice off white head.

Nose was still quite pungent of floral hops. Amazing after all this time.

Taste was extremely well balanced. Grapefruit bitterness was still alive and well balanced nicely with a huge malt backbone.

Mouthfeel was exquisite, full bodied and extremely smooth.

Drinkability was very good. Wow, this was a gem. In the past I have primarily had the Old Guardians fresh and although they are good this proves that aging does wonders for some brews. Definitely try this if you are at the Bistro!

Serving type: on-tap

02-26-2011 00:49:50 | More by arizcards

Beaver13

Colorado

3/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

22 oz 2006 bottle. Pours a glowing reddish orange with a medium off white head that goes to a thin film.

The aroma is sweet and spicy candy-like caramel with some hoppiness and a bit of watery DMS. It's kind of metallic and phenolic as well.

The flavor is spicy caramel and a strong watery alcohol with a sharp and spicy bitter alcoholic finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth with light carbonation.

Overall, not so great. It's too alcoholic and not very complex. I wonder if this bottle might be a little bad (especially from the smell). I've had it once before and remember not being impressed though.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2006 05:11:59 | More by Beaver13

brewcrew76

Wisconsin

3.53/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Spring 2006

A - Pours murky amber copper with 2 fingers of head and a touch of lacing.

S - Very malty with caramel and apricot. Some raisin, tropical fruit and alcohol is also present.

T - Malty with caramel and toffee. Malt forward with citrus grapefruit hoppyness.

M - Medium to thick with sticky almost syrupy mouthfeel. Light carbonation.

D - Very drinkable for the abv but I was expectingmore from Stone.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2007 03:15:05 | More by brewcrew76

GratefulBeerGuy

New Hampshire

4.3/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bomber poured into a goblet, Deep-red amber 1" thick white head, dissipated fast, nearly totally gone within a few minutes.

Smells seriously roasty and sugary. Hickory smoked with honey and a slight hop.

SWEEET malts, like honey. An early hop bitterness and some slight earth greens, maybe green peppers.

Light body, Thick full taste, sweetness resonates on the palate, mellow herbal greens take over later.

Powerful stuff, big ABV%, two MAX!!

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2006 23:46:09 | More by GratefulBeerGuy

Wildman

Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer poured a clear reddish amber color and formed a nice off white foamy head that coated the glass with lace as it slowly subsided. A medium amount of carbonation was present. An aroma of malt, hops, caramel and pine. The flavor was heavy with malt and hops with a slight caramel aspect with a pine presence in the background. It has a medium body and a sligtly sweet, yet astrigent finish with the warming aspect of the alcohol coming through. Undoubtedly will get better with aging.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2006 02:21:45 | More by Wildman

AltBock

Ohio

4.63/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22oz. bomber bottle with this really nice silk screened picture of their symbol, the Stone Gargoyle holding a picture of beer on the front. On the back (also silk screened) was this novel of what I would call rambling. The whole back of the bottle is small letters was this story. The whole story is only a couple of words short of the entire book of War & Peace. :-) If you have time to spare, then you can read the back of the bottle. Still a really nice looking bottle.

Appearance: When poured into my Snifter, the beer was this beautiful dark ruby color with just a splash of orange in there as well. I only got just a sliver of a white head of foam and even that dissipated fast leaving only a few rings and no lace.

Smell: The aroma had a huge helping of sweet malts in the front, some citrus fruits in the middle, the grapefruit being the most predominate, and nice fair aroma of piney hops in the background. Very Nice!

Taste: There's alot going on in this beer, it's not one dimensional of just strong alcohol, this beer had a lot more going for it. The initial taste was that of sweet caramel, then some sweet malts, and then after all the sweetness came this nice not too strong citrus fruits flavor. It's not done after that. After all that came this pleasant piney hops flavor. Not too strong of hops, just right for me. I expected this strong alcohol taste, but none of that was there in the taste.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, smooth, some carbonation, and this is where I detected just a slight hint of alcohol. I'm still surprised that this beer clocks in at 11.2%ABV. I really can't feel the alcohol.

Drinkability: This is a beer that I would buy again and probably will. A surprisingly smooth beer that's probably only good once in a while.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2006 18:58:23 | More by AltBock

AleWatcher

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This 2006 barrel was on tap at Three Floyds. I just happened to ask if was the 2010 and was pleased to hear it was the 2006! Had to try it.

Served in a goblet styled chalice.

Pours a nice coppery hued golden orange color with a tanned head and sticky clumps of lace. Smells sweet and malty with enough of a hop presence-- citrus and slight pine-- to make you know it's still an American barleywine as oppesed to the British style. A nice caramel malt flavor presents with a great smoothness... Mouthfeel is perfect. Smooth would be the one word to describe this beer at this moment.

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2010 17:57:49 | More by AleWatcher

sinstaineddemon

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

pours a dark red, reminiscient of an irish ale, decent carbonation visible and a creamy white sturdy head. hints of orange peel aromas add to the overal smell
tastes warm, bitterly smooth as it goes down. slight orange taste that sweetens at the end, like a caramel or butterscotch taste. sure warms the stomach.
my first Stone Brewery brew, and i look forward to more, this beer is great.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2006 23:03:20 | More by sinstaineddemon