Stone Old Guardian Belgo is richer than chocolate cake at Taste of Texas

2011 is the first year for the Stone Brewery "Odd Beers for Odd Years” program. Consider it Stone's attempt to implement a 'gifted and talented' program. My brother Warren was in that program in elementary school and brewery Greg Koch probably was too because Stone makes incredible beer. For this Belgo Barleywine, he directed 30 barrels of the barleywine batch to the fermenter with the yeast used in the Cali-Belgique IPA. Basically they spiked the Barleywine with some Belgian yeast. Sounds crazy but could be awesome - how does this 'odd' flavor party turn out?

My mouth just imploded. This beer goes up to 11.

It's incredibly rich. I love the Old Guardian series and there's a bottle of the 2008 Barleywine under my bed for an extended aging, but this Belgo is woweee zowee. So incredibly rich! I like it, but my shirt flew off after drinking only half the glass. It happens.

For sake of creativity and in the name of interesting delights, this is a really special beer but it's not a beer I can drink every day. I like drinking this now, but it's definitely meant for a big craft brew fan. Only for the lionhearted. TRANSFORMERS rating.

...It would sure be interesting to see how the Belgian yeast and sweet caramel notes withstand time, maybe I should buy one just in case...

Vertical Flight of Stone Old Guardian 2008-2010

I decided to combine the posts from Friday, Saturday and Sunday into one MONSTER post because we tasted a vertical flight of Stone Old Guardian Barleywine from 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Despite its name, Barleywine is very much a beer. It's actually one the strongest and most intense of the beer styles because of their complexity and high alcohol content (Old Guardian +11%). So why include wine in title? Because it is brewed to be aged like wine and stored for future consumption. Hence my interest in tasting them vertically, one year after the other!



2008

Tasted Friday November 12, 2010

Had AJ, Nic, Tiffany and Nic G over for some wine and pasta Friday night. We popped the Old Guardian 2008 and drank during the cheese appetizer. The '08 is bold and complex, with swirling with malt, fruit, buttery hints of caramel and the well rounded hops note Stone is known for. I REALLY enjoyed this beer. This is a complex but balanced beer that put you on your ass. I'm going to buy this again and age it many moons, bringing it out for some special occasion, like finishing a book. See you in 2014 you dank bastard. 

2009

Tasted Saturday November 13th, 2010

Another beautiful Saturday ends with a poorly lit picture. The 2009 Old Guardian didn't meet the standards of the '08. It was raw and unbalanced. Maybe a year does make a difference. I still enjoyed it, but the '09 is still in the Beta phase.

2010

Tasted Sunday November 14th, 2010

Like THE WALKING DEAD, the '10 startled me. It was super good, but it hasn't aged! How could this be? And it raises the question; is the '09 batch the problem or will it get better with time? Am I going crazy? If I use one more question mark I might....The '10 is fantastic, really. I can't wait to age this one.

RATING SCORECARD
Old Guardian 2008 - THE ROCK
Old Guardian 2009 - TRANSFORMERS
Old Guardian 2010 - BAD BOYS

SUMMARY: I don't know about other breweries' barleywine but Stone does it well. I would recommend any of these for consumption, but do realize that barleywine isn't for the weak-willed. Like the Arrogant Bastard, this is a sit down, shut up and sip it brew. Personally, I plan on going to Whole Foods this week and buy the '08 and '10 for a future date.