Stone Old Guardian - Extra Hoppy

Barley wines are traditionally hefty brews, but ours is downright excessive. The huge maltiness of this beer is only tamed by an equally prodigious addition of hops, creating a rich, slightly sweet, caramel-hued ale infused with assertive bitterness and bright hop notes, all culminating in a pleasing dryness. While it will evolve into an even more glorious brew with age, this beer’s delicious onslaught of flavors will seriously challenge your ability to wait any longer to drink it.

http://www.stonebrewing.com/og/odd/

3.8

286 reviews

Escondido, United States

Community reviews

4.0 Poured from a bottle. Hazy copper color, small off white head. Hope and malt aroma. Full body with a hops and malt flavor and a sweet finish.

3.8 An interesting beer an aroma of malt, booze, hops and pineapple. Pours a hazy caramel color with a tan well laced head. A sweet taste of pineapple, and a caramel with a full body and a sweet hop finish.

3.6 August 1, 2015. Bottle, vintage 2013. Clear amber with a small off-white head. Aroma is sweet malty and hoppy with caramel, toffee, resin, ripe pineapple, grapefruit, grass and pine. Taste is medium sweet with toffee, mango, resin, bitter grassy notes with some pine and citrus pith, lasting grassy and piney bitter finish with some malty caramel sweetness in the back. Medium bodied, slight oily texture, soft small bubble carbonation.

4.2 650ml bottle. Hazy amber with a tall log lasting head. Lacing. Massive amount of fruit, caramel, pine resin hits the nose. Flavor is not as aggressive as the aroma, but with a nice hoppy twist.

3.9 Style et résumé: Barley wine américain avec une masse de houblon. Comment: Bouteille de 660ml version 2015. Portrait: Une robe ambrée avec une belle mousse beige. Un nez de sucre d’orge houblonné. Légère vapeur d’alcool. Touche fruité avec fruits confits. Une bouche sucrée, agréable, ronde et chaleureuse. Fruité, finale amère avec alcool. Note: 8/10

4.1 Bomber from dusty shared with brian...nose is toffee and hops...mouth is the same with sweet malt tossed in....really good brew!

3.6 Beautiful glass with rich head in of white. Nose is malty rich and with some cabbage style. Taste is also almost a little cabbage but rich maltiness and even slight hoppiness. Palate leaves some bitterness and a taste of pineapple with impressive length.

4.5 22 Oz bottle. Gusher. Beautiful amber clearish pour, huge brown-tan head. Aroma of intense caramel, biscuits. Crystal caramel sweetness, balanced by nice hop bitterness, highly carbonated, full mouthfeel. Filling. Simple but satisfying.

3.7 Bomber courtesy of rlgk. Pours hazy deep brownish Amber with a frothy goldenish beige head that leaves lots of sticky trace on the glass while dissipating. Smell is malty, tiny fruity, herbal and slightly earthy with caramel, toffee, grapefruit juice, mango, moist grass, pine needles, resin, grapefruit rinds and lemon zest. Taste is sweet, bitter, malty, slightly fruity and herbal. Finish is sweet and bitter with caramel, toffee, grapefruit juice, mango, moist grass, pine needles, moist soil, pine needles, resin and lemon zest. Heavy on the line and resin but a nice US barley wine.

3.9 Bottle at Extra, extra tasting at Koppmansgatan Göteborg, 160212. Hazy amber/copper beer, small offwhite head. Hoppy vinous aroma, caramel, citrus, grass, spicy notes, some biscuits. Hoppy caramel flavor, citrus, hay, floral, floral, warming alcohol, biscuits, some raisins. Quite nice.

3.6 29.01.2016, 0,65l bottle (2015 vintage) @ home: Nice creamy mediumlasting head. Aroma is sweet grassy, leafs, caramel malts, wet grass, minerals, bark, hops, old moss, alcohol, burnt caramel, hay, citrus peel, dried fruits. Taste is sweet concentrated grassy, leafs, sugar, caramel malts, wet grass, alcohol, hops, moss, bark, minerals, hay, dried fruits, citrus peel. Medium bitterness, sweet grassy mouthfeel. Nice.

3.4 Barleywine tasting for Cannery Row Beer Club...Not everyone is a fan of the category.

4.0 Tap at ginger man, ny. Dark copper color, white head. Nice sweer aroma has fruits, hops, some cherries, some wooden notes. Sweet malty body witg big hops, wooden notes, cherry notes.

3.7 Bottle from Systembolaget. A bit hazy dark orange with a white head. Aroma of dried fruit, toffee, orange and malt. Similar taste. On the sweet side with warming alcohol in the finish.

3.6 @ Basunen 16-1-2: Rätt fin doft och smak. Mycket kola och malt samt tydliga toner av apelsinskal. Fin balans. Ganska gott.

3.7 Deep orange golden color with a fine off white head. Looks amazing. Rich aroma. Mostly dried fruits and toffee. Full body and an average to soft carbonation. A bit sweet with not quite enough bitterness to cover it up. Oily texture. Rice fruity, marmalade, hoppy and toffee in the flavor. [Bottle from Systembolaget web order in Sweden]

3.4 Bomber from Beer Run. Hazy orange-brown, large foamy tan head, good retention. Aroma of toffee, brown sugar, earthy notes. The taste is piney, herbal hops, orange marmalade, brown sugar and toffee. Medium bodied, mild booze.

2.9 Pours amber with a big white head. Smells sweet grassy hoppy and caramel malt. Tastes clear bitter, grassy hoppy and a bit sweet with a similar finish. I expected more

3.5 Bottle. Clear Amber with a vanilla head. Pine, toffee, brown sugar, and caramel dominate with some dark fruit. Rich, sweet, toasty malts. Sticky mouthfeel. Solid.

3.9 Bottle (65 cl) from Systembolaget. Clear reddish, medium beige head. Caramelly malt aroma, piney and citric hops, a touch of alcohol. Full bodied, medium carbonation. Dry, high bitterness.

4.1 Murky red brown color with a small, light tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of floral hops, dark fruits, pine, caramel, and alcohol. Taste of dried fruits, pine, citrus, caramel, grapefruit, and alcohol in the finish.

4.8 Bottle. Happy All Saints Day. As advertised, this is a BIG, rustic, sappy, rich, hoppy, sticky, caramel sipper. Not for the faint of heart. I’m enjoying this too much to distract myself writing anything more. (#6055, 11/1/2015)

3.6 Bomber from Casa De Oro. Hazy ruby/amber in color. Bitter hoppy nose with a bit of sweetness and some tropical fruit notes. Light tropical notes up front. Fairly sweet. Fairly hoppy. Pretty mellow overall. Tasty with a bit of alcohol. Pretty big, but also subdued in some ways.

3.4 Red-brown, medium tan head. Pleasant aroma of of piney hops, burnt caramel. Full body, some boozy alcohol. Flavor is fairly sweet malts, brown sugar, pine-like hops, off-dry finish. It’s not bad. Maybe a ilttle too harsh and flavors while good do not cohere.

3.7 [7462-20150807] Bottle. Fruity pineapple citrus toast aroma. Clear, amber gold body with a medium-lasting foamy off-white head. Bitter grainy fruity citrus flavour builds up some alcohol as it goes. Medium body. Good, tasty. (8/3/8/3/15) 3.7+ (w/ jercraigs, mds)

3.9 650ml bottle. Aroma is conifer, caramel, light citrus, spruce, pine, dried fruit. Taste is a lot of resin, conifer, pine, caramel, dried fruit. Full, well carbonated. Excellent.

3.6 [My bottle (660ml) shared with HogTownHarry & GregClow] Pours a clear deep auburn with a large lasting fluffy white head. Aroma of caramel malt, fruit, brown sugar, toffee, hops, bread and alcohol. Flavour of caramel malt, brown sugar and hops first followed by dark fruit and a long bitter finish. Alcohol is there but not 11%. Medium bodied. A bit disappointing, just pretty good, I expected great.

3.3 2015 edition I do believe. Hard to buy these highly similar bottles and hope that RateBeer shall come through with the differentiation but nonetheless they usually do! So this is a bomber bought in Edmonton, imported north, into snowier climes than even what Edmonton could offer. So, it pours - with a deep golden body and modest carbonation, okay head. Some may complain at the lack of aggressiveness on the brew but it is a barley wine after all and it ain’t all bad. The aroma is heavy Belgian yeast - best as I can describe it, not that cheaper crap that you find from the other brewers, this is indeed aromatic. Some malt there, slight sweetness, but not foul by any measure. Sweet caramel there for sure, could ease into fusels but not quite so I won’t mention it past that. That said, Edmonton has a surprising number of attractive women - more than I expected. Not like you’d ever actually hook up with any of them at a craft beer venue, but nonetheless there you go. So this has a strong malt character with hints of malt and vague hints of hops. It’s restraining itself at eleven percent, trying not to be overbearing, but not quite succeeding. I let this one warm up and it was tasted at 21.4 celcius. Drinkable indeed but not quite appetizing; it’s more like the brewer is trying to hold things down so you don’t notice that it’s a hugely over-boozed barley wine. As it stands it’s quite a good barley wine, but I’m not detecting the hoppiness and also find that it could come off as quite harsh to some individuals. Lacking finesse is the deScription I’m looking for I do believe. But if you were looking to get smashed this is indeed a good option, though it’s hard to say it’s a stellar brew.

4.0 Bottle, shared with Parksy. Medium orange-amber, soft golden head. Chewy sweet toffee malts and bitter citrus hops, very big bodied, long bitterness. Just huge by any measure, and really good!

4.3 Flaska från SB. Smak och doft av humle, karamell, vita russin, granskott, tallkåda, grapefrukt, torkad frukt, marmelad. Tjock, rund och len, mycket smaker i bra kombination, fruktig, fin beska som ligger kvar länge i gommen. Kanon gott!