I’ve been playing alot of Scrabble lately with my betrothed. She beats me every time, which irks me to no end, since I was an English major and make my living, in part, as a writer. I’m seeing that this game is not so much about how large your vocabulary is*, but how well you’re able to create and connect multiple words with one play. She drops down a single “s” and creates three separate words, tallying 35 or 40 points in one death-dealing shot. The one thing that’s helped me a bit in playing the game is enjoying a beer or two to help open up my creative juices. Epoch…Ibid…Avowed…Yang…Que. Just a few decent-scoring words I used last game while enjoying Stone Old Guardian Barleywine. The first beer from my recent trade with The Vice Blogger. Now this is a beer I can get behind. This could in fact be one of the best beers I’ve ever had in my life. Yes, even possibly better than Surly Darkness, for anyone keeping tally.
You may recall my last experience with a barleywine, Rogue’s Old Crustacean. Pure, cloying swill. I gave it a B minus because it was the first of its kind I’d had, and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t want my personal reaction to override what I generously thought was most likely a decent example of the style. I’m seriously considering revising my rating.
Old Guardian. Poured into a snifter with a beautiful deep amber coloring. Pretty complex nose…some combination of sweet caramel, ginger bread cookies and cloves. Also alcohol, as this is 11.26% ABV (kind of an odd calculation). The taste is night and day compared to Old Crustacean. A subtle yet fully developed sweetness combined with a decent hop bite. And very boozy. I fucking love it. Did I mention I took the entire bomber down in less than an hour? It’s that drinkable.
I know I pretty much wet myself giving Surly Darkness the best possible rating I’d ever doled out. But I gotta say, this one is right there, and maybe even a little more. Totally different beer altogether, but truly magnificent.
Rating: A+
* Wow, didn’t mean that to come off as a subtle insult.
November 9, 2008 at 11:58 pm
It truly is a breathtaking beer. I think I will have it on tap at my house at all times when I finally live in some place larger than a kiosk at the mall.
November 10, 2008 at 8:49 am
Yeah it’s pretty damn perfect. The more Barleywines I try (had a few more this weekend) I realize this is probably the most perfect balanced Barleywine out there and yes Aaron (VB Boy) I still enjoy Gnarlywine just as much even though it’s a tad bit sweeter.
November 10, 2008 at 9:10 am
Captain, have you ever thought of trying to homebrew a barleywine? Is it difficult?
November 10, 2008 at 10:13 am
After having Old Guardian, definitely considering it. It just requires alot more grains to get the gravity up, probably somewhere in the 16 lb range for a 5 gallon batch. I use a 5 gallon mash tun which can accomodate about 10 lbs, so I’d have to do it in two steps.
November 22, 2008 at 12:27 am
[...] I’ve really enjoyed Stone Brewing so far. I’ve only had a few of their beers, including Old Guardian and Cali-Belgique, but I’ll go out on a limb and say they are one of the better craft brewers [...]
March 26, 2009 at 1:18 pm
[...] not as balanced and smooth as Stone Old Guardian (basically my all-time favorite beer), but yet not nearly as horribly sweet and cloying as Rogue [...]
April 9, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I live in San Diego and if you get the chance to try it Green Flash makes a very delicious and balanced Barleywine. Actually pretty much everything from Green Flash is delicious