Review 156
4/22/13
Stone
Old Guardian Barleywine Oak-Smoked: 11.4% abv
Background: Old
Guardian, as we have established in the past, is a Cali microbrewery that has
just celebrated their 16th anniversary. Apparently, a tradition they
have set up in recent years is to release a special edition beer on every odd
year. This one has German oak-smoked barley thrown into the mix, in a “healthy
dose” as Stone phrases it. They do this in parallel with the regular release of
Old Guardian, so you can feel free to get both and see how the difference in
ingredients changes the flavor. Since we’ve already tried Old Guardian, we were
compelled to do just that. Look what we found!
Nose: The
nose comes across as being aggressively malty, with interesting mellow notes of
woody character. There are some subtle nutmeg flavors to the nose, with mild vanilla
as well. As far as fruitiness goes, there is a mild cantaloupe and strawberry
presence there with some baked apples and cinnamon complimenting the flavor. The
nose is not very prominent, and does not depict any brutality that is so
common-place with bitter Stone beers. There is a savory, maple character in the
nose as well.
Arrival: The
arrival starts out with a blast of bitterness and sweetness, battling to get
the center of attention. The arrival starts off with a big fruity, malty
flavor. There are contributions of vanilla, berries, and light citrus notes of
lemon as well. The arrival is the most mild part of the beer, contributing a
vast range of sweetness and a foreboding, yet minuscule bitterness as a
precursor to the intensity to come.
Body: The body is composed of ripe fruits like
bananas and ripe berries, and Moscato grapes. The body contains some notes of
sweet agave, but is counteracted by some dry black pepper notes. There is a dry
grain, and something reminiscent to Belgian Trippel ale. The body starts a
developed yeastiness which resembles sourdough.
There is some raison-like quality to the body, almost close to a Fino
Sherry character.
Finish: The
oak-smoked barley plays a big part here, showing the oak in center stage as a
large flavor contributor. Raw oak, bitter oak, with a long woody aftertaste.
There is still a large contribution of malt to the finish as well, trying to
impose a failing sweetness to the fading flavor. There is a definite hops and
grapefruit bitterness in the finish as well. There is a slightly underplayed
strawberry note that gets buried by the bitterness of the finish, not unlike
the complexities we found in the regular Old Guardian. There is also a hint of
the smoked flavor that comes through in the finish, although not nearly as
dominant as you might expect.
Final Comments: The nose might seem underwhelming, not
presenting a large foreshadowing to the beer. The taste, on the other hand, has
a dynamic, malty, flavor. This transforms, rather rapidly, into a West Coast,
bitter dominant finish which stays with you for quite some time. This is an
influential beer, but what makes it the most impressive is when it’s compared
to the regular Old Guardian Barleywine. The biggest similarity is the signature
bitterness in the finish, but in other ways, this Old Guardian is much
different than the original. Surprisingly, we can’t say it’s just “more smokey”,
because this oak-smoking of the barley has really brought about some unique and
sweet flavors that you wouldn’t really call akin to a campfire. This is no
peat-smoking equivalent. It is a different animal, and we like it.
Why you’d buy it: This is
a very interesting experiment from the regular Old Guardian.
Why you wouldn’t: You don’t
like bitterness or intensity.
Score: 8.75/10
