A cold winter’s night is a good time for a beer from sunny Southern California.
Beer: Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (Limited Early 2007 Release)
Brewer: Stone Brewing Co.
Source: 22 oz bottle
Rating: ** (6.9 of 10)
Comments: Like Nut Brown Ale, Barley Wine is a term that indicates to me another time and place, a beer steeped in agrarian tradition. Barley wine is supposed to be served in a brandy snifter, but since I don’t own one I substituted a wine glass. The look, scent, and taste of this ale are all good, but the aftertaste is a bit too much on the bitter side for me. This is a good sippin’ beer due to an apparent high alcohol content.
This beer may have the most text-heavy bottle I’ve ever seen with paragraphs of unilluminating detail of the brewer’s thoughts before preparing this batch (also available on the website). The ingredients list is clever though: “A whole buncha Barley, tons o’ Hops, Water & Yeast.”