Stone Old Guardian Oak-Smoked (2013 Vintage)

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 11.6% 
Reported IBUs: 80

I wasn't madly in love with the 2013 Stone Old Guardian, but I think it's going to age nicely and mellow out into something wonderful. Which is why I bought two bottles. Tonight I'm looking at the same beer, only with the addition of oak-smoked wheat malt to add a much needed layer of complexity. Hopefully it works out. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. 

If you roll over to the Old Guardian page, you can see that the 2013 Old Guardian comes in two flavors, regular and oak-smoked. The smoked version features a "substantial dose of German oak-smoked malt," which should add layers of smokiness to compliment the giant hop character and rich malt base. Clocking in at a rude 11.6% ABV (I sincerely mean that, this beer is aggressive) and 80 IBUs, this beer should feature the same stuff as the regular Old Guardian (big hops, rich malts) only with a complex twist. At least that's the hope.

Old Guardian Oak-Smoked 

This is not a photogenic beer (and I take shit photos; welcome to my shitty blog), but this pours into a dark red/amber/raisin-colored body. I kicked up a finger of reddish-khaki head, and it's hanging around like the beer is a Belgian Ale or something. It must be that wheat malt. In bright light, this beer is a gorgeous orange/red color, with a sexy orange/khaki head. It's just a good looking beer. There is monumental lacing, and a ton of carbonation streaming upwards.

It's amazing what another layer of malt adds to a beer, because the aromatics on the Oak-Smoked Old Guardian are impressively balanced and malty. I'm getting big oak, big wheat, and a huge smoke aromas. The smoke isn't meaty or fake...this smells like the authentic German malt you'd find in a Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier. Underneath the malt and smoke is some resinous citrus, pine, candy sweetness, maple syrup, and pine sap. If this tastes half as balanced as it smells, it's going to be an improvement upon the fresh Old Guardian. 

Well I'll be damned. The regular Old Guardian gargoyle was just an asshole. He was way too loud, always had a new girl over, and never did the dishes. Sure, he'll probably mature with time, but ain't nobody got time for that. This beer is striking a mean chord between big oak, smoked malt, bold peat character, light melanoidins (toasty/biscuit/chocolate/toffee/caramel/etc), even some plums and molasses...and resinous citrus, pine sap, maple syrup, and a dry, woody, oaky finish. Cot damn.

This is spectacular, and I'll probably run to the store and snag another bottle of this because hella rea$$$onable. As I said earlier, I suspect the regular Old Guardian will sort out with time...but right now the addition of the oak-smoked malts are grounding this beer and providing some much needed balance. This is super complex, has great palate depth, and has an aggressive full-bodied mouthfeel. At 11.6%, this demands to be sipped. The finish is sticky, woody, and dry. There's nice balance with oak, smoked malt, peat, toffee/caramel/toast up front; that rolls into plums, molasses, burnt sugars, resin, pine sap; the back end is sticky, then woody/oaky, then dry. Real nice...this is what I was originally looking for. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. As this warms, I'm picking up some brown sugar and some peppery spice. This is ridiculously complex...and I tip my hat to the 11.6%. This beer doesn't fuck around. It really demands an evening, or a friend to share it with. Even with that huge peat/smoke malt character, the resinous hops still linger heavily on your palate. Which leads me to believe this will also age well...albeit at the expense of the oak and smoke. I also have another bottle of this which I will pull out sooner than the regular Old Guardian. At 7 bucks or thereabout for a bomber, this is a steal. The bold flavors in this will hold up to aggressive spices, wings, grilled meats, sausages, or a rich and flavorful cigar. Actually, the oak-smoke in this almost beckons some grilled meats or a cigar. Pour a snifter of this, fire up the grill, light a cigar, and kick back and enjoy life.

Random Thought: So how about that Miami Heat. I figured if they could force a game 7 they would win this series, and the Spurs have no excuse for dropping the lead and letting the Heat tie things up. For shame. Tomorrow...hockey. For better or worse. Yay!