Stone Old Guardian

Old Guardian is a big bold American barley wine. It has loads of malt and hops.

Beer Advocate

Brewer's Notes

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.

Featured Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Delta & Nugget.

Flavor Profile: Caramel, dried fruit, balanced finish.

Tasting Notes

Nov. 26, 2025: I had a small glass of a 10-year old 2015 vintage at the Stone tap house. It was wonderful. For the money, Bigfoot gets my nod. Therefore, I downgraded the rating slightly.

Rating = 6.5 glasses

Oct. 4, 2020: I cracked open my second growler of Old Guardian 2010 last weekend. The beer is now 10 years old and spent the last year and change in a crowler in my refrigerator. The beer is not what I remembered. The sweet malt had faded. A nice chocolate taste had emerged and the hops were kicking. malt. I don't know if the result is simply part of the aging process or being the crowler too long. Folks on Beer Advocate warned me that crowlers are NOT generally suitable for long-term storage. 

I would not rate what I had as 7 glasses but am leaving the original rating alone.

20 Aug. 2019
This vintage 2010 American barleywine was on tap @ Stone. It is yummy. It has aged wonderfully. - way better than the Big Foots in my "cellar". Loads of sweet malt with backbone of muted hops. Don't tell my wife; but, I bought two crowlers. The opportunity may never come again: Stone quit brewing Old Guardian circa 2015.

Rating = 7 glasses. 

Breakfast Stout

Brewer: Founders

Style: Imperial Stout

Beer Advocate: The coffee lover’s consummate beer. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and imported chocolates, and Sumatra and Kona coffee, this stout has an intense fresh-roasted java nose topped with a frothy, cinnamon-colored head that goes forever.

Tasting notes: 

2511: On draft at The Alley Light. A big stout with too much coffee for me. Rating = 4 glasses is perfect.

1010: A 1 yr. 1 mn. old bottle. Coffee is muting. (1002) A 4 mn old bottle. Well made stout. More coffee than I prefer and the coffee comes forward as the beer warms. (0910) Coffee! The flavor is growing on me. Upgraded from 3 and though about 5. Click here for a previous review.

Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, 20 December 2008, and 04 November 2009.

Rating: 4 glasses

3 Floyds Alpha Klaus

Alpha Klaus is an Christmas porter.

Brewer's notes: Alpha King’s festive cousin. A big American Christmas Porter brewed with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar, and tons of strange American hops. The pronounced hop bitterness gives way to flavors of molasses and chocolate from the roasted malt bill.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting notes
2511:  A great Christmas Ale.

2511: The brewer's notes are spot on! 

Rating = 5 glasses

2311: Alpha Klaus tastes like it has chocolate and maybe cinnamon; but the brewer's notes do not mention any extracts. The beer is pleasant and a nice variation of a Christmas Ale. It is easy to drink and the flavor is interesting.

Rating = 4 glasses

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale

Brewers Notes: Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, brimming with bold flavors of bittersweet malt and heaps of aggressive whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in the winter of 1983, Bigfoot is a cult-classic beer brewed in the barleywine style, meaning a strong, robust, bruiser of a beer with the refined intensity of a wine. Bigfoot is prized by beer collectors for its supreme cellarability. Under the proper conditions, it can age like a fine wine, developing new flavors and character as it matures in the bottle. Each new release or “expedition” is vintage dated. Collect your own and see the flavors develop and progress.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting Notes

202511: I drank a 5.5-year-old vintage from 2025. Yummy! The hops had mellowed slightly and some chocolate flavors emerged. 5.5 years is GOOD!

Aug. 2025: I drank a 19.5-year old 2026 vintage with a Pecan Bliss Bar (Our thick, crumbly oat cookie bar filled with chopped pecans, caramel and chocolate chips) from Shyndigz. Fantastic beer and pairing!! The head was minimal. The hops had mellowed down to a dark sour bitterness. Chocolate notes abounded.

Nov. 2023: I drank a ten-year old 2013 vintage with pumpkin cake from Shyndigz. The pairing was great. The beer still had robust flavors and the hops had mellowed some. I noticed a nice chocolate flavor coming forward. Yummy!

August 2023: I drank a 2023 vintage with Jen's Chocolate Cake at the conclusion of dinner to celebrate my 71st birthday. The beer continues to amaze me. What I noticed was the fantastic lacing clinging to the glass as it emptied. I revisited my review to see if I rated it 6.5 or 7 glasses. The flavor, color, and lacing merit 7.

Feb. 2022: The first 1.5 bottles of 12. Alex got the other 0.5. May not be as sweet as last years but it has hops galore. A flavor bomb. I plan to purchase another 6-pack.

Jan. 21, 2021: I drank the first bottle of a case of just released 2021 vintage. It paired wonderfully with carrot cake from Publix. It did not disappoint. Loads of caramel-sweet almost sticky malt coupled with tons of hops. At $13 a 6-pack, I think it is a great value for a fantastic beer. 

July 5, 2020: Bigfoot is the classic American Barleywine. It is a flavor bomb - tons of sweet malt and tons of bitter hops. It ages fantastically and my "cellar' has bottles dates 2006. It has been a favorite of mine for years. It goes great with carrot cake and other sweet desserts. My understanding is the "Barleywine-style" in the title arose because the ABC folks feared that buyers would confuse it with wine if the SN called it simply "Barleywine".

Rating = 7 glasses.

Fantôme Old Fashion

Beer Advocate
Classic Fantôme saison with Ukrainian soul (and buckwheat).

Tasting notes
20251116: A hearty saison.

Rating = 4 glasses

Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic

Brewer's Notes

Blend of Lambics and sour cherries at a ratio of 200g per litre.

A beer with a tart red fruit flavor and subtle almond notes.
Kriek will be at its fruitiest when enjoyed young. Aging allows the Lambic to fully express itself, sometimes at the expense of the fruitiness.

Notes on the bottle
A blend of the world's greatest Lambics, with whole cherries fermented right in the cask. The authentic Kriek Lambic! 

Beer Advocate
Blend of Lambics and Morello cherries at a rate of 200g per litre.

A beer with a tangy taste of red fruits and subtle almond flavors.
Kriek will be most fruity when enjoyed young. Age allows the Lambic to fully express itself, at the expense of the fruit.

Our certified organic sour cherries come to us from Türkiye.

The fruits are blended with a Lambic aged on average 20 months, at a rate of 200g of fruit per liter. Since morello cherries are a powerful fruit, we need to choose a Lambic with enough character to harmonize with the fruit.

After a maceration of two to three months, the Lambic will have extracted colors, aromas and flavors from the morello cherries.

It will then be blended with a one-year-old Lambic, which will provide the sugars necessary for the second fermentation in the bottle.

We work exclusively with fresh fruit, and just like wine, Cantillon beers have a vintage effect.The weather plays a major role in the ripeness and quality of the fruit, which is why a fruit beer will vary slightly from year to year.

Tasting Notes

20251118 Bottled date = 20240716. What a difference a year in the bottle makes. A fantastic tart beer with a solid but not overbearing cherry backbone.

Rating = 7 glasses

202508 Bottled date = 20250127. Too sweet and too much cherry for my taste. I felt like I was drinking a fruit drink.

Rating= 2.5 glasses.

Corks and Kegs Palindrome

Palindrome is a spontaneous wild ale with local hone blended from 3 to 5 year barrels. 

Tasting notes
Nov 1 2025
A really nice wild ale. More sour than tart but still refreshing. I may pick up another bottle or two if available the next time I visit Corks and Kegs.

Rating: 5.5 glasses