Stone Brewing to release 2004 Old Guardian Barley Wine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1/26/2004 -

San Marcos, CA --- In a classic case of not leaving well enough alone, Stone Brewing announced this week that the recipe for their award winning, once-a-year special release, Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, has been scrapped. Perhaps permanently. In its place is the entirely new recipe that will be presented to the no doubt angry public in early February.

"We fully expect a fair bit of backlash over this," reported Stone CEO Greg Koch. "The love of our Old Guardian Barley Wine recipe, which we have only modestly varied over the years, is well established. There'll be some heat to say the least."

So why the change? Certainly a logical question as the age old rule is 'don't mess with success.' "It's because both 'success' and 'messing with stuff' are specialties of ours here at Stone Brewing," said Koch. "Frankly, it was too much to resist."

There are a few threads of consistency between the 2004 edition and previous years' editions. To name a few: the massive, right-around-10% abv, the ferocious malt / hop interplay, the rambling text on the back of the bottle which there is little reason to attempt to read (and thankfully few do), and the familiarly handsome red and gold graphics presenting the famous Stone Brewing gargoyle.

On February 9th Old Guardian will be released in 22oz bottles in order to allow sufficient room for both the massive flavor profile and the long, rambling text. A list of regions and retailers can be found here. Draft will also be available at a handful of select pubs in limited areas at limited times.

Stone Brewing is located at [OLD ADDRESS REMOVED]. For more info, go to http://www.stonebrewing.com/timeline/2004/og2004/ or call the brewery at (760) 471-4999.

Greg Koch / Stone Brewing Co. (760) 471-4999 xt102