Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Chico, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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This beer is Fe-nom-n-all. I’ve waited two years to finally try the infamous Bigfoot. It’s got a huge pine/citrus bouquet. Wonderfull deep flavor balance, it’s power hits you right away. Goregous brown color. The wait is over and it was worth it. Long live Bigfoot.

2011 12oz bottle. Good, khaki head. Great clear ruby red / amber color. Lots of fine particles suspended in the glass. Some lace. Really nice crisp carbonation and dry texture. Great hoppy aroma is still alive in there. Grapefruit, soap, some alcohol warmth. Great bitter taste, some zesty sweetness. Nice clean, hoppy minty aftertaste. Good malt base. Great barleywine. Very big - maybe I at too much leftover pork before this, but I feel like it’s making me very full... Tasty, though

Üledéket képező opálosan vörösesbarna szín, közepes méretű sárgás habbal, amely ujjnyi vastagságúra zsugorodik. Bódítóan szeszes illata és aromája erőteljesen malátás, karamellával és melasszal, amelyhez határozott citrusos komló szolgáltatja a grépfrútot idéző friss gyümölcsös aláfestést. A sűrű, szirupos textúrájú főzet befejezése fanyar és melengető, hosszan tart. Magas(abb) alkoholtartalma ellenére viszonylag könnyen iható, finom.

Bottle. Very nice fruity aroma. Pours red brown with a lovely thick white head. Extremely well made beer. Great sweet malt upfront with a wonderful hop bitterness on the finish with a hint of the 9.6% alc.

From a 355ml bottle on 28/5/2012 (2012 edition). Pours a slightly cloudy reddy amber, with a small to medium head. Smells of caramel, toffee, fudge, spices, rye bread and fruity, resiny hops. Flavours erupt as soon as it hits the mouth. There’s sweet caramel, citrus fruit (orange and mandarin), orange peel, Christmas cake and a good dash of warming alcohol. But it’s the hops that really blow you away, with a huge grapefruit bitterness which seems to linger forever. The extreme bitterness counters the initial sweetness perfectly. Has a slightly syrupy texture. This is astoundingly good and complex stuff. Definitely the best barley wine I’ve had to date, and one the finest beers period.

Bottle. Says it was made in 2/2012. Pours a clear, burnt orange with good-sized head and lacing. Big, overwhelming fruity aroma. Flavor is mostly citrusy hops at this point with caramel sugars and alcohol warmth. A bit difficult to drink this young, but not overwhelmingly so. At this point it almost feels like a buffed out IIPA. With age, this is probably a completely different beer. The downside is a lot of the hop flavor and aroma which I liked so much would be lost. Still I think this would be a good beer no matter what.

Pours dark amber with a thick foamy head. Starts malty sweet and quickly turns very bitter and hoppy. Long bitter finish, a bit too much. Overall pretty good.

A bit of wet malt and brown sugar. Sweet, but not too much. A bit of maltiness. A gripping bitterness, a lasting aftertaste. Heavy in the mouth, a little bit too much...

Bottle from Parkhill Cellars. Masterpiece, complexity from the nose to the long aftertaste. Aromas of cherries, caramel, grass, resin, and liquorice. Taste starts sweet, with bitterness taking over for a very long finish. Palate is creamy, and full bodied. Red, with a frothy head.

Location/Date:Bottle on May 24, 2012.

Appearance:Pours a dark maroon opaque.
  Aroma: Aroma is caramel malt, some nuttiness.
  Taste: Taste is medium bitterness, lots of bready malt, faint sweet, caramel
    Palate:Medium, smooth, slick, quick finish.

Summary: A really nice barley wine.

2006 bottle (from a friend that forgot he had it and it sat in his basement) pours cloudy caramel brown color with brief off-white head. Aroma sweet malts with pine hops. Taste fairly typical but well done English barleywine with sweet caramel/toffee malts. Finish with a hoppy bitter dullness. Alcohol well disguised. Palate silky smooth and thick.

OK so this is an old bottle so don’t extrapolate it to a fresh one. I have tried fresh Bigfoot and it is much much hoppier. The hop sharpness in this one is gone although there is a persistent dull bitterness. I am not a big hop fan so like this cellared version better but obviously tastes will vary. If you’re looking to cellar some go for it.