Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Bottle.2008.Medium brown in color,small head that faded quite quickly and left a slight laceing on the side of the glass.Hoppy aroma with a slight wine like nose as well.The taste was intense with an abundance of flavors coming through,the main flavor being floral hops,and sweet malt,rasins,brown sugar. A nice balance of sweet and bitter.

Trademark Sierra Nevada hop scent, dark ruby red with a large fluffy head. Sweet and bitter, almost tasted the same when it was fresh in Jan 08.

2008 bottle. A very good Barleywine put out by Sierra, the Bigfoot shows a different side of the company. Usually, all of their beers taste the same, due to their signature hops and process, but the Bigfoot is much more malty and tasty. I couldn’t drink it all night, but it’s great for sippin.

2008 bottle. Aroma is sweet caramel and floral hops. Mahogony color with a small off-white head. Taste is caramel, mabey a touch of peat, alcohol (but not too much), bitter citrus hops. Sticky mouthfeel that completely saturates the palate. Long after taste that seems to include a bit of oak Huge beer with very assertive flavors.

Draft at the Clark Street Ale House (Chicago, IL). Paid a visit after the bachelor party dinner at Fogo. Pours a very nice reddish brown pour fairly hazed with a nice tan head. Aromas are strong, large hoppiness and sweet malt profile are clearly there with this brew. Initial is lovely, a very well hopped barleywine. The hops take center stage in the upfront bittering but lead the way to a mellowing out through the sweet malts. Very well balanced. Heavy bodied with the bitter hops moving to caramel malts, sweet fruits, and touches of more bitterness. Very nice and well worth the wait I’ve given it. Cheers!

Bottle (Vintage 2005). I´m not sure if this vintage Bigfoot was better or not than a fresh one. It was definitely more balanced, but on the other side less hoppy.

Have sampled on draft, bottled, and aged 1- 12 years. There’s not much left to say about a beer that has been brewed for around 20 years with over 1700 ratings! So I’ll say this: this was the first barleywine my palate ever touched, and I owe it to Cory and the Bigfoot for my appreciation of a huge ridiculous beer with too much malt and hops going down in it...thank god for American Barleywines!

2008 bottle served in a Duvel tulip. Garnet body topped with a half inch of off-white foam. Smells mainly of piney hops, some fruitiness. Deep lingering bitterness with some lemon, pine, and chocolate notes. Alcohol is front and center. Thick oily mouthfeel. Needs some age.