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Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot - Barley Wine

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 Percentile 
98
overall
Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine

Chico, California USA

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
20273.89/5.03.88/5.0Winter9.6%92Snifter
View Statistics  P 

Commercial Description:
Gold Medal Winner, Great American Beer Festival (Ales: Brown, Bitter and Pale 1987, Barleywine 1988,1992,1995). Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is an award winning example of the English Barley Wine style. It boasts a dense, fruity bouquet; an extremely rich, intense, bittersweet palate; and a deep, reddish-brown color. This ale is superbly balanced between an almost overpowering maltiness and a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness.

Beginning Gravity:23 Plato
Finishing Hops:Cascade & Centennial
Dry Hops:Centennial, Cascade & Chinook
Bittering Hops: Chinook
Ending Gravity:6.0 Plato
Yeast:Top Fermenting Ale Yeast
Malts:Two-row Barley Malt, English Caramel Malt, Dextrin Malt
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 finol (474), Nacka (Stockholm), Sweden
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
Aug 24, 2008  
Vintage 2005, Olbutikken Copenhagen. Less complex and aggressive than a new bottle, more pleasantly balanced.


 valpoaj (362), Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/57/103/516/20
Aug 22, 2008  
Not quite sure why I decided to rate this one tonight, but we’ll go with it...2007 vintage. Pours a very ruddy brown color with a thin beige head that settles into a bumpy film. Aroma is heavy on raisins, brown sugar, alcohol, burnt malts and some piney hops...very nicely melded together. Flavor is sweet and full of caramelized malts up front, with plenty of raisins/dark fruits before turning somewhat boozy and ending with an intense bitterness. Palate is heavy and oily...very thick and seems to linger long after you’re done with the drink. Although this is a nice barleywine, its just a bit too bitter and hoppy in its infantile and even its grade school years...I definitely like this better after it has at least 2 years of age on it (and probably like it even more with more age on it...)


 17thfloor (1402), Chicago, Illinois, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/518/20
Aug 22, 2008    Updated: May 3, 2009
[Bottled Jan 08 - 25th Expedition] Pours an unclear reddish light brown with a fantastic yellow/beige creamy thick head. The aroma shows the little bit of age =). Strongly hopped aroma, rich oxidized malts, some fridge/ambrosia smell, a bit of fruit and alcohol. Very bitter first taste... holy $&% super bitter. Tastes like licking a stamp. A bit salty, some light caramel, some woodiness and tons of unsweetened grapefruit. The alcohol burns just a tad. I don’t know where this "overpowering maltiness" is... ??? Medium body with larger bubbled fizzy carbonation, too corse for a barelywine. I heard this year was different... so... These seem like they need some age... a lot of age... a very lot of age... gueze is god has a perfect description of this beer =) 9.4.7.2.14 [must enter my 12 year vertical of this beer... and yes... it scored much much much higher than the 3.6 I’ve rated here...]


 Beershine (2677), Hue, Vietnam
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Aug 20, 2008    Updated: Mar 29, 2009
Hazy mahogany-copper with thick off-white head, very nice looking. Robust rusty aroma with lots of malt, a hint of burnt honey, musk, and woody hops. Soft mouthfeel, solid body. A bit chewy and furry but not so bad. Slightly burnt. Long bitter finish, but very balanced, nicely hopped, and earthy. Solidly good.

Draught @ Abbey. Lasting scattered lace and a head cap that never disappears. Lovely. Great bready aromas. Not at all chewy. Very enjoyable! Upgraded from 3.7.


 GonZoBeeR (2154), ste-Eulalie, Quebec, Canada
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Aug 20, 2008  
Aroma:good mixe of grapefruit and raisin aroma... Appearance:Dark ruby-brown,light head.. Flavor:strong bitterness,grapefruit,caramel flavor...


 tlind2 (560), Helsinki, Finland
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/56/102/512/20
Aug 14, 2008  
350 ml bottle @ Kaisla, Helsinki. Murky copper color, creamy tan head. Complex aroma: wood, leather, cigars, hops, sweet malts and more. Bitter flavor with notes of alcohol, malts and resin. Syrupy, chalky mouthfeel, full body. Improved once it warmed up a bit, but not my favorite barley wine. Perhaps it’s the exuberant hopping?


 tedovertu (259), Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/57/103/514/20
Aug 12, 2008  
Very hoppy for a barley wine. Aroma of perfume and grapefruit with a small allocation of fruit. Frothy off-white head with decent lacing. Murky Medium/dark amber/brown body. Lightly bitter at the start ending with some harsh hops. Medium to full oily body. Alcohol definitely present. A good barley wine.


 MitchWayne (264), Kokkola, Finland
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/518/20
Aug 9, 2008  
A very hoppy barley wine, dry and fruity. I like this a lot despite the fact that I have tasted a few more balanced and complex barley wines. I guess I am a cascade hop fanboy....



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