RateBeer

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Percentile
98
overall

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
Find this beer

Add Distribution Data
send corrections | shelftag |
RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
20323.89/5.03.88/5.0Winter9.6%92.1Snifter
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?  
 gueuzeisgod (109), Graham, North Carolina, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/104/517/20
Jul 26, 2008  
2008 release, so maybe still a little too green- 3cm head that is sticky, rich garnet amber color. Full hop dominance in the aroma, a bit of caramel malt saying "i’m here too". Very big flavor, creamy malt body with plenty of fruity flavors and dark caramel get washed away by a crashing tsunami of resinous hop waves. So tongue coatingly bitter, you can feel the sticky hop oils gluing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Fully drinkable now if you enjoy that fresh hop wallop, let’s revisit in a couple of years.


 502Flavors (617), Louisville, Kentucky, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/57/104/516/20
Jul 26, 2008  
Wrote a long rating of this only to click “add rating” and realize that ratebeer has crashed AGAIN! So here it is in short(er). Great reddish brown pour with big creamy light tan head. Aroma is great: malt characteristics are dough and caramel, hop characteristics are piney. While malt seems to dominate aroma, hops definitely dominate flavor – very refreshing, but malt should play a bigger role in flavor IMO. Long coating resiny hop finish. Medium to heavy body – could be a bit thicker, but still nice and rich. Overall: great brew for barley wine lovers and hop heads alike.


 Imaena (259), Portland, Maine, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/516/20
Jul 25, 2008  
Draught @GLB Xmas in July 08’. Deep amber brown with nice head. Served in a tulip. The nose was hops and soft malts. Warming and bitter. Piney hops dominate with citrus and alcohol in the back. Almost too much burn and bitter for me. Well rounded and great at the price point.


 Slayer85 (582), Firenze, Italy
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/104/514/20
Jul 23, 2008  
2007 vintage, bottled. A clear deep amber beer with a huge, persistent and lacing white head. The aroma is nice and powerful, even if a bit monodimensional and focused only on the hops. Some underlying caramel malt, but there are mainly notes of geapefruit, pine, resin, alcohol, maybe some berries. The flavour begins with a medium sweetness and then come the hops, very aggressive and maybe too much abrasive. Medium to full body, average/lively carbonation, very long finish with enormous bitterness lingering on your tongue. The alcohol is felt. Still a bit young after a year and a half and not very balanced. Nice appearence and lacing, nice aroma, but I would like to taste an older bottle. However still more than decent.


 kiefdog (1585), Tampa, Florida, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/104/515/20
Jul 18, 2008  
12oz bottle from KIngdom Liquors (Tampa, FL). Pours a dark mocha color with a white-tan head. One finger head that settles slowly and provides ample lacing on the glass. Aroma is ripe, sweet citrus (especially grapefruit and orange), some hints of dark ripe fruits and coffee. Some notes of sweet malt, caramel and honey. Flavor is very hoppy with strong grapefruit notes, some sweet malt and candy sugar. The bitterness of the hops overwhelms the palate on this one. Medium body with a bitter, lingering finish. If you like hops, this is your kind of beer.


 Alldaydrinker (558), Norwood, Massachusetts, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/517/20
Jul 17, 2008  
2001 Vintage, 12 oz Bottle Pours an opaque dark amber color with a small creamy off white head. Nose is pungent, caramel, fig, dark fruits and candy sugar. Initial taste is extremely rich caramel and dark fruits pours across the palate. Moving into the displays of warmth, spiciness of the alcohol, almost like bourbon being displayed here. Finishing with some fig, caramel sticky and sweetness. Impressive hop balancing characters that were completely unexpected. Carbonation is still good and actually held up well. Palate duration is above average. Great to try this vintage.


beerman007 (8), Mountian View, California, USA
does not count click to see why this rating of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot does not count
5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/105/510/105/520/20
Jul 16, 2008  
Sierra Nevada on steroids! This beer packs a mean punch and the hoppyness is off the charts! If you like hops this is the beer for you. This beer is super hopy with a bittersweet ending that will knock your socks off! Limited availability so if you see some then stock up because the good stuff never lasts!


 mnurda (434), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Jul 16, 2008  
Thanks to Piscator for sharing the sample with me. Normally I am not a big fan of the Barleywines, but this was very tasty. I quite enjoyed it to the last drop.



CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP



Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204


About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Log In | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Feedback?
Copyright © 2000-2009, RateBeer LLC