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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?  
 joohefner (380), Isla Vista, California, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
May 6, 2008  
pours a gold maroon color with a medium sized yellow head. Thich caramel and citrus spice aromas. Full bodied with a clinging syrupness to it. Almost seems to get stuck to your teeth. Intensly sweet malt flavors with a strong lasting bitterness. Rich, spicy orange hop flavors comes through the initial sweetness. Full and powerful beer. I bought a six pack and it is going to last a while. Very good but definitely not a session beer.


 GMCC2181 (844), Bear, Delaware, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/103/515/20
May 4, 2008  
Bottle 07... Damn! Smells like an IPA! Dark amber in color with a decent head. Bitter and sweet at the same time. Also fruit, malty and sugary. Did I mention HOPS! Thick in texture. Reminds me of Iron Hills Sasquatch but more hops. I want to let one of these bad boys age. Mellow out a little. Good brew though.


 BeerHawk (1175), Huntsville, Alabama, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/516/20
May 4, 2008  
2007 Bottle. Pours ruby color in the glass with an off-white head that is almost yellow and leaves some lasting and lacing. Hoppy aroma with some herb spices and hints of pine. The flavor stays the same with hops, spices and hints of a fruit and malt background. Medium body and bitter throughout. Slight alcohol warming. (Rating from June ’07)


 zappafan99 (462), South Carolina, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/517/20
May 3, 2008    Updated: May 6, 2008
Red,with a head of three inches. Aroma of hops and freshness. The smell of fruity pine.(hops) The first time I found it astringent and soapy (northwestern hops) . This time I enjoyed it more. Fills the mouth with many tastes. They aren’t competing as much as filling the whole mouth. The head clings to the glass like cement. hmm... I like it twice as much the 2nd time....hmmm is that because of the other beers I was drinking. Its not easy drinking beer with Bigfoot...not a session beer. A 12 pack a year.. mmmm though..


 sstackho (249), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
May 2, 2008    Updated: Jun 17, 2008
12oz bottle, 2008 edition, purchased from Bauer Wines in Boston. Pours a ruby gold with big head. Strong hop aroma. The first sip is big and bold. A lot of sensations at once. Starts with a tiny bit of sweetness, with maltiness in the middle, followed by a strong hop and malt aftertaste. The aftertaste is heavy and warms the throat. Flavourful stuff that makes you take notice. Different from what I think is a typical barleywine. I’m enjoying this more and more, the more I have it.


 Perm (151), Tryon, North Carolina, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/515/20
Apr 28, 2008  
One of the stupider food-and-beverage labeling laws in the U.S. is the one that prevents barleywine from being marketed as such; the oh-so-lame "Barleywine-style Ale" being the result. It’s enough to make a socialist into a libertarian. Because, at the end of the day, there IS a difference between "Barleywine" and "Barleywine-style-ale." Barleywine is a very old, traditional, revered style of strong ale hailing from the UK. Any number of American variations and interlopers on the style exist, taking liberties and experimenting with the brew. Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot is a tremendous offering in the classic English vein, a true "Barley Wine." It exhibits robust hopping and strong malty tones, with a whopping 9.6% ABV. Sip slowly and enjoy. They don’t come much better than this, especially this side of the pond.


 Defreni (993), Frederiksberg, Denmark
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/57/104/517/20
Apr 26, 2008  
Flaske. Mørk ravfarvet med en utrolig duft af blomster. Virkelig en fantastisk duft. Smagen er ikke ligeså fantastisk men er dog udmærket afbalanceret med en kraftig sødme der er lige ved at kamme over men bliver holdt i ave af en bitter eftersmag der brænder godt igennem. Kan godt forstå dette er en lassisk BW. Årgang 2007.


 Lothore (276), California, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/57/104/515/20
Apr 26, 2008  
A- Pours a deep ruby hue and is very transparent with a nice 1.5 finger head which is white in color. S- Smell is dominated by piney hops with a deep undercurrent of sweet caramely malt. T- Taste is very hop forward. To those saying that this years bigfoot isn’t hoppy, I would beg to differ. First comes the piney hops followed by a light fruity character which leads to a harsh hop bitterness that clings to the tongue and completely destroys my tastebuds (in a good way). M- Much lighter than expected with a good amount of carbonation. D- The fact of the matter is that this is a brew that is meant to age. Right now I can tell that with time these flavors will mold together a bit better as the hops drop into the background and the carbonation settles down a little but fresh i’d say it seems too hot. Enjoyable brew none the less.



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