Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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

12oz. 2009 Bottle. Have had many of these over the past decade or so, but have never sat down to rate it. The pour is excellent with a rich ruby color and a thick lacing head. Nose is still largely hops with lots of pine and hints of caramel, malt and alcohol. This beer tends to be strikingly bitter during the first year of its life and this one is no exception. Shows a sharply bitter bite with notes of crystal malt, toast and dark fruits lingering in the background. Has a rich and lucious texture with a fairly high amount of carbonation. Wouldn’t describe it as syrupy, but it is definitely heavy on the tongue. Finishes slightly bitter and with an intense dryness. Not bad, but still a little too green for my taste. Will cellar the rest and enjoy the malt complexities that emerge in this beer after a year or so.

2009. Pours a clear deep red amber with a nice off-white head. Very fruity and floral aromatic nose with plenty of hops present. Flavor is an incredible balance of sweet malt and piney hops both in the front and the finish. Very nice hop style barley wine. I will put back many of these.

Sampled 2001, 2004, and 2009 vintage off tap at the Malt House in Madison, WI (2009 reviewed) - Pours a deep ruby with a little tan head. It smells hoppy and caramelly--I would guess this was an IPA if I didn’t know what the pour was. Taste is hoppy with a dry, malty grain taste. Aftertaste is dry, bitter, and herbal, along with a skunk that tastes off. Mouthfeel is syrupy with lots of dryness on the finish. Overall, just not feeling this one. I know it’s supposed to be the bomb, but the hops are just way too dry and bitter for me and they overwhelm the malt. The aged versions were much better, as the hops faded away and brought forth more of the caramel/malt flavors.

Pours a deep red color with a nice large head that leaves lace and halfway through the glass diminishes into the classic espresso swirl. Aroma is citrusy hops, cherry fruitiness, some rum like booziness, some apple, and some good sweet malt. The hops seem to have faded quite a bit from previous 09 bottles that I have had but even faded this is still one moderately hoppy bitter little barley wine. Plenty of good sweetish malty notes, some burnt sugar flavors, some mild roastiness, and a it of an odd but weirdly pleasant saltiness is fairly dominant in the beer at this point. Fruity notes of some cherry and plum play on the palate. Delicious as always.

Aged 2007 bottle from Moejuck (thanks!) Hazy firebrick brownish/red pour with very little carbonation and a heavy malty aroma. Flavor is excellent caramel, malt, bitter hops and very floral and warming on the aftertaste. Solid barleywine that does very well with age. I’m going to have to make it a point to buy a case next year for aging.

This my first barleywine style ale. It was much different than expected but i had heard good things. This ale poured a deep caramel copper bronze with moderate head. There was a slight hint of fruit in the aroma but it was underlying the strong hoppy pine aroma that dominated. Slight oily rich mouth feel that starts mildly sweet and goes to a huge hop bitter very quickly. Over all I was impressed however I will have to explore more like this to determine how highly I rank this style.

Pours dark translucent amber. Smells of nice bittersweet hops, pine, and strong citrus- oranges, pineapple. Hops are stronger in flavor, fruit more subtle, but very good. This is how I like to enjoy hops. Not overdone, good flavor

Quality Barleywine, though not of the Stone or Great Divide Standards. Perhaps showing its age? Poured a luscious auburn with trademark Sierra Nevada Head. Lots of hops in the nose with a well balanced malt and hop body. Very big, but just missing that special something. Not a huge fan of this style but trying to be subjective. 2008 bottle.