Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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

2009 Bottle. Very impressed with this one. Picked up a 6 pack of these recently not expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. Despite a lower cost and wider availability of some of the comparable choices this one stands right up to them. Good color, spiciness and hopiness. Despite a higher than 9% ABV very little alcohol taste. Highly recommend this one.

Bottle, 2004 Vintage, served at cellar temperature. The beer is a beautiful brownish red in the glass with a modest, off white head, plenty of lacing. The aroma is full of pine, grapefruit in the hops with some subtle fruity tones hinting underneath. I taste hop bitterness with some underlying caramel malt, more fruit, alcohol.

Pours a reddish amber with a small head that forms after the pour has completed. After tasting this, I think that the only difference between this and many IPAs out there is its alcohol content. I mean, you could pass this off as an IPA if you wanted. This is due to its high hoppiness and low sweetness for a barleywine. It’s still very high quality, it’s just that I’m enjoying it more in the context of an IPA, not the sweet, syrupy, malty barleywines that I’m used to (and like very much that way, thank you). I like hoppiness just like the next guy, but there are certain scenarios where a blast of hops isn’t necessary. Not if you plan to call it a barleywine, at least. But that’s just my opinion and everyone is entitled to his own. Overall, very good.

12oz bottle from Binny’s Orland Park singles rack. Pours reddish brown with nice thick off-whitish beighe head. Aroma is hoppy with citrus, pine, toffee and caramel malts. Flavor is strong with hops and citrus with big spicy malt backbone. Good malty flavors with toffee and caramel with some spices mixed. Could see why people like to age this brew. Would like to try one with a couple years of age on it. Good stuff.

Tap @ Monster B’s. For me, this doesn’t really taste like a barleywine but more like a strong IPA. Strong hop flavor for a barleywine and a surprisingly frothy head.

09 bottle. Pours brown with off white head. Aroma of caramel malts with a big hoppy nose. Taste good caramel malts, with good dose of sugar, counterbalanced by bittering hops. Solid barley wine with a stronger emphasis on hops..

color of translucent rust; darker at focal point. aroma of crunchy toffee malt and fragrant hops. flavor is so balanced! the same notes found in the nose are present, but here the hops really kick into high gear. too many barley wines are ultra syrupy malt fests. others are hardly different then bad IIPAs -- this is the ulterior. bitterness jogs through the plain with caramel sweetness hand in hand. and beyond that perfect balance, the hops are powerful enough to satisfy the drinker that longs for bitterness. a true classic of the style, and an all time great.

Re-rate. On tap at the Flying Saucer in KC. Pours an almost see through ruby red-brown with a monster, dirty cream colored, dense head that dissipates very slowly and remains heavily laced throughout the session. Sexual. Aroma is very hoppy. Lots of juicy and floral grapefruits. A bit sugary, but definitely not the candy sugarish smell of a lot of barley wines. Sweet and rich dark fruit malts. Flavor is intense. Loads of juicy, citrus hops with a moderate bitterness. Semi sweet sugar maltiness balances the big hop profile out very well. Lots of caramel and a bit of booze. Finish is long and moderately bitter and sweet. Palate is clean, full, and chewy. Overall, I was disappointed in the bottle version of this a couple days ago, but the draft version was amazing. Damn good barley wine. Lots of bitterness and a subtle sweetness make this really intense. I look forward to cellaring the remains of my bottles and can only hope they turn out to be as good as this was on tap.