Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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

3rd July 2008. Rich, almost salty malt, followed by a hop profile that would do an IPA proud. Mouthwatering.

Bottle from Volo. Nice beer. Pours hazy amber with small amount of white head. Big on caramel, citrus, piney hops and spice.

Bottle thanks to glouglou. Pours hazy amber with a medium head. Nose is quite sweet and very hoppy. Hops are piny and grapefruit. Taste is sweet, really hoppy with some fruits. Finish is long and quite bitter.Very fine beer. Quite rich.

bottle thanks to swalden28. poured hazy amber with an off white head. aroma was very strong with lots of caramel malt, pine, dark fruits(raisins), grains, and the slightest touch of orange. flavor was lots of pine, alcohol spice, dark fruits, and long lasting bitter. body was medium-heavy with low carbonation. pretty good, but would definetley benefit with some age.

Serving date: 2009-04-10. Vintage 2008. Cellared for about 1 year. Hazy dark amber color with a quite big pale beige head that slowly settles into some lacings. Rich aromas of both malts and hops. Pleasant fruity aromas (gooseberries, red grapefruit, lemon peel) blend with a large amount of sweet chocolate. Hints of raisin and vanilla. A very sturdy malty backbone. All in all, the smell is very powerful, rich and dense. Very complex and very pleasant. Big caramel flavor, sweet fudge and chocolate. Sweet and ripe fruit - citric notes, grapefruit, cherries. Notes of almonds. Vanilla and licorice in the middle. The finish is very bitter with notes of grassy hops and raisins. A well integrated taste of alcohol delivers a spicy layer on top of the sweetness. Very nice! Full bodied, smooth and soft mouthfeel with a slightly chewy finish. Medium carbonation. A very good beer. Complex and well balanced. One year of cellaring is really suitable for this one. --- 2005 vintage. Serving date: 2009-04-10. Cellared for about 4 years, parallel tasted with the 2008 vintage. Much darker than the 2008 vintage, and with a smaller head that dissipates faster. The smell is not as impressive as the 2008 vintage, but still good. Not as powerful and not as complex. A similar fruitiness, but with a slightly tart edge and it is harder to pinpoint exact components. A big malty backbone, but not as sturdy as the 2008 vintage. Still plenty of chocolate and raisins. One of two funky notes and a prominent aged character. A prominent taste of dusty cellar, somewhat sweet but mostly funky - not unpleasantly funky though. Sweet fruits (currants, grapefruit and some cherries). Hints of wood. The flavors have in general a very mature character. More sweetness in the form of chocolate and some vanilla. The finish is not as bitter as the 2008 vintage. The hops have faded significantly. The alcohol is not as prominent as in the 2008 vintage, and it is very well integrated. All in all, the flavors in the 2005 vintage are a little edgier than in the 2008, and it is not as complex. The 2005 vintage has some notes resembling sherry, and I did not pick that out in the 2008 vintage. Mouthfeel is basically the same as the 2008 vintage. This is still a very good beer, but I think the 2008 vintage was better on almost all accounts (except for the well integrated alcohol and some of the mature notes in the 2005 vintage). --- 2009 vintage. Serving date: 2009-08-04. Cellared about 7 months. Reddish amber, slightly hazy. Pale beige head that leaves some lacings. S: Lots of grapefruit and hop resins in the smell. Notes of pine-needles. A hint of vanilla. The malty caramel background is noticeable, but muted by the powerful hops. Compared to the cellared 08 vintage, this one is clearly more hoppy and not as balanced. The smell is good. Lots of grapefruit and tropical fruits. Hints of vanilla and toffee. Juicy caramel malts in the background, but clearly overpowered by the hops. Rather sweet. The finish is massively bitter, really aggressive, with lots of piny and spicy hops and sweet and spicy alcohol. Mouthfeel is the same as the other vintages. A bottle this young is much more hop forward than older ones. The beer is quite different when it’s young compared to when it’s cellared. The sweet and chewy vinous character of a barleywine is considerably held back in favor of the hoppy flavors. Not as well-balanced as especially the cellared 08 vintage. I enjoyed the latter more than this one. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

2008 vintage. Pours a deep, clear copper with a massive creamy off-white head that sticks to the sides and recedes very slowly to a one-inch head that refuses to go away. The aroma has plenty of hops left up front, with some oranges and grapefruit coming through up front. There is some caramel malt and toffee sweetness with lots of dark fruits as well. The taste is more of the same with the caramel malts forming a big sweet backbone on which the citrus and floral hops are still evident, especially in the finish, where there is a piny hop bitterness lingering after each sip. There is also some wood character and plenty of brown sugar as well. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied and sticky on the palate with hops and sugary sweetness. One of the better examples of an American barleywine out there. It’s got plenty of hops left two years on and is extremely drinkable with no hint of the 9.6% coming through.

2009 Bottle. Smells of apricots and barley.Full bodied and bright with a sweet bitter finish. You can taste the alcohol in this one but is not to bad on palate. Plums and apricots with a nice hops bitter and somewhat citrus finish left after the hops. Great barley wine beer. Need more.

Poured from bottle into Snifter. Red. Depending on the light, it can range from an almost pinkish-maroon to dark ruby. Very thin head but nice lacing. Aroma of dark fruits (plum) and some alcohol. Grapefruit is also evident but the smell is really not too overpowering in the hop department, despite the upcoming assault on my taste buds. Begins with expected Barleywine profile (fruit, caramel) before being quickly overtaken by a strong grapefruit bitterness, which lasts long after taking a sip. Somewhat thick and chewy, with moderate carbonation. Slightly warming. Tastes great, but very alcoholic and unbelievably bitter. Slow sipper and I really don’t want more than one. I am excited to try this again after sitting in my basement for a year.