Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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

[’01 Bottle, thanks Guerde!] Pours hazy red-amber with a small, lingering tan head. Aroma is strawberry jam, a little alcohol, and caramel. Taste is quite sweet (fruity sweetness) up front, then alcohol, light bitterness, and a good deal of malt. Medium-thin mouthfeel with an average, slightly dry finish where a lot of malt and the bitterness is detectable. A very pleasant barley wine.

Bottle. Minimal blond beige head with some lacing. Hazy amber liquid. Very malty and hoppy aroma. Sweet date-like fruits. Plenty of resinous dry hops. Alcohol is present but not very strongly. Rich malty flavor is medium sweet. Finish is dryer with bitteration. Syrup-like texture leaves lips sticky. Full bodied and low carbonation. Very long and bitter finish with some alcohol burning. Delicious beer that replaces whole meal. Storng but quite straightforward aromas.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark, clear brown body with no head. The aroma is spicy, with some hops, alcohol and caramel. The flavor is slightly bitter, alcohol with malty undertones.

I took a whiff and smiled at the familiar sierra nevada aromas of pine needles and resinous hops, I can’t actually get enough of the aroma. There are also I think raisins under the hops somewhere. There is a definite woodyness to the what the malt and alcohol has done to my tongue which actually goes beautifully with the scenty, powerful hops, not to mention the sweetness which has been managed very well indeed. A beer this strong would have an excuse for leaving that spirit like after taste but it’s hardly there. Very well crafted indeed.

Whoa. Bottle from Capitol in Concord. Pours deep red-gold, with yellow-tinged off white crown that dissipates slowly. Aroma is a full frontal of piney hops, berries, sweet candy...almost floral. First taste is juice-like sweetness, followed quickly by a wallop of pine needle hop explosion. Almost harsh bitterness, but it is tempered well by a smooth malt character. An excellent example of the style, but perhaps a bit too much for a simple porter man like myself.

Bottle. It pours a dark, translucent copper with a lasting off-white head. The aroma is heavy in tangy dark citrus with noticeable piney hops. There is a lot of caramel and wood as well. As soon as the brew hits the tongue, I’m pleasantly greeted by an explosion of hops. Bitterness grabs the tongue and doesn’t let go. A dark fruit tang is accompanies by strong notes of pine. Towards the finish, the malty flavours explode. Sweet caramel and toffee mixes well with the intense hoppy bitterness. Hops are huge in this beer and shadow over everything. However, the malts seem to be intense enough to follow closely behind. The finish is dry and bitter with very noticeable caramel and toffee. I’ve never been much of a fan of the Barley Wine style, as they tend to be too malty and sweet for my tastes, but man, this is something else. I love the amount of hoppy bitterness this has as well as a great amount of maltiness.

2008. murky chestnut waters. im sorry but i smell gummy bears and back porch and i like it. bittersweet is an apt term. the hops go on and on and on. kinda like burnt cherries. very full taste. very soft and smooth feeling. just a touch too sour for me at the end though. taste some juniper too. one at a time.

2002 bottle- Pours dark reddish brown with a thin off-white head. Aromas are initially very fruity, with some cherry and strawberry jam, along with caramel, chocolate, and a faint hoppiness. Overall a really nice smell. The taste is an explosion of flavor with strong tastes of caramel and chocolate, along with some dark fruits, that then yields to a nice dry bitter tea-like finish with hints of cocoa upon exhaling. A good balance has been struck between the sweet and bitter. Medium mouthfeel, that’s smooth and viscous. Aging has done wonders with this beer, as I’ve found fresher vintages to be too overly hopped and abrasive.