Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Brewed by:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
California, United States
sierranevada.com
Style: American Barleywine
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.60%
Availability: Winter
Notes / Commercial Description:
Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, brimming with bold flavors of bittersweet malt and heaps of aggressive whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in the winter of 1983, Bigfoot is a cult-classic beer brewed in the barleywine style, meaning a strong, robust, bruiser of a beer with the refined intensity of a wine. Bigfoot is prized by beer collectors for its supreme cellarability. Under the proper conditions, it can age like a fine wine, developing new flavors and character as it matures in the bottle. Each new release or “expedition” is vintage dated. Collect your own and see the flavors develop and progress.
Added by kbub6f on 02-06-1998
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 7,624 | Reviews: 3,103
4.2/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.06/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2.78/5 rDev -32.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75
4.25/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.06/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2012 bottle, so nicely aged.
A - Dark brown body, mostly opaque with strong red and orange highlights, light tan head with an orange tint, and extensive small bubble lacing.
S - Harsh alcohol and pine notes, almost like floor cleaner, but in a manner that is not offensive per se. Caramel and lemon aspects are also there, offering something more pleasant.
T - A sipper, as you might expect. Opens with caramel sweetness, leading to lemon and bread, and a grassy, steeped tea bitter bite in the finish. That bite helps keep things from getting cloying but is itself a bit overpowering, particularly when the beer is still cold. You end up wanting to take another sip quick, but if you let it linger, the biting bitterness does trail off after peaking at about 30 seconds from the drink.
M - Moderate body, with a very dry and building finish.
O - This is a beer designed to sit and grow. And it does offer great flavor range, a mingling of bitterness and sweet caramel. Not a favorite style, but well built and offering quite a bit to chew on.
1,054 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2012 bottle, so nicely aged.
A - Dark brown body, mostly opaque with strong red and orange highlights, light tan head with an orange tint, and extensive small bubble lacing.
S - Harsh alcohol and pine notes, almost like floor cleaner, but in a manner that is not offensive per se. Caramel and lemon aspects are also there, offering something more pleasant.
T - A sipper, as you might expect. Opens with caramel sweetness, leading to lemon and bread, and a grassy, steeped tea bitter bite in the finish. That bite helps keep things from getting cloying but is itself a bit overpowering, particularly when the beer is still cold. You end up wanting to take another sip quick, but if you let it linger, the biting bitterness does trail off after peaking at about 30 seconds from the drink.
M - Moderate body, with a very dry and building finish.
O - This is a beer designed to sit and grow. And it does offer great flavor range, a mingling of bitterness and sweet caramel. Not a favorite style, but well built and offering quite a bit to chew on.
1,054 characters
4.04/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
2018 version. Pours a clear light to medium brown with ruby red highlights. a one inch creamy tan head that left nice blotches of lacing. Smells of lightly roasted malts, toffee, raisins and hops. Taste is far more bitter than I expected, somewhat sweet roasted malts, toffee, raisins, dates and alcohol. This beer is meant for sipping and needs to be drank at near room temperature. Full bodied, lightly carbonated, lingering dry and bitter finish.
449 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
2018 version. Pours a clear light to medium brown with ruby red highlights. a one inch creamy tan head that left nice blotches of lacing. Smells of lightly roasted malts, toffee, raisins and hops. Taste is far more bitter than I expected, somewhat sweet roasted malts, toffee, raisins, dates and alcohol. This beer is meant for sipping and needs to be drank at near room temperature. Full bodied, lightly carbonated, lingering dry and bitter finish.
449 characters
4.09/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A very dark ruby mixed with copper color on the pour. Very hard to see my finger on the other side of the glass. Tall two finger thick and creamy tan head topping the beer. Thhead looks like the topping on a root beer float! Heavy lacing on the glass just slicks down as you drink it.
The smell is very complex so give me a second here. Smells like toffee and roasted malts. Also picking up stone fruits like raisins. A bit of alcohol on the nose.
Hops, raisins and oh my! Picking up some roasted malts and a touch of sweetness. The hop bitterness is very pronounced at the front and back of the taste. The sweetness is kind of like a toffee unlike any I have tasted, like a bitter toffee.
Mouthfeel is full and that bitterness lingers. Finish seems a bit long and somewhat slick but crisper than what I thought.
Overall this is not a crushable or easy drinking beer. This is more of a sipper. The beer lover in me is trying to pull all I can out of this beer as it seems so complex. By the way this is the 2018 offering. The biigest thing I can pull out of this is the craftmanship that goes into this beer. It seems like it is so complex and wants to give the beer drinker so much more to enjoy. The heavy 9.6% ABV picks up on the tounge with a touch of a burn but very suttle. I cannot wait to see how this changes with time. Cheers!
1,340 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A very dark ruby mixed with copper color on the pour. Very hard to see my finger on the other side of the glass. Tall two finger thick and creamy tan head topping the beer. Thhead looks like the topping on a root beer float! Heavy lacing on the glass just slicks down as you drink it.
The smell is very complex so give me a second here. Smells like toffee and roasted malts. Also picking up stone fruits like raisins. A bit of alcohol on the nose.
Hops, raisins and oh my! Picking up some roasted malts and a touch of sweetness. The hop bitterness is very pronounced at the front and back of the taste. The sweetness is kind of like a toffee unlike any I have tasted, like a bitter toffee.
Mouthfeel is full and that bitterness lingers. Finish seems a bit long and somewhat slick but crisper than what I thought.
Overall this is not a crushable or easy drinking beer. This is more of a sipper. The beer lover in me is trying to pull all I can out of this beer as it seems so complex. By the way this is the 2018 offering. The biigest thing I can pull out of this is the craftmanship that goes into this beer. It seems like it is so complex and wants to give the beer drinker so much more to enjoy. The heavy 9.6% ABV picks up on the tounge with a touch of a burn but very suttle. I cannot wait to see how this changes with time. Cheers!
1,340 characters
3.83/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.06/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A great diversion from my usual. Nice head and lace. Malty and bitter. The alcohol is quite noticeable with no apparent effort to mask it. Would happily drink again.
165 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A great diversion from my usual. Nice head and lace. Malty and bitter. The alcohol is quite noticeable with no apparent effort to mask it. Would happily drink again.
165 characters
4.29/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.28/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.36/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.44/5 rDev +7.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.24/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.33/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
4.17/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
3.65/5 rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This beer was startlingly bitter. As it got warmer and near room temperature it mellowed out and seemed more well-balanced.
123 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This beer was startlingly bitter. As it got warmer and near room temperature it mellowed out and seemed more well-balanced.
123 characters
Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
4.14 out of
5 with
7,624 ratings
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