Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

4.07/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass, 2017 brew I'm reviewing.
A: pours a dark ruby red brown body, one finger white foam head, carbonation
S: soft sweet malt, undertones of vanilla, candy sugar, oak, slight boozy aroma
M: full thick body, juicy finish on the tongue
T: oak, sweet malt, burnt char, earthy hops, grainy, slight herbal taste inn the finish, alcohol is well hidden
O: always a staple to get one each year, aroma is well done! Cellaring for a bit would help mellow out the earthy hop.

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4.03/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Aged 1 year after a buy of the High Altitude Series at the local Costco. A thick, almost viscous, pour with vestigal head and light lacing. The aroma catches the nose right away with a blast of bourbon and smoke. Very nice taste, complex and deep. The first impression is that your're having a shot of Kentucky bourbon, then it mellows out to a heavy malt, sweet and boozy. Aging is a necessity for these SN ales. Buy it, then give it a year.

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4.63/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Obtained a 2014 bottle from a bottle shop. As this had probably sat on the shelf at store temp for 3 years, I was a little unsure about buying it, but decided to give it a try as this beer should age well.

The previous copy of this beer I had was fresh from the brewery, and I found the extreme bitterness too strong for my taste. The barrel-aged version; however, is one of my favorite beers. Upon trying this 3-year shelf-aged sample, I found the extreme bitterness tamed quite a bit; not quite to the barrel-aged level, but very, very good!

Poured into Teku at 47F. On first sip, I got a dark oily flavor that I didn't really appreciate, but that mostly faded as I proceeded through the glass. The strong, but mellowed bitterness leaves a strong, long lasting aftertaste that wears very well. I drank this yesterday, and am still thinking about it. This was very similar to the barrel-aged version, just without the wood flavors.

Barley wines have great bitterness, without the hoppy flavor of an IPA; which is one of the reasons I like this style. They are also high ABV, which stimulates the toungue, and adds a dreaminess to the flavor.

Now, back to the store to buy the rest of their 2014 stock.

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4.06/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

4.34/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

4.62/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

4.07/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

2017 release.
12 oz. bottle poured into a nonic style pint glass.

Look- A clear, deep red amber body topped by one and a half fingers of tan foamy head with some lacing.
Smell- Moderate strength but a little one dimensional. Dominated by resinous hops with a hint of caramel malt.
Taste- As with the nose, very hop forward. The bitterness is rather high, but good front to back. There is just enough malty sweetness to keep the hoppiness in check.
Feel- Medium bodied but definitely to the high side, it has a nice weight to it. Smooth with good medium carbonation.
Overall- Good stuff. The alcohol isn't very noticeable in the nose or taste. It makes sense that if cellared the hoppiness would diminish bringing hop and malt to more of a balance. It's pretty good as is though and I needed to make a conscious effort to sip, not drink it.

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4/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.45/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

poured from bottle into tulip glass
look: dark red, rusty, pencil thin head, dissipates quick okay lacing.
smell:malty maybe grapefruit a bit of alcohol.
taste: lots of hops, malts, grapefruity, bitterness, warming alcohol finish
somewhat dry on the mouth feel.
overall: really liked it alot! ive heard good things and was not disapointed at all!
if you like strong heavier beers with lots of alcohol this perfect for you!

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3.69/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

4.57/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.08/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.09/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.41/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.52/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Darker mahogany colored, rich looking beer with a nice bubbly white head. Super malty smelling beer, with a little bit of booze wafting out. Taste is of pale? roasted malts, syrup/molasses, roasted sugary caramel, booze, and has a crisp, refreshing finish and an ever present aftertaste on the back of the tongue with a touch of hops. Pretty easy to drink despite my initial assesments when purchasing the beer. Nice and creamy feel and taste. Really enjoyed this one. Sierra Nevada does it again

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3.91/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

4.11/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12 oz bottled 12/4/14 (beer is 29 months in cellar at time of review) poured into a Sierra Nevada imperial tulip pint at fridge temp. The beer is brownish copper in color with thick sticky khaki 3" head from an aggressive pour. The head settles to a quarter inch with abundant lacing. Aroma is burnt sugar, caramel and rich malt. The taste retains little of the bitterness that characterizes this beer young. More burnt sugar/caramel comes out in a sip but it retains enough hop taste and bite to not be sweet. Mouthfeel is full and moderately carbonated. It finishes fairly dry for the amount of malt present. Overall, very good. As I grow older, I appreciate this beer more with time than fresh.

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3.84/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

3.5/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

4.46/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

A reddish brown with light tan head that leaves dense lace. Smells lightly of syrup and lightly of grain. Taste is sweet and thick, like molasses and brown sugar. A slight blackberry flavor as well. Finishes with a hot, burnt, charcoal flavor. I'm not too experienced with barelywine, so I don't have a lot of comps, but I really joined this beer.

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4.16/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.81/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.11/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.23/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

I am still deeply involved in the eradication of the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody and it perplexes me as to how I have not reviewed Bigfoot before now. No time like the present, I suppose.

From the bottle: "Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, brimming with bold, bittersweet malt flavor and heaps of whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in 1983, Bigfoot is a cult classic prized by beer collectors. Drink it fresh or cellar it in a cool, dark place to taste as the flavors develop over time."

My first dip into this particular pool with be with a very young, very fresh 2017 bottle. Having Pop!ped the cap, a gentle pour seemed to be the order of the day. A vigorous in-glass swirl raised just under two fingers of dense, foamy, deep-tan/light-brown head with decent retention that left behind loads of sticky lacing as it fell. Color was Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was boozy with a minty, piney quality. As I said, this bottle is young and will undoubtedly smooth out, given sufficient time. Mouthfeel was big and thick, like a dollop had been scooped onto my tongue. Ahhh! It burns! Well, kind of, anyway. It was definitely a young version of this beer, evincing a lot of fusel alcohol heat to go along with all of those piney, minty hops. Phew! The hops were really overwhelming the malts at this stage in its development, but I will agree with their mention of "bittersweet". This was definitely an American Barleywine. Finish was dry, hot, boozy & evocative of another nap. Jeez-o, man, I just awoke from one! This is no playin' around.

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