Sierra Nevada 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale: Thoughts?

I have some stored Bigfoot vintages, sort of wondering if I should bite the bullet and do a vertical tasting before the beer, or I, is too old.

 

Ha well @Giantspace said he might not receive it until spring. My bottles are from December. That would be at most 5 months old. Basically, I don't think anyone has to worry about this losing anything in the first month like people do with some styles.

I have the last of my aged Bigfoot in my fridge ready to go for a vertical. I've been slowly picking away at them over the years.

2011 - 2015...and then 2020. Bit of a gap, but that's ok.

 

Yup, I still have a few older ones put away. Love this beer fresh and aged

Enjoy

 

Please do

 

Heh. Maybe this is an opportunity to get together with @AlcahueteJ for a looong weekend.

 

This is one beer that I regret not aging for more than 5 years. Well, maybe I have?
The old grey matter, it ain't what it used to be.

 

In December I brought along a 2009 Bigfoot to share with @zid ; perfect occasion to crack a 10 year old bottle, I figured. That was until I was reminded that it comes out early in the year, so that one was nearly 11 years old, lol!

On one hand, it was showing some signs of oxidation; but on the other, the hops and malt still packed a surprisingly nice punch.

 

Personally I feel it peaks at 5 years. It's not bad after that, but it's sublime at 5 years, and I haven't noticed it getting better after that.

Ha, yeah I do this all the time. I look at the bottle cap and forget that it was likely bottled the year prior.

 

I've been doing some Bigfoot verticals this year. Once I'm done, if I get around to it, I'll post about it in the Bigfoot thread in the cellaring portion of the site and I'll tag you animals.

 

Huh, didn't even know there was a Bigfoot thread there.

 

I thought it was fine. Not bad by any means, just very forgettable. When I see something released to commemorate something like an anniversary I would expect it to be...memorable.

 

Having it for the first time, I agree with most that I do like it; its a tasty and easy-drinking hoppy ale in the vein of a lot of other SN beers - but I was surprised at how middle-of-the-road it is for an anniversary as big as 40.

 

I guess SN is holding out for their 50th Anniversary to release a more eye-popping and memorable beer. 40 is big, but it's not one of the major milestones like 50 (gold).
BTW, I've enjoyed the 4 bottles I'd had so far. Solid in the SN way.

 

Ok, I've been lazy enough. Time to recap this second blind tasting. Spoiler alert, it's not exciting.

C-hops seem to really screw up my palate. Because outside of the Bigfoot I ONCE AGAIN was not able to discern between Pale Ale, 40th Anniversary, and Celebration. As someone else said before, Bigfoot is just too huge to not tell it apart. That being said, on my second go around I couldn't even tell the difference between Bigfoot and the others.

I did take my time and drank water in between beers as well. Oh well. It was enjoyable to sit back and sip on all four after the tasting. That 2020 Bigfoot is so good this year.

As an aside, I had a 40th Annivesary after this tasting on a separate evening (I think I've had four or five total) and I really enjoyed this one the most.

Here's the dates of all four beers:

40th Anniversary: 12/10/19

Pale Ale: 10/17/19

Bigfoot: 12/4/19

Celebration: 10/29/19

 

The older strains don't for me, but the newer ones do. Cascade, Chinook, and Centennial are always delicious to me. Add in Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic -- etc., I can't get thru 2 bottles.

 

Well it’s not that I don’t love all of the above. I love the C-hops in the SN beers. It’s just that it appears they muddle my palate.

For example, I’ve done blind tastings with New England IPAs and could tell them apart.

 

This is what great brewers do.

 

When I can purchase a 12-pack of SNPA or SN40 for $12.99 or $13.99 I know where my money will go for regular drinking. Sierra Nevada still wins the quality and pleasure lottery.

 

Those 12 packs are $20.99 plus sales tax at my local Retail Beer Distributor. No 'lottery' here.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, Harris-Teeter does two weeks a month between $12.99 and $13.99. I tell ya Jack, I cannot turn that down. And it's on all flavors in 12-packs, cans or bottles.