Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Cellaring & Group Reviews

Excellent! I’m in - need a sixer. Also have a 2010 Bigfoot.

 

Glad to see this up and running, thanks @bl00 !

I'm having a dry February (cuz it's the shortest month) but I'll follow along and my first beer in March will be a Bigfoot of one vintage or another.

It was 2008 that SN switched away from twist off caps, so I think these will now have even better aging potential. A decade is the longest I've gone so far. I have a 4 pack of 2-2013's and to 2-2015's tucked away to share with my boys when they are older, since those are the years they were born.

Cheers!

 

I picked up a six of it a year ago. Iirc Patrick Dawson said that the ideal time for this is 3-5 years so I'd be willing to try one of my 2018s later this month or March and then fill in subsequently as time goes on. Ftr I think this is a great idea and major props to @bl00 for initiating it.

 

Hope it's not a bother to indulge myself here.

Two years ago, during Sacramento Beer Week, SN ran a 5-year BFBW vertical at a beer-friendly pizza joint. I took 3 friends and bought two verticals. While they were very enjoyable, there was not much difference going up and down. The newer ones were brighter and hoppier, the older ones were more carmelly and malty. But they had evolved less than a standard ageworthy red wine. Not knocking anyone who wants to pursue this, just my thoughts about this one instance.

 

Decades ago I used to cellar Bigfoot - not really because I wanted to, but because in Pennsylvania if you wanted to buy beer (other than draft or take out from a bar/restaurant) you had to buy a whole case. There were several beers that I'd buy every year, and after the first 6-pack they'd just be waiting in the cellar until you got around to them.

I can't recall any specific vintages (this would have been in the 90's), but in general I preferred it with a year or two on it which softened the bitterness. The loss of aroma was a trade-off that I could live with. Beyond that I didn't find much variation until about 5 or 6 years, which were still not bad, they just lost a little life. I had some older vintages that I received from other people which would have been 10 to 12 years old and I didn't think that they were that good.

I should also note that there were variations from year to year, and side by side, one year apart versus another would occasionally show up better or worse but I blame that on production, not aging. Keep in mind, that was decades ago and what's coming out of Sierra Nevada now must be much more focused and quality assured. With that said, I'm very curious to see what people think now. Back then my sweet spot would have been 3 to 6 years, with 8 or more years not quite pleasing me.

 

This sounds interesting. I've got yearly vintages dating back to '09. Haven't seen this year's vintage yet.

 

I am trying to stick to a new program of one dry week a month, this one will be ending on the 8th so I will try to get a fresh one to review then. Are folks interested in revisiting it every 6 months? Every 8 or 9? Just once a year?

 

Time to get this party started.

Poured into a large goblet produced a smaller than expected, much smaller than @Beersnake1's photo, head over a clear dark brown amber body. Smell is of piney citrusy toffee. Taste was surprisingly not the hop monster I was expecting; don't get me wrong, there was plenty of bitterness but already complex dark sweet flavors underneath with very little overt alcohol. Mouthfeel was particularly bitter on the back end.

 

No 19 in Casper either but that's not unusual.

 

Got a couple 6ers on Friday and cracked my first 2019!

Pretty tasty, rather bitter... still pretty good, but I think patience pays off with this one for me personally.

 

A buddy of mine scored a 2008 bottle from Bottle Logic in Seattle this past August, and he was generous enough to share it with me. Not having optimal cellaring conditions, I usually don't age anything beyond about 6 or 7 years, so I was really curious to see how a brew would hold up over that length of time and under professional aging conditions. Let's just say it did not disappoint. It was surprising still very hop-heavy, even after nearly 11 years. My tasting notes reflect that it led with an abundance of floral hops, followed by orangey citrus and caramel, and with a pleasantly bitter finish. I gave it a very high rating on another site and recall thoroughly enjoying it. Needless to say, this beer does well with some time.

I've had Bigfoot fresh, and I honestly don't care for it that way. Based on my experimenting starting with the 2014 vintage, I don't think it really comes out of its shell until about the 4-year mark.

 

Richly hoppy, imagine that, but on the back end, I find it richly malty. That said, I reckon that I will never have a Bigfoot that is malt dominant, no matter how old it is. I reckon that is intentional and that's fine by me. Goose Island BW on the other hand...

 

Have one bottle each of 2017 and 2018 and plan to pick up a couple 6 packs of 2019 to age. Might crack open the 2017 this weekend.

 

2019 Bigfoot bottled 11/19/18. Poured into a snifter with some head; residual lacing. A lot of hop aroma without much malt. Taste is mainly hops with sweet malt backbone. Overall it tastes like an older double IPA - as if I drank hopslam after four or five months. Strong bitter finish. Will crack the next one in six months...for science.

 

Have a 2006 to present vertical...will have to start randomly popping the oldest bottles for science. It's always a favorite of mine though!