Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale (2012)

Limited Selection (Winter)

12 fl. oz. (x6) / $13.99 USD / 9.6% ABV

About: "Our award-winning barleywine boasts a dense, fruity bouquet, an intense flavor palate and a deep reddish-brown color. Its big maltiness is superbly balanced by a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness. Yeast: Ale Yeast. Bittering Hops: Chinook. Finishing Hops: Cascade and Centennial. Dry Hopping: Cascade, Centennial and Chinook. Malts: Two-row Pale and English Caramel."

Thoughts: Bigfoot and Jason hangin' in the woods together? Seems plausible. Bigfoot poured a deep amber orange out of the bottle, a beautiful color, with a huge puffy one-and-a-half finger bone-white head that wasn't so eager to retreat back into the woods. Once the head died down it left little clumps that I lapped up just for fun.

Smells of beautiful hops at first whiff. It smells like candy to me. It's very reminiscent of their classic Sierra Nevada scent, only seemingly candy coated. There's a hint of caramel in there, but it's laying low.

The taste is quite simply put, Incredible. The sweetness hit me first with a zing and afterwards a warm yeasty bread taste slowly expanded. During the swallow I got a little bit of citrus, and afterwards, a mildly intense hop bitterness stuck on the back of my tongue.

Mouth feel is thick and coating.

Compared to some of the other (and my favorite) barleywine(s), this one is a really hop heavy. Not that that's a bad thing of course! I love it, and it's always great to have options when it comes to my favorite style. This isn't my absolute favorite barleywine, but man is it good. When I started doing these beer reviews it was great fun, but it's beers like this which make me wish I could have reviewed a few of them years ago since the tastes are ever changing. It's great going back and trying these beers again from Sierra Nevada. I used to buy them on a semi-regular basis many years ago and don't know why I've been depriving myself lately. No more.