Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Gold Medal Winner, Great American Beer Festival (Ales: Brown, Bitter and Pale 1987, Barleywine 1988,1992,1995). Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is an award winning example of the English Barley Wine style. It boasts a dense, fruity bouquet; an extremely rich, intense, bittersweet palate; and a deep, reddish-brown color. This ale is superbly balanced between an almost overpowering maltiness and a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness.

Beginning Gravity:23 Plato

Finishing Hops:Cascade & Centennial

Dry Hops:Centennial, Cascade & Chinook

Bittering Hops: Chinook

Ending Gravity:6.0 Plato

Yeast:Top Fermenting Ale Yeast

Malts:Two-row Barley Malt, English Caramel Malt, Dextrin Malt

3.9

3465 reviews

Chico, United States

Community reviews

4.0 On Tap at Draft House Tower Bridge, Southwark 07/08/2011 Low carbonation. White head. Big malt and hop aromas. Amber coloured a little hazy in appearance fruity and hoppy with a hint of dryness in a bitter and warming malt finish.

4.1 Amabrata opaca con riflessi arancio, la schiuma è compatta e fine color ocra. Profumo di caramello, biscotto, dattero, luppolo citrico ma principalmente resinoso. Ingresso abboccato, morbidamente e dolcemente maltato, finale generosamente amaricato su percorsi resinosi e freschi nonostante i due anni dall’imbottigliamento. Corpo medio e tondo con fine carbonazione dalla bassa intensità. Pochi elementi elegantemente legati tra loro. Delizia.

3.5 Two years old bottle. Certainly a bit oxidized, lacking freshness, and now it is strictly boozy. Try again fresh. Sterk ams

3.9 Botttle 0,33L. Clear amber red color with medium big, frothy, off-while head. Aroma of caramel malt, honey and brown sugar. Taste is heavy bitter, with notes of wood, burnt caramel, walnut peel and booze. Medium to full body, oily texture, soft carbonation and dry finish. Real bigfoot bitter kick!

3.7 Bottle from Legacy bought in May 2016 for $4.45 CAD, cellared for 5.5 years - 2016 edition. Attack: smooth fine crisp Mids: boozy heavy caramel toffee barley malt, tangy bittersweet lvl6-sweetness, resiny hops Finish: date malt, full bitter hops, raisin Overall: rich malty flavor, fine smoothness up front, punchy hops even after 5 years. Excellent.

3.8 Bottle. Pours dark ruby brown. Toffee, dried fruit, bitter pithiness, dried lemon rind, leathery, floral, biscuit. Medium body. Good.

3.7 Rocky beige head on a reddish brown body. Malt, caramel & wine aroma. Medium bodied, smooth, creamy & soft followed by a sharp clean back. Caramel, malt, & toffee tastes followed by pine, grapefruit, pith & citrus tastes with a long hopped up extremely bitter finish. Palate wrecking stuff. Love it!

5.0 I have had this beer countless times since the early 1990s as it has always been one of my favorites. Every year I look forward to its release. So I was shocked to realize that I had never rated it until September 2021. I rated it again in May 2022. Here is composite review of one of my favorite beers. 12-ounce bottle pours clear ruby-auburn with a 1/2" creamy light-tan head and residual lacing. Aroma: dark dried fruits, brown sugar, earth. Flavor: caramelized brown sugar, raisin molasses bread, figs, dates, black pepper, well-toasted toast, toffee, mocha, chocolate, pine. Mouthfeel: full-bodied with an oily finish, along with a lingering bittersweetness and boozy warmth. As good as it gets for a balanced barleywine. I toast this beer to my Bigfoot-obsessed friend, Jon: You're scared, aren't ya, boy?

3.7 Bottle from Beer Hop Sweet aroma with butterscotch and raisin. Complex taste with enjoyable citrus zest bitterness that lingers. Well worth a try.

3.5 Bottle shared at Hopa. Copper pour, off-white head. Nose is caramel, honey, booze, dried fruits, citruses and pine. Taste is initially sweet and sticky booze, caramel and dried fruit with hints of pine and then bitter citruses and grass. There's a rather intense spicyness on the palate that's bothering me. Closes with a sweet n sticky, boozy finish with bitter touches, has a medium to full body and soft to average carbonation. I've always preferred the English stlye BWs over these overly hoppy american iterations and that excessive spicy character in the taste doesnt help either.

4.0 35cl fles, 2021 editie. Roodbruine kleur, beige kraag. Geconfijte vruchten, grassige hop, hars, rozijntjes, donker fruit, caramel, toffee, fors bittere finish. Volle body. Dik, rijk, bitter, zoals ik m’n Barley Wine graag wil hebben.

3.5 Bigfoot 2021. Rusty amber pour, cloudy, faint but strong effervescence - minimal head even less noticeable lacing. Soft drink sweet in the nose but pungently tart bitter on first taste and there after. A brandy in the snifter? Like a wine on steroid but with a hoppy profile. Yes, too complex to discern the various hop combinations. Alcohol makes it’s presence felt none to slowly. Finish does have leftovers. Otherwise a must experience for the famous “Bigfoot”.

3.9 Nice mouthfeel and quite sticky. High on the malt and powerful in the hops maybe too much. Quite bitter. There's a lot going on. Still an interesting beer. I wouldn't be able to do two on the trot. 2021 bottle.

3.3 Bottle. Hazy amber coppery, smaller offwhite head, not lasting. Strong dry fruit aroma, some wood and some alcohol. Moderate bitterness, evry herbal and sharp. Strong with some warming alcohol. A bit too sharp to be really enjoyed. Medium body.

3.3 2021 edition. Sweet and malty. Nice but a bit of astringency in there which is slightly off putting. Good.

4.0 12 fl oz bottle from hopt.com. 2000 version. Pours reddish amber, medium transparency, with fine yellowish foam. Aroma is malty and caramel, but also resinous. Body is full, with moderate carbonation. Good stickiness. Quite boozy. Taste is quite bitter, though with a generous malty sweetness base behind. Definitely an American barley wine. Final is long and bitter.

3.8 Mörkt röd, klar. Aromen domineras av lätt syrlig maltighet. Smak av mörk frukt o bördig malt. Initial sötma avslutas med tydlig beska.

2.8 2021 vintage Smell-weak, malt, hops, caramel, maybe roast. Foam- bitter, roast, herbal, alcohol, weak caramel, warming. This truly is a bitter one. Head is small, light brown-white color. Appearance- beer-specific bottle cap, what is nice, somewhat simple label, but all things considered deserves a bonus. Clear, dark, ruby color, few carbonation bubbles. From - snifter Taste - bitter, hops, caramel, malt, alcohol. This truly is a bitter one, could be one of the most bitter ones I tried. I believe some aging might do this some good, but for now, just seems not for me. But all things considered, I am not regretting this.

4.1 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 9.6%. Deep chestnut red, dark fruity, caramel malt aroma, full bodied, roasted barley malt, burnt caramel, dark fruit, prunes, complex flavours, bitter finish. Gorgeous Barley Wine from Chico, California 🇺🇸

4.4 Fles 35,5cl thuis. 2021 Bigfoot. Bitter, suikers, winterkruiden, hoppig, malttonen, citrus. Mooie balans. (28-3-2021).

4.0 Amberkleurig, goede kraag. Ruikt citrushoppig, moutig. Smaakt idem met een goede mout bodem. Behoorlijk bitter. Heeft meer weg van een black ipa. Heel goed te drinken.

4.0 Aromas profundos a maltas, caramelo galletas Aspecto cobrizo oscuro cristalino espuma persistente En boca compleja cuerpo medio alto caramelo ciruelas final terroso

4.0 Bottle 35,5 cl, Pours a very dark amber to copper with a small to tiny white head and an aroma of raisins, maple syrup, toffee, grapefruit, sweet malts and bitter hops. The taste is slightly sweet and heavily bitter with a long lasting finish. Really nice!

4.1 Really tasty brew. Reminds me of Arrogant Bastard or similar reds. Very crisp, very clean, very bitter. A winner!

4.0 Bottle aged 3.5 years. Pours dark amber, no head. Dried fruit nose. Lovely, sweet, mollasses and sultana flavours. A great sipper, and excellent value barley wine for cellariy.

3.7 35.5cl fles. Helder amber kleur, fijne romige licht bruine schuimkraag. De geur is fruitig en rozijnen. Smaak is zoet, grapefruit, karamel en rozijnen. Vol body en veel koolzuur

4.0 Una muy buena cerveza, con notas a caramelo y bollería. Amargor que se convierte lentamente en dulzor.

3.7 Pours dark amber with small white top. Nose is malty, sweet, raisins and plums. Taste is bitter, licorice root, earth, wood, a bit of metal and a slight of sweetness from sugarcane. K

3.3 Early rating from Beer Buddy app

3.8 Historical tick which I am adding as a rate so that I can see the impact it has on my stats. 500 Beers To Try Before You Die.