Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale
A sort of holy grail, and also a litmus test for drinkers of hoppy barleywines. A personal favorite; I'll try to be objective. 2007 vintage bottle. Multi finger head with sticky fluffy lacing. Deep red brown color is always attractive. Very nice look for a barleywine. Very hop-ful aroma, fresh grapefruit sting with a pine background. Also in the nose there is some fruity ester alcohols along with a malt profile of some thickness though not to a JW Lees-extent. All dominated by the oily resin hop swell. Bitter and hop driven, though to my mind not as astringent as the Celebration ale. Big sweet toasted malt is in there for gravity and balance, there's some light kind of fruitiness and esters. Finish is semi-dry with plenty of warming fusel alcohols. Great depth, not too thick and syrupy but manages to cram a huge hop content in here and keep delightful sturdiness of body. It's hard to manage much more than one or two at a time, with the high alcohol content and supreme palate-shredding bitterness. I enjoyed the 2006 vintage this summer on tap alongside a relatively fresh 2007 keg; while the newer obviously flexed its hop muscle a great deal more, both were outstanding, challenging, and impressive ales, with the 2006 being one of the smoothest and richest draft ales I've ever enjoyed. If you think you enjoy today's "big beer" movement, check out a tried and true recipe that shows what high gravity and big hops are all about. **Update** 2008 vintage Same oaky color, incredibly sticky and long-lasting head. Pine hops dominate the aroma of this young barleywine. Plenty of citrus in there as well, also a good amount of sweet caramel malts. This is just a great flavor. I love the thickness of the malt and the fresh pang of C hops. I was consistently impressed with '06 and '07's hop charge even as they aged, but it is also very lovely brand new. Drinkability is sometimes a stumbling block, but overall the flavor and craft evident in the Bigfoot is exemplary. 2008 is also highly recommended.