Every craft beer drinker has their favorite style(s) of craft beer as well as the styles that for whatever reasons do not mesh with their palate. This past weekend, as I was looking for a beer to drink as well as review I found myself going back to a style that normally do not typically drink. But the more I drank the more I enjoyed; this weekend Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s Bigfoot Barleywine style ale is What’s on Tap!
Barleywines as brews that are often the strongest in ABV and offer the strongest impact to a drinker’s palate. Normally I find myself in the category of drinkers who do not care for barelywines but Bigfoot is fantastically drinkable. I was surprised to find how hoppy, yet very smooth, the brew was; it actually tasted like a very smooth IPA. Each sip has a great balance of hops and malt and there is even a slight sweetness to the hop-malt blend which is very inviting.
What I like most about Bigfoot is its subtle alcohol flavor as well as its lack of over-powering bitterness on the back end of each sip.
Barleywines make for great after-dinner drinks. Say you do not want to drink a liqueur that tastes like a black jellybean or you are just not a scotch or bourbon fan, crack open a Bigfoot Barelywine and you can enjoy a brew. However Bigfoot is a great brew to consume whenever!
Cheers!
Beer Stats
Style: Barleywine
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 9.6%
Color: Ruby
Beginning Gravity: 23 plato
Ending Gravity: 6.0 plato
IBU: 90
Yeast: Ale
Hops: Chinook, Cascade, Centennial
Malts: Two-row Pale, Caramel
Beer Review Stats
Beer Advocate: 93 and 98
Rate Beer: 99
