Sierra Nevada Big Foot Barleywine
July 14th, 2008 beckelSierra Nevada is lucky to have an array of quality beers and good distribution throughout the United States. One that deserves a good amount of praise is from their limited selections: Big Foot a barleywine style Ale. This 2008 edition pours with a very impressive tan head. Color is a nice dark red almost slightly brown. Aroma is grand, bitterness is present as well as sweet roasted malt, light fermented fruits are lightly detectable. Mouthfeel is medium, not too heavy. Flavor is very intense. Coming in at 9.6% ABV the level of hop bitterness in this barleywine is no surprise, what is however is how nicely the sweet malt compliments the flavor. Definitely a strong beer but it has many sweet notes on the palate as well as including less sweet, almost burnt roasted malt flavors. This is a very good example of a properly balanced barleywine, if you like strong beers and intense complex flavors this one is definitely worth your time trying. Give it a shot and ride your bike.
