#268: A New Old Friend

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is one of my favourite beers ever, one that never fails to deliver an indulgent, complex, invigorating drinking experience, not to mention it's suitability to ageing, thanks to the fact that it is at once a hop and malt bomb. 

So when The Sober Destrier says she'll buy me a bottle of it only on condition that I drink it that very day in the sun, and not squirrel it away for seasons untold, I clearly can't say no, even if it is a spanking new 2015 bottling. And I'll be damned if I won't be writing about it, regardless of how often it has and will continue to appear on this blog.

Bigfoot 2015, like the others, is a particularly burly monster when fresh. Deep toffee and chocolate sweetness delivered with syrupy aplomb is the greeting, with heady alcoholic effects elbowing their way into the sensory experience too. Grapefruit dominates the citrus fruit hoppiness in the aroma, but not without a smothering dollop of sweet deep malts. The palate gets things a tad gentler than this; a wash of orange pith and sugary marmalade open proceedings, again followed by some thick toffee and booze soaked light fruits, skins and all. The booze thankfully disappears from the latter stages though; there's no coarse, grinding burn to interrupt the flavour, but it's still pretty full-on. Green crunchy stuff, leafy, fresh C-hops and even some ripe, red berries can be found throughout too.

Overall, this beer when fresh is definitively bittersweet, and although it supplied a wonderful beery moment, it simply isn't the Bigfoot I love. 

At least, not yet. The Bigfoot I love is the one inside this very bottle, at least one year from now.

#137: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2012

I've gotten to the stage in my beer stash whereby all I have left are things I was saving either for an occasion, or just to age. Luckily, I had a couple of Bigfoot 2012s, a beer I think I can still replenish. Decoding Sierra Nevada's cryptic bottling date number told me the ber in hand was a little over a year old.

So, how does 14 months in isolation treat Bigfoot?

Pretty well, by the smell of things. Sharp zesty hops are to the fore on the aroma, with big grapefruit notes, pungent, oily citrus fruit rind and of course, deep malty sweetness that brings Scots Clan to mind. After a while, I even got a trace of cinnamon in there. The intensity of the aroma is matched by the taste, with a big, powerful balance of potent, bitter hops and thick chewy malts. There's a honey and brown sugar sweetness and even a dark chocolate note that pulls Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout to mind, while pine needle, clove and bitter fruit notes stimulate the tongue and the inside of the cheeks.  

The harshness of youth is definitely toned down a bit here, but it's still a bit hot at the finish. Delicious as ever, looking forward to having one of these next year with 2 years of ageing. 

#115: Oh Aye (part 2)

My good friend Lachie gifted me two more bottles of Scottish beer that I'm sure I can't get over here. Simply put, here they are, test driving my lovely new Metalman glass.

The first is a British blonde from the Isle of Arran Brewery, the aptly named Isle of Arran Blond. Wheat is used in the brewing process, and you can tell by the way the pale amber beer supports a slice of white head all the way to the bottom of the glass. Right away the nose is hoppy, with citrus fruit dominating proceedings, particularly lemon. Maybe it's because it was chilled to the limit, but the aroma didn't give away much else. Just the pleasant balance of a British pale ale tipping gently toward the hoppier side of things. The taste is much more interesting, being nutty, malty and hoppy in all the right places, while always maintaining that refreshing citrus character and bitter smack to the finish.

Well balanced and very tasty, this would make a good sessioner.


The other beer in question is Cairngorm's Black Gold, a stout. I had it 'off the shelf', so to speak, and I reckon it was the right choice, because chilling may have concealed the lovely coffee and sweet toffee malts that dominated the aroma from the off. It's milky and just a hint fruity too, and these aromatic characteristics are matched almost exactly in tasting. It's light, smooth and incredibly drinkable, sliding down the throat with the bitterness restraining itself to just a tickle on the tongue.

Tasty stuff and great drinking, another good potential sessioner.

Aside from the Scots, I've had a chance to retry Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, once again the 2012 'expedition'. It's better than I remembered from the first time round, as I was surprised at how powerful the sweet toffee, syrup and caramel malts are, standing side by side with the trademark piney Sierra Nevada hop character, which is equally powerful. The only downside is that at 9.6% ABV, the alcohol packs a punch, though not to the point of being seriously detrimental to the experience. At least, not for me. In any case, it's certainly more complex than I recalled.

I do see how a bit of aging could work wonders for this beer, as I've been tipped in the past, so suffice to stay I've been stocking up.

#73: Big Feet Means Big... Hops?

Sierra Nevada produce some great stuff. Their Pale Ale is what I'd consider the standard in American IPAs, while their Torpedo IPA is probably my favourite of the range, being an affordable, available and tasty India Pale Ale of manly strength. Their seasonals have been good to me so far, and the Stout and Kellerweis were great and good respectively, despite lacking notes on the blog. All in all, it's a good range, and I've yet to try the rest. As such, I was very excited to finally crack open my 2012 Bigfoot, a barleywine-style ale from our Chico friends. 

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2012 pours with a big head, surprising for a beer of 9.6% ABV. It's a dark copper toned beer, and I have to say it looks good in the glass. On the nose you can't escape the waxy pine bitterness from the hops. It's exceptionally hoppy and fruity, yet the quiet malt undertones can be found if you pay attention. The taste delivers loud and sharp fruity hops, with that pine/peel bitterness present in the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Torpedo also showing up here. The hops seem to lend a sticky coating to the sides of your mouth, aided by the high alcohol content and chocolate malt notes. It's delicious and easy to drink, despite it's potency. As time goes on and the beer warms up, things start to get really interesting, as you get more complexity in the aroma and taste with deep toffee chocolate notes (not unlike those in a Black Chocolate Stout stout) somehow finding their way into the beer and wonderfully complimenting the citrus, grapefruit and herbal hop qualities already living there.

This beer carries a slightly higher price tag than others on the range, but for anyone who enjoys their hoppy Americans, it's certainly worth a go.