Had to go on the ride, not a big fan the last time I tried this. Pours a cloudy dark amber, fairly strong head that goes away fast. Strong bitter of hops, and aroma, but not as floral as I’d expected. A pretty strong mouthfeel. Bitter persists for a long time. Not an easy drinking beer, or barley wine as the label says. We’ll see how it goes as it warms up, since taking sips seems to be the way I can take this. Surprisingly don’t detect the alcohol too much, but it does pack punch. I wish it had more roasted and nuttiness, but I’m actually not hating it this time. Could it be a mood thing? It’s not my favorite either though.
2.5 out of 4 squirrel stomping monkeys.
We went on this ride 2 years ago and made ugly bigfoot faces. I’m not particularly thrilled to repeat, but since its there, why waste beer….
The last time I’ve had one of these was 2009. Root reviewed the 2010, so we seem to have missed the 2011 and 2012 “vintages”. I guess the taste changes yearly, as this is definitely not the same Bigfoot I had back in 2009! The roasting and decoction of the malt is probably about the same, but the hopping is totally different. On first taste, there is the sweetness of the unattenuated sugars in the initial decoction, but then the strong bitter of the hopping comes in, almost completely taking over the room. There is a bit of the smoky malt in the finish, but the hops dominates all with their heavy handed astringency. At least it’s not flowery. Did you see the image on the inside of the cap? I definitely can’t give it the 4/4 I gave the 2009. Whoa… I better finish typing this before the alcohol makes me knock out… Two-and-a-half out of four bigfoot handful hopped monkeys. Give it a try if you have had the previous iterations just for the sake of tradition, otherwise pass on this one. At least it is a four pack and not a six. Whoa… spinning… (here’s my review of the 2009 with an explaination of the whole “barleywine” thing)
Recommended conditionally on whether or not you’ve had a Bigfoot before. If you have, give it a try: If not, walk right on past!
Two out of four buzzing monkeys