Well I just tried my first Bigfoot last night and for myself it is too sweet. Now my wife on the other hand loved it, she did say she could not have very much of it though, she had a slight buzz from just one...LOL I know the beer will get better with age but will that sweetness remain?

Anybody know a place in STL that has Bigfoot? Been looking (not hard enough) for some.

I saw it at Lucas Liquor, and at Starrs I think, and there is a liquor store on the corner of Dorsett and Mckelvy next to Priyaa Indian Restaurant that I saw it at, they have other beers as well.

Not sure if Schnucks has it or not.

Cheers!
M

I like Bigfoot, but Rogue's Old Crustacean is my favorite BW.

i saw it at luka's as well, and they seemed to have more this year than last yr, but i'm not sure they still have it (this was a few weeks ago). i picked up another 6-pk with the goal of storing it until the fall, but i'm weak and it'll probably be gone in a month.
i was in starr's two weeks ago but don't recall seeing any.

Ohman, in general, it's the hops that fade with aging. I don't think it's gonna get any less sweet.

Denny, I know it is not logical but, I think I read somewhere (Michael Jackson?) that young Barleywines exhibit a heightened level of sweetness. I'll have to chase down that data.

Hm, I do have some 2004 and 2005 on me, I could do a quick tasting... maybe when PM rolls around

Not the exact thing I was looking for but, look at this link:

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/style/23.6-barleywine.html

Note the sentence of Barleywines drying out with age. Perhaps at cellar temps, over time the yeast still slowly chew on the residual sugars. I believe along with this and the toffee sherry notes that are acquired with a good aging regimen masks the initial sweetness. Here'e the paragraph from the above link under Sampling.

Sampling Barley Wine

One of the great pleasures of sampling beers is comparing those from different breweries that fit within a style. This is known as "horizontal" sampling. But barley wines offer the beer aficionado a chance to do some "vertical" tasting as well-that is, comparing different vintages of the same brew.

Barley wines lend themselves quite well to archiving, as they metamorphose dramatically from year to year. Hop character softens, the beer can dry out substantially, and the overall impression becomes one reminiscent of wine or sherry. The myriad nuances are far too numerous and subtle to describe.

I recently attended a five-year vertical tasting of Victory Old Horizontal and found that the character changes were remarkable, with a palpable transformation between 1999 and 2000. Fresh malty and hop flavors and aromas gave way to dry, winey and even oxidative notes in the older versions.

Legendary beer deserves extraordinary treatment. Try laying barley wines away for special or contemplative occasions. A bottle can be shared with a couple of others, or pulled out of the cellar during your more private moments.

The simple act of naming barley wines seems to get the brewer's creative juices flowing. Named after events or anniversaries (Old Dominion Millennium), formidable creatures (Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and Big Time Old Wooly), questionable behavior (Bridgeport Old Knucklehead and Pikes Old Bawdy), or a visage (Anchor Old Foghorn), they are "moment" beers indeed. I imagine Melville enjoying a Fish Tale Leviathan, or Hemingway, a Brooklyn Monster during creative moments of descriptive adventure.

Barley wines couldn't be more fun or appropriate for winter for regular folk, either.

Thanks for the info, Bob! The best thing about being wrong is that it gives me a chance to learn what's right. I wonder if oxidative falvors play a part in the reduced sweetness?

Denny,

I don't think of it as being wrong. I just think of it as a slight info deficit. Face it, that what this forum is all about...info. If we all knew everything there was to know there would not be any discussions.
Yeah, I think what you said about the oxidative contribution assists in reducing the overall "young sweetness" that is evident in immature Barleywines. But, I like em at every stage

Hmmmm, I must have checked my tastebuds at the door for the last half dozen Bigfoots I've drank. Sweetness is not a descriptor I would use.

David, I totally agree with you..."sweet" isn't a word I'd use either.

I recently did a 4 year vertical sampling of BF, and I wouldn't say any were sweet; but I had a couple BWs last night that definitely were. I've always believed that the yeast will ferment the sugars down a little bit as time goes on; but the melding of flavors/alcohol/bitterness etc... leads to a rounder beer that's seemingly less malty-sweet.

Well the BW tasted kind of like a DF120 to me and that is just too sweet but the good thing is I know how to get my wife loaded if I feel the need.

I think it's highlarious when my soon to be wife gets loaded ( which if few and far between). She doesn't do anything per say, she just kinda has the glazed over look that's rather humorous.... and it just seems like life is all roses.....

anyway. I got an hour left.... then it's beer thirty.

M

DF120?

Dog Fish Head 120 IPA =DF120

Thank you N8..I was hopeing it wasnt along the lines of MD2020..lol

LOL..Eric, it has been many years since I had any md2020......God what a crazy drunk and what a hangover

I bought a bottle of MD a few months ago, simply because it says "BLING BLING" on the front.

John, corral liquors in Granite city Il. has it. It is by Granite city High school. They also have a great supply of Micro's. Dog fish head and such.

I prefer the BF's that are aged (I've only personally had the 03, 04 and 05) but I've found them to be much smoother/maltier the older they get which I guess could be where the "sweetness" comes through more. I have some 04 and 05 storing I hope I can stay away from them to do a vertical tasting down the road (man they're good).
Speaking of vertical I also like Victorys Old Horizontal.

I'm doing the same with mine I have some 04 and plenty of 05, probly keep going a few more years before I have a big vertical.

I would definately call the '05 BF sweet although it is still quite hoppy the sweetness comes through loud and clear. Remember, tastes perceptions etc are subjective to the beer drinker. Although the 2000 BF tastes allot less sweet but, richer in sherry flavors with a subdued hop aroma and flavor than the '05 but, I'd expect that. I'm going to have a 5 year vertical tasting with a few guys in the next month or so. I'll take careful notes and report back to the group with our findings.

I found the bigfoot at Lukas Liqour. As I sit here and enjoy a glass, I also get some sweetness at first, but then the hops take over. Can't wait to taste it in a couple of years!