I have been drinking Mouflan this winter. I think its great except the large bottle size. I decided to buy some Bigfoot since its a small bottle and smaller price. Well I am pretty disappointed in the 2013 BF. I really like the Mouflan better. Its a much thicker mouth feel. much more dark raisin, dark fruit taste, caramel taste,I can almost taste some chocolate in there too, much less booze in the taste , much less sweet. I really like The Mouflan. Bigfoot is a thin mouth feel, very translucent in color, quite sweet compared to Mouflan , very little carbonation and a really big hop taste/ smell. I understand the American barley wine but do not detect the hops in the Troegs near as much. Am I correct in thinking these are just two very different beers? I will be sticking with the Troegs going forward. How will the BF change over time? I am putting a bunch of BF in the basement to see how it changes next winter.( I am in PA so I have a case) I only paid $46 out the door and its not hideous so I am ok with this. I cast my vote for fresh FM since I have not had it aged, or is the beer I have been drinking from last year? No date on the bottles and supposedly its a spring release?I have seem the FM around a lot since December and cases are around too. Thoughts please. Enjoy
Drain poured both of them. Drain poured Olde School as well. I'm done with trying Barleywines and wasting big $$$. Never had 1 barleywine I didn't drain pour. All taste like a version of cough syrup to me. I love quads, Imperial IPAs and Imperial Stouts, but something about Barleywines are just too syrupy for me.
Troegs is an interesting brewery (also yummy!) because it doesn't matter which beer you're having, it's going to taste different in 8 weeks (dream weaver and nugget nectar are the best examples). Flying Mouflan is fantastic when it's fresh. Though having a bigger mouthfeel, it's crisp to drink. The dark fruits are on the forefront and the flavor gives way to the caramels and dark cocoa. Give it some time and you'll see that when the crispness fades a little, it lets the smoothness and sweetness of the cocoa and really comes forward. It's still amazing after 8 or 9 months, albeit an almost completely different beer. I haven't had the Bigfoot in a while, so it's hard to compare flavors, I just know that FM is always in the fridge and Bigfoot isn't.
Always felt the same. Had a bells third coast old ale, and they've grown on me since. Victory oak horizontal was pretty dope
Not sure if you're talking about DFH this year or last, but this year's Olde School IMHO is much more drinkable.
I love bigfoot with some age on it, but not a fan fresh, never had the Mouflan. Give the Bigfoot 3 years and it will be a completely different beer. It seems to change more than any beer that I have ever had aged.
I'm going with fresh bigfoot. I enjoy all these beers in their various ages but fresh bigfoot just hits the spot for me. The huge hoppy resinous pine flavors are great on top of the boozy notes and malt background.
I bet you will get more people who say Bigfoot since its distributed in 50 states where as the Troegs is in like 6 or so. I think the Mouflan is better
Fresh Mouflan > Fresh Bigfoot Aged Bigfoot > Aged Mouflan Aged Mouflan > Fresh Bigfoot Aged Bigfoot > Fresh Mouflan Two of my absolute favorite beers, BTW!
OK, I'm definitely picking up a bottle of that stuff tomorrow when I go to the store to grab DfH's 75 Minute IPA. I always see it but never get it. Consider me sold. And for my money, Flying Mouflan blows Bigfoot out of the water. While I do like BF, it kind of just tastes like a big, boozy, malt-forward DIPA. It's over-hopped IMHO. FM has so many layers of complexity...big caramel and toffee notes, and plenty of dark fruits and cocoa that BF either doesn't have, or are just hidden underneath all the hops. I think the FM has just the right hop level which is why I like it fresh. I plan on aging a few 2013 BF's though to mellow those hops out and see if the malt base comes out a bit more and adds some much needed complexity.
Troegs Flying Mouflan is one of my favorite. I gave it a 4.25 rating. Bigfoot is not. This was an easy call for me! I find that the Flying Mouflan has more features that I like (more malt sweetness, less hops) than the BigFoot. I just re-checked my review for Flying Mouflan and my last line (I did not just update it or anything!) says: "It is certainly better than Bigfoot." At least I demonstrated an awareness of Bigfoot at the time of my review....
Only had one bigfoot and it was a 2011 with about a year on it and I've only ever had flying mouf fresh. Like at the brewery fresh. Have to say I prefer the mouflan, I did not care for bigfoot at all.
Keep in mind any "fresh" mouflan you're buying now was likely bottled back in may or so and was aged 4-6 months prior to bottling.
So you are saying that FM is a spring beer and the beer I am drinking is "aged". Will there be a new release this spring? How can you tell the bottle date? I could not see any date anywhere. Enjoy
I like Big Foot, but I FRIGGIN' LOVE Flying Mouflan! No comparison. BF is a ground breaking BW style that created the American Barleywine style itself, but FM is sooooooo much more. BF is hops, pine and licorice with very little if any dark fruit and caramel. Troegs has it all and then some. That said, I love them both fresh or with a couple years on them.
Yes on all accounts. Spring seasonal offering. They made a butt-ton last year and it's still pretty easy to find. Troegs prints bottling dates on the base of the neck of all their beers, but it's usually smudged beyond recognition. Sometimes holding it up to light will help.
I like Flying Mouflan fresh, it has alot going on. It's not as hoppy as fresh Bigfoot, but it still has lots of citrus notes. I think Bigfoot ages better but I've only had aged Mouflan once. I personally enjoy Great Divide Old Ruffian the most, it's hoppy as hell when fresh and ages very well.
Actually from this we can't determine whether Mouflan is better fresh or aged. According to his model, Aged Bigfoot > ____ Mouflan > ______ Mouflan > Fresh Bigfoot
