BridgePort Bourbon Barrel Old Knucklehead

Brewed by BridgePort Brewing (Gambrinus Company)
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Oregon USA

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of malts, dark ripe fruits, slight alcohol, and a slight hint of bourbon. Poured brown/very deep amber in color with a small, beige head that diminished quickly but lasted around the edges. Cloudy. Lightly sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout. Flavor is medium sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of malts, dark ripe fruit, hops, light wood, light roasting, slight resin, slight bourbon, and a hint of brown sugar. Medium to full body. Slightly sticky texture. Average carbonation. Malt, dark ripe fruit, and wood finish is light to medium sweet and lightly bitter with a some stickiness. 10%ABV is noticeable but pretty well hidden throughout.

Bridgeport Brewing Company--Old Knucklehead Barley Wine Style Ale--Bottling No 012--Ale Aged In Bourbon Barrels--Bridgeport Big Brews Series--2008 Release--22 oz. Bottle--10.00% ABV--60 IBU’s. (4.5 / 5.0) Barleywine--9.1% Web. Mild head. Light tight sediment. Clear bright rich dark ruby color. Earthy floral hop malt front. Tangy crisp sweet dry rich balanced smooth toasted fruit malt mild earthy bisquit toffee body. Smooth hop spice hot EtOH end. Smoky bourbon vanilla hints. Sampled 8/17/2008. $4.99 Each

Bottle:   Heavy reddish caramel, somewhat hazy, large frothy light beige head, fairly sticky lacing.   Nose is a little odd.   Has some cereal aspects, a smidgen of alcohol, with a soft hop presense.   I can tell that its a bit malty, but it doesn’t have that sweetness I usually associate with the style.   Moderate malt background on the tongue, a little astringent, very little sweetness, minor hop background, without really any Bourbon aspect that I can pick out.   I might be able to say Oakish, at the very most.   Backend has a little bit of cardboard on it.   Decent amount of hops, but this beer really needs to be a touch maltier and sweeter.   I just don’t see this one aging for too long.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Could easily be bigger, with more malt.   There is a certain astringency that lingers.   It has a chemical like youngness to it. &Nbsp I would almost call this green but its not biting.   Oh, and where the hell is the Bourbon?   I was soo looking forward to this one especially after doing so well with their Harvest Ale.   Average.

Pours a transparent copper amber with a small froth of off-white head. Has a sweet toasty dark caramel nose with some oaky bourbon and light fruits. Starts with good fullness and some toasty sweet caramel malt with a decent fresh grapefruity hop balance with some soft oaky bourbon and black cherry notes before a drier bittersweet finish. A pretty good bourbon aged barleywine.

Barley Wine Tasting with Hophead22. Aroma faint bourbon and sweet sugars. Taste of oak, malt sweetness, didn’t pick up much bourbon in taste. Poured golden copper hue color with small bubbly head. Pallet was low-medium.

22oz bottle. Rating #83. Dark brown with an orange tint. Aroma is slightly sweet, nice and malty. Slightly bitter, not much bourbon present, but a very nice barley wine. (1066)

9/27/2009: BridgePort Bourbon Barrel Old Knucklehead (No 12)... Aroma: Cherry-vanilla bourbon with some caramel maltiness. Appearance: Bright reddish amber; collapsing beige head. Flavor: Caramel, prune, vanilla, hint of bourbon; decent hoppiness. Palate: Medium-bodied; mellow; cask-like mouthfeel; creamy. Overall: Decent attempt, but the regular Old Knucklehead is better.

22 fl. oz. bottle shared by alexsdad06. Thanks Brad! Rating #82 for this beer.

Lasting soapy head on medium cloudy golden body. Expecting it darker, really. Bourbon aroma. Above average mouthfeel. A bit drying and boozy. But essentially, this is ale conidtioned in wood, it works, though it is one dimensional.