BridgePort Bourbon Barrel Old Knucklehead

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

Pours amber with thick off white head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, and wood. Taste of toffee, vanilla, caramel, and has a smooth finish. Completely miss the bourbon flavor. Was expecting bourbon in the nose and in the taste, and not noticed at all. Still a good beer.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head Has a sweetish malty slightly hoppy aroma wit hsome hints of bourbon and caramel. Fruity malty caramel and vanilla flavor with some oaky hints and also some hoppy bitter hints. Has a sweetish malty caramel and vanilla finish with some hoppy hints in the aftertaste.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a one finger light tan head. Aroma of bourbon, sweet malt, vanilla, caramel, floral hops, and oak. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouth feel with a moderate amount of bitterness and slightly warm alcohol. Very good.

Thanks to BückDich for the bottle. Fresh, bright fruits, hops, malty, and very little, if any, of the bourbon in the aroma. >oads of fresh fruit in the flavor. Oranges, citrus, alcohol, sweet malts, with no real bourbon flavor, either. Smooth, full body. Lightly bitter. Very nice beer even though I can’t pick up much bourbon. Regardless, I’d drink it again.

22oz bottle courtesy of msubulldog25 and I am surprised that the label doesn’t feature the current knucklehead’s image. This is a decent looking specimen of a barleywine, ruby red with a huge off-white head that quickly becomes a smattering of bubbles. The first whiff from the bottle suggested juicy fruit gum but it is quickly gone. The aromas from my glass are straight alcohol fumes and a very subtle orange-rind smell with some notes of wood. Whoa, very bitter flavor at first that bites my tongue, then some oakiness but not quite bourbon with a prickly feeling from the alcohol. The more I sip the more I taste wood and then some fruity gum flavors pop up. It has an astringent yet interesting mouthfeel. This is a very good deal for $4.50 considering it is barrel-aged and not widely distributed. I actually think this may improve with about six months, hopefully taming the fumes and astringency but I don’t see anything about bottle conditioning on the label. I love breweries like Bridgeport and Full sail that put out bombers of barleywine for less than $4. Oh yeah, if you read this far, make sure you let the beer warm up a bit before drinking it. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 02-28-2008 03:17:07

22oz bottle: pours dark amber brown with slow fading cream color head, aroma of hops and barley, flavor has a good amount of hops up front fading to a slighty sweet malt backbone with hints of bourbon and a slight warming of alcohol. has just the right amount of oak ageing and isnt over the top in any way.

Pours a darkish brown lightly cloudy with a off white head. Has the aroma of sweet hops a little alcohol and a hint of caramel. The flavor here is much like an IPA with flavors of hops but also a hint of caramel and the alcohol/bourbon does make it self known and almost to the point of overwhelming but not quite. Very bitter finish and semi sweet with a syrupy mouth feel that is rich. Somewhat complex and pretty balanced.

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)