BridgePort Ebenezer Ale

Brewed by BridgePort Brewing (Gambrinus Company)
Style: English Strong Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Light reddish-brown with a very thin head. Faint aroma of hops, alcohol. Medium body, full mouthfeel. Mild flavor of hops, spice, sour. Unusual and not entirely pleasant. Weird aftertaste. The bottle I had two years ago was much better.

Strawberry crimson. Fluffy, rocky and fully sustained bottle-conditioned foam. Fragrantly airy and hoppy nose. Ample notes of brown sugar, leather, candied plums and black cherries. Hint of roasted chocolate. Super soft and fluffy carbonation. Initially fruity and thick with a slightly medicinal edge of cherrylike fruitiness tempered by brash, cocoa-tinged roasty dryness. Rather juicy and well balanced between malt, hops, and an array of spicy and fruity esters. Malts possess plenty of softness and very little graininess. Juicy tingle of acidity stimulates the palate before seamlessly gelling with the oncoming envelopment of fruitcake and toffee-glazed nutty malt sweetness. Finishes with a smidgeon of graininess, but the malts remain mostly soft and borderline cakey. The level of attenuation is perfect, yet allows just the faintest trace of sweet sugared plums and cherries to remain, beautifully mirroring that of the sweet lingering malts and citrusy hops. Yeast pour augments the body by imparting more nuttiness. An outstanding effort from this brewery. Extremely satisfying, but would serve nicely a session brew thanks to the extremely polished aromas, deep malts, soft/natural carbonation, bitter and flavorful hops, and superb balance.

This reminds me a little of the IPA, but not quite as good and not quite as bitter. Dark brown in color and tastes a little like a brown. A little bite and a little better beer than I was expecting

Darker brown ale with minimal tan head. Aroma is spice, nutmeg and some roasteed malts. Starts off warming with a spicy kick but finishes rather thin and with a boozy bitter note.

(Bottle) Pours a dark brown with a medium tan head. Dark chocolate and cinnamon notes. A bit more bitter than I expected, but rather well balanced with some piney malt notes in the finish. Pretty good, and definitely above average for a X-mas ale.

From an embossed 12 oz. bottle with a blurb on the neck label, I am assuming that this is the winter ’06 release. Poured a dark apple cider amber with a foamy, fluffy off-white head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing. Aromas of apples and peaches with lemon squeezed over them, sugary malts with a light breadiness. Good carbonation and a crisp, smooth medium-light bodied mouthfeel. Taste of peaches with apple cider, a caramelized maltiness, a winter spiciness, a fruity alcohol flavor with a soft warming in the palate, and a dry, sweet fruity, sugary and malty finish. A pleasant winter warmer from BridgePort, a decent seasonal, worth trying.

Bottle pours with slight haze, ruby tinted coffee color, and smooth, medium tan head. Aroma is suprisingly fruity, maybe cherries or bananas. The flavor is lightly hoppy with a bit of bittersweet chocolate finish and a medium-light body. I just had some tortilla soup so any spicey notes are probably eluding me right now. I’m happy to have access to a good warmer in the region.

12 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquor - Pours a deep amber color with a big off white head. Nice lacing. Has a little spice (cinnamon ?) aroma. Not alot of flavor. Some sweet caramel malt is present. Medium body. A decent seasonal.