Lakefront Bridge Burner Strong Ale

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

Pours a clear dark brown with a dense, creamy tan head. Leaves a good lacing. Strong piney aroma balanced by caramel. There’s also a lot of alcohol in the nose. Flavor has a lot of coniferous hops, caramel, cream soda. But overall, the bitterness is too soapy for my taste. Thick bodied with a lovely hop burn.

Crushed with CaryTheDude after JakeBra mysteriously disappeared. Big deep red color with a sticky, off white head. Fruity, hoppy aroma. Taste is pretty excellent. Fruity, hoppy, great. Mouthfeel is nice and thick. Finish is long and sweet, a bit bitter. Great beer.

22oz bottle. Poured a deeper and clear copper color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of citrus, caramel, some floral hoppiness, and just a tad fruity. Tastes of caramel, citrus, some spicy hops, and some fruitiness. The body was a little on the thinner side. Lacing left on the glass.

Amber-red color, medium-thick soapy white head. Light earthy hop aroma plus a significant vegetal character. Taste is real earthy, vegetal, and an odd mix of sweetness and hops on the finish. Weird.

Thanks to General Gao for this 22 oz, bottled June 08. Murky, darkish red-copper. Small, creamy and lasting head deposits frosting on the glass. Aroma is a nice blend of resin, grapefruit, caramel, cocoa and orange. Flavor is similar but more earthy-spicy with notes of lemon juice, peppery ginger, eucalyptus and oak. Maybe a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. Medium-heavy body is mostly smooth, and spicy-tingly with a dry finish.

Pours a dark, reddish-auburn color with a small, frothy, cream colored head. Tiny, random spots and flares of lace mark the glass. The aroma is downright strange, notes of candied ginger, caramel malt, citrus and floral hops, and an indiscernible vegetal element. Flavors are equally perplexing, caramel malts and grapefruit hops giving way to a vegetal, vinegary note. I swear it’s somewhat similar to ketchup. Odd....and off-putting. Medium bodied, with low to moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel doesn’t do anything to excite. This one is pretty bad, overall.

Bomber. I’ve always told people that ’we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it’ so I’m certain to like this.. right?.. well.. not really. Poured clear copper with a nice initial cap of beige head that didn’t stick around for too long.. enjoyed the color, though. The aroma picked up mostly sweet, but somewhat soured caramel malts with more sourness as it warmed up (uh-oh!). The flavor had tacky, sour medium-skinned fruits and caramel throughout with some floral and peppery bitter accents.. unfortunately the sourness steals the show and precludes the brew from ever getting on a good roll.. the finish picked up a citrus bouquet of pineapple and grapefruit, which was nice after fighting through the apparent infection (it actually finished with quite a hop impression). Medium-plus and ugly-bodied on the palate.. grainy sweetness and vinegary sournes took over, and a proper flow never happened. I had the same problem with my bomber of Anniversary.

22oz bottle. Poured a clear garnet-orange color. The head was light tan with a faint orange tint. It retained it’s height well and left some lace behind on the glass. Pleasant aroma of citrus fruits, caramel, and subdued cotton candy. There were also faint whiffs of cherry and fruity red wine. Medium to full bodied and semi-sweet with mild hop bitterness. Citrus (especially orange), pine, soft caramel, and alcohol dominated the flavor, but there were also cherry, spice, and earthy bark notes. The flavors really start to pop as the beer warms. Good stuff.