BridgePort Old Knucklehead
This Barley Wine Style Ale is brewed with double amounts of malts and hops to create a rich, mahogany colored, resinous brew. Aged for three full months before release, this ale is complex, strong, malty and full of character.
3.5
254 reviews
Portland, United States
Community reviews
They have No. 014 and No. 015, and who knows what else. This one has a rich, earthy flavor, a lot like whiskey. Delicious.
Bottle, No. 15 bottling. Pours a clear dark amber color with a moderate tan head on there. Nose has some caramel and wood elements to it, and seems a little harsh and boozy up front. Taste is smooth, but boozy, and tastes a little of cheap whiskey.
22 oz bottle. Aroma: malty, boozy, piney, and woody, with hints of cherry, caramel, brown sugar, and resin. Taste/Palate: thick, crisp, and sweet; finishes bitter and astringent.
Keg at the brewpub, PDX, 09/11/14.
Clear golden amber with a decent light beige covering.
Nose is caramel malt, spice, toffee, dark fruits.
Taste comprises rich toffee, sweet licks, toasted brown sugar, dates, figs, caramel fudge.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with lightly warming alcohol.
Decent well rounded barley wine.
Lots going on with bitter hops, sweet malt and dark fruit out front. Must be a barley wine!
Aroma of bubblegum grape. Yes grape bubblegum.
Looks nice. Dark hazy red brown, nice creamy tan head.
Taste is sweet. Boozy. Malty. Gummy.
Palate is heavy. Boozy. Smooth.
Overall this one sort of misses the mark for me. With that huge grape gum note that’s all I can think of. An ok beer but not amazing.
Bomber. Large caramel nose, some fumes. Pretty copper color. Slightly harsh initial, with caramel and raisins / mild bittering enters in mid / full rich finish, which then fades out quickly. Okay. Not exceptional.
Bottle from Nevitt. Spicy nose, cinnamon, caramel, raisin, apples, hops. Glowing amber, lace. Clear. Rather dry, caramel, dried fruit, sulfur, chocolate, cream.
On tap at the brewpub. Clear mahogany with a rim of beige head. Fair amount of sugar, some malt, booze, hints of smoke, banana, full body, moderate carbonation, some bitterness on the palate but the sugar balances things out and there is a nice warming finish.
Eh- It looks like a barleywine. It’s a little alcohol forward both in aroma and in taste. The fruity esters here are a bit over the top. I initially got hints of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit-ish banana funky-ness. It’s an mediocre barleywine, but certainly not a homerun.
On tap @ Bridgeport Brewing. Pours clear amber with a finger thick head. Aroma is caramel malts, burned sugar , coffee and chocolate. Medium body with soft carbonation. Flavour is sweet with roasted malts, caramel, kandi and notes of oak.
On tap at BridgePort. Clear ruby with tan lacing. Sweet cherry and raisin aroma. Fruity hoppy candy taste, light bitter finish - nice. Medium-full body. Definitely the best I tried from BridgePort.
On tap at the brewery. Pours a mostly clear copper color with a medium white head. A big malty sweet nose. The flavor is nutty, molasses, light heat, a bit of darker fruit. Very dry at times, some lingering malty toffee. Good. Very nice English style BW,
Bottle. The nose is all hops. It pours a deep maple syrup brown. The taste is intense hops and sweet malt. Medium body with lively carbonation. Decent BW but nothing crazy.
22oz bomber, bottling no. 13. Pours a rich mahogany with light mocha head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is sweet, boozy, and slightly earthy. Some oak, vanilla, and bourbon notes come through as it warms. Oak definitely present in the taste, with bourbon, pitted fruit, and vanilla notes. Great, complex barley wine.
Remarkably deep flavor for a barley wine. It's more than just malt there's even some oaky flavors. The only downside is how hard it is to find.
- Drink & Give Thanks to The Lord
Big Texas Beer Fest. Dark orange pour with an off-white head. Aroma is honey, sweet, and, alcohol, almost piney. Taste is brown sugar, sweetness, and alcohol.
From 2011 keg tapped at FredFest. Pours orange copper with a pretty beige head and a fruity aroma. There is a hearty smoked malt flavor that starts bitter then turns sweet. Very strange, but tasty.
Bottle 22fl.oz.
[ Trade by madmitch76 ]. ABV: 10.0%. Unclear medium amber colour with a small to average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, dried fruit, oxidide, cheese - smelly feet. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a long duration, dried fruit, sweet fruit, alcohol. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat, finish feel light to moderate alcoholic. [20130111]
Bottled, orange amber pour with cottony off white foam, aroma of oak, brown sugar and peach, flavor is brown sugar, malty caramel, whiskey notes, nice
22 oz. bottle. Pours ruby red with a thin head. Syrupy, as expected from a barleywine. Strong aroma and flavor of caramel. Sweet with a definite hop and alcohol presence, but not so hoppy or boozy as to overshadow the malty, caramel flavors. A solid barleywine that I’d drink again.
At only $5 for 22 ounces of barley wine, I had a hard time passing up this bomber. Right before I was about to pay for my selections at the local liquor store I had my hands full, and decided that with my other selections I didn’t need something from BridgePort to make my bill higher. I even put it back on the shelf, then saw the price tag again, and picked it back up. Really, $5 for a bomber is a great price.
This barley wine from BridgePort pours a very deep red color, very beautiful, actually, with an off-white/light-brown head. Light carbonation maintains a thin head. It has a sweet, but roasted, dark caramel malt aroma well-balanced with sharp, minty hops. There’s something English in the aroma, probably a result of the yeast, that gives it the smooth, earthy edge of an Old Ale.
In the mouth it’s, well, unlike any other barley wine I’ve ever had. It’s incredibly fruity and candy-like, with pronounced oak and a finish of intensely caramelized, bitter malts. It feels clean, but syrupy, and that syrupiness coupled with its fruitiness almost reminds me of a lambic. A fruity, almost tropical sweetness remains on the lips and leads you into the next drink. It’s a little tart on the tongue, possibly due to the oak, and maybe thanks to the fruitiness. I’ll agree with BridgePort that it is very full of character. It’s just a little too sweet and fruity, and seems more prepubescent than what I expect a barley wine to be.
Worth $5? Yes, but you can also get 48 ounces of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot for just under $10. Guess which brewery will get my money next time.
22 oz bomber pours deep amber with a off white head. Aroma of caramel, toffee and oak. Taste is sweet malt, toffee, oak and caramel.
Bottle @ Fonefan. Hazy amber body with a small offwhite head. Aroma is sweat, raisin, plum, acohol, oxidized. Flavor is dark fruit, raisins, caramel, alcohol, earthy notes.
Bottle @ fonefan tasting. Hazy reddish amber with a lasting off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, dried fruit, oxidized and alcohol. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet finish with warming alcohol. 110113
Bottle, 10%. Hazy Dark amber/ruby with small off-white head. Aroma is malt, caramel, toffee, berries and oxidized. Flavour is malt, sweet, caramel, toffee, berries, oak, wood with notes of alcohol.
Bottle @ fonefan berliner weisse, cream ale multistate tasting. Nice head with good duration. Color is brown. Aroma and taste are burnt caramel, fruits, candy sugar, malt and hops.
Pours ruby amber with a small white head.Sweet malty. Oxidized with a bit of port and lots of dark fruit. Cellar, fruit and caramel. Medium bodied. A bit over the top. 012 bottling.
Bomber. Labeled as Old Knucklehead - Barley Wine Style Ale - Ale Aged with Oak - No. 013 Bottling. Sweet and fruity with mild bitterness. Never did pick up any oak. Finish is sweet with a light boozyness.
This is No.13. Pours a dark amber with a thin tan head that recedes to an outer ring. Smells very nice. Got hints of pine resin, spruce and even some faint banana. Intense flavors. Bittersweet with a strong alcohol finish. banana, amber, clear, frothy, tan foam, Very bittersweet flavor. Intense. Starts sweet, then a sort of bitter fruit flavor. Strong alcohol finish. Thick feel with average carbonation. Definately a big beer with alot going on.