Kingpin Double Red Ale - BridgePort Brewing Co. / Brewpub

AlCzerik

Georgia

3.28/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I had this beer on draft at my local Taco Mac. I like most of what Bridgeport does especially the Hop Czar but this didn't really cut the mustard.

Appearance- Pours light Brown or Amber with more foam on top than you usually expect with an Amber Ale.

Taste- This is a solid amber or red ale. Just didnt have anything that really set it apart for me.

Overall this beer was worth the try as far as bang for your buck goes it absolutely is. Bridgeport puts out a quality product in my price range and I appreciate that.

Serving type: on-tap

03-25-2012 21:06:20 | More by AlCzerik

Phelps

Arizona

3.53/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served in a shaker pint at the Mellow Mushroom.

Burnt orange and slightly hazy. The creamy medium-tan head of foam descends slowly, leaving thick walls of lace and a concentrated top layer.

Sweet and rather fruity in the nose. Lots of peach, caramel, apricot. Hints of nuttiness and just a bit of toast. Lightest hints of earthy hops. A bit sweet.

Much bigger bitterness here, marked by earthy hops with a hint of pithy citrus. Caramel and burnt toast mix with apple and peach. A nice toffee sweetness emerges as it warms, but I get a weird tang and abrasive hops as I near the bottom. Spritzy finish.

High carbonation is a bit painful, but the body’s a nice, hefty medium. Fairly clean finish, though bitterness lingers hard on tongue.

Overall, Kingpin exhibits qualities both good and bad. Not Bridgeport’s best, but not their worst either.

Serving type: on-tap

07-19-2011 22:06:34 | More by Phelps

tronester

Oklahoma

3.6/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

A clear reddish brown in color with a big light tan head. Smells vaguely of pine cones. Taste is initially a mild sweetness, followed by a big earthy, piney, resinous bitterness. Mouthfeel is light, medium carbonation. Overall a good beer, tastes a bit watery though for how much alcohol it contains. I would drink it again though.

Serving type: on-tap

07-11-2011 01:37:19 | More by tronester

emerge077

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First tap review, odd... figured an Oregonian BA would take care of that.

Served in a standard pint glass, it had a glowing russet tone, with ruby highlights when held to the light. Creamy, frothy cap of foam that left a sticky network of lacing all around the glass. Retention was good, an unbroken skim lasted for the duration of the glass.

Very estery with fried plantains, caramel sauce, and baked apples. Slightly sweet, appropriate for a big Amber Ale. Comes across with Maibock nuances.

Hearty yet easy drinking, dominated by an estery yeast flavor manifesting as fresh sliced apples. Pleasant malt complexity, crusty multigrain bread and honey. Slighty toasty, breadiness and apple notes seem to domintate. Medium bodied and easy drinking. It has fortitude, yet never feels heavy. Something i'd drink again for sure, seems well suited to cooler weather.

Serving type: on-tap

04-20-2011 02:20:51 | More by emerge077

4000qtrap

Missouri

2.83/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Source: 12oz bottle
 
S: Fresh and bright pine, some juicy red berry/cherry, herbaceous, light lemon/orange citrus and even a touch of grape. Alcohol comes through as it warms and is slightly fruity, clean, smooth and quite strong.
 
T: Somewhat fruity (cherry, berry) with a rustic, almost pit-like quality up front. Equally matched by well-structured pine bitterness to give a nice sweet-bitter play with a nice overall brightness. Middle is slightly dry but the grape-skin, almost pithy bitterness accentuates this (probably the high alcohol too) a bit too much leading to a dry harshness which really impacts my enjoyment. Definitely malty (red fruit and apple) with caramel, a touch of toast, and heavy mouthfeel for the style, though it does remain slightly bright and lively. Alcohol is hidden except for a bit of dryness and pepper in the finish which goes along with pine and a hint of mineral, apple, and grape. Finish is clean for the style, without much lingering.
 

Note: Average red IPA on the dry, bitter side. Would buy again if on sale.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 23:29:15 | More by 4000qtrap

alexipa

Colorado

4.09/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

A: Murky red color with an off white head.

S: Toffee like malt scent with a slight roasted character. Feint hop scent.

T: The roasted toffee malt comes through on the taste as well. The hops are piney and balance the strong malts nicely.

M: Creamy smooth and low carbonation. Fairly hot, but still very drinkable.

O: This is pretty excellent. I'm struggling to find any flaws with this brew but it's not particularly wow-ing either. Just very good and enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2013 04:16:18 | More by alexipa

RJLarse

Washington

3.46/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

I bought a six-pack of Kingpin at a grocery store. Poured in to a pint glass.

Pours a copper color, with just a bit of chill haze, topped with a thin white head.

Smell is a sweet fruity aroma, plums and pears with a hint of and acerbic smell.

Taste is a bitter sweet flavor, caramel up front and grapefruit on the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a wet bitter aftertaste.

A drinkable red ale. Somewhat less than sessionable at 7.5% ABV. But I;m going to stash a couple bottles of this for a bright sunny spring day.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2013 00:40:13 | More by RJLarse

dgilks

Australia

3.45/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Clearish mahogany colour with a small offwhite head. Fair head retention. Okay.

Very sweet malt aroma with district raisin and toffee notes. Okay but nothing special.

Moderately malty. Quite sweet. Metallic hop flavour. Sharp bitterness. It seems a little disjointed.

Medium body with moderate carbonation. Okay.

Not a bad beer but not a great one. The hops and malt just are not working in harmony.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 03:02:07 | More by dgilks

N3rdM3t4l

Oregon

3.29/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3

12oz bottle into wetted standard pint.

A: rather agressive pour nets no head but a pretty substantial ring. The color of dark amber honey and clear enough to read a book through. The little foam is just off white. I have seen prettier reds but this isn't ugly.

S: smells of good aroma hops, like one of the hoppings in the "tripple hopped" it talks about is a dry hop. A bit of sweet caramel malt on the nose but a mostly pale background. Smells hoppier than expected but not bitter. We will see.

T: rich malt body followed by a bit of sweet that I got on the nose. Ends with a big hit of hop. That slowly gets bitter then fades away. Really well done hopping on this one. Doesn't sneak up on you or overwhelm. Pretty good.

M: kinda chewy, expexted from a double. Mouthfeel is the beers strongest point in my opinion.

O: surprisingly good. Tied with Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale in my book and I really like Believer.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2013 06:19:12 | More by N3rdM3t4l

ranger7

Texas

3.41/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Got this in a custom 6-pack. Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

A - Hazy amber, with a thin white head, nice.

S - Sweet; hops, honey, and floral. Good.

T - Follows the smell; sweet, with a slight malt start and a hoppy bite to finish

M - Some carbonation, easy to drink. The hops linger, but the aftertaste doesn't suffer.

Summary - Pretty good overall. I was afraid when the smell was strong with hops, but it is fairly light in that category - especially when paired with food.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 02:45:27 | More by ranger7

mfnmbvp

Illinois

3.88/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle, no bottled on date present.

A - Pours a reddish copper color with about 1 finger worth of head. Looks very yummy.

S - Slight hops, slight malts. Nothing too extraordinary. Some hint of spice smell in there. Booze smell seems to creep out as the beer warms.

T - Creamy, bitter, hoppy. Kind of a vanilla oak flavor going on in the finish. A very tasty imperial red ale.

M - Bitter, crisp, clean finish. A well balanced beer.

Overall, I have been impressed with the three beers I have tried from Bridgeport so far and am looking forward to trying more, since they have all been decent.

Bridgeport Kingpin Double Red Ale ---4/5.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2012 22:30:44 | More by mfnmbvp

AlCaponeJunior

Texas

3.63/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Copper to reddish orange in color, hazy, good white head with good lace.

I found the aroma quite fruity, with fruity hops as a secondary, and a little malty goodness on top of that.

Flavor was somewhat similar to the nose but had a slightly astringent taste that I couldn't quite identify. Plenty of malt backbone, lots of mild fruity and floral hops, and some notable earthiness.

Body was pretty thick for a red, and fairly alcoholic, with a combined bitter/malty finish.

Overall it was enjoyable. Not the greatest red ever, but a welcome part of my sampler twelvesky.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2012 21:33:14 | More by AlCaponeJunior

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.13/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle purchased from Slowbeer in Melbourne. Not quite sure exactly how it got there, but there you go. Shared with Rich after a large homebrew bottling session.

Pours a pleasant bright amber colour, perhaps red if you look at it in the right light. Head is a pocked, bubbly and rather inconsistent off-white, leaving some spotty, pathy lace. Body is pretty light (certainly lighter than expected for a 7.5% ABV red Ale), but holds some fine carbonation. Overall, it looks good without being exceptional.

Nose is sweet with mild malt, but lacking much else in character. Perhaps a bit of pepper comes through, but it really feels pretty flat and uninteresting. Not a lot to talk about: as it warms, there's maybe some chalky character of a mineral gravel note. But that's not much of a positive.

Taste is similar. Light malt makes a pleasantly dull basis, with a hint of very mild roast in the back. On top of this is certainly the suggestion of hops, but they feel skeletal or tired: a faint bitterness without much true bite or flavour. Pretty average stuff.

Overall, it's drinkable enough, and I don't get the sense of a particularly high ABV beer, which is good at least. But it's just dull: there's really not a lot to it. It feels as though all the flavours have given up, and they're putting in only the most perfunctory effort.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2012 07:53:51 | More by lacqueredmouse

harrymel

Washington

3.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle date: unk

Pours clouded rust color with a central dome and surrounding bullae of soapy lighter tan bubbles. Smells like sweet caramel malt, some dank hops, some pine hops and a bit of soap. Flavor is spicy with some nice malts, a bit of special B character, tea, caramel, body odor, some resin and a bit of pine. Medium on syrup body with a lighter carbonation character. Overall not a bad beer, I'd drink this quite a few times.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2012 05:49:02 | More by harrymel

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.3/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours copper with a large lasting head.
Nose shows caramel, toffee, bready malt and nutty notes. Also some soft spicy hops.
Some caramel transfers through as a flavour along with some bready notes. A fairly sharp, metallic finish follows from the combined alcohol and bitterness.
Body feels overly syrupy.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2012 06:46:46 | More by CrazyDavros

DavidST

Texas

3.58/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass, not sure the freshness. This pours a reddish / amber color with a mid sizzed tan head which leaves a lacing. The scent is mild, a little caramel and some hops. The feel is medium. The taste decent, some hop bite followed by some caramel malts.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2012 04:34:55 | More by DavidST

chinchill

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

BA Review #825

12 oz undated bottle served in a Sam Adams lager glass. While this bottle has no date, it is from a 6-pack purchased some time ago and I estimate the age to be about 1 year. If memory serves me, this aging improved the beer overall: Despite a drop in hoppiness, the beer seems less harsh and more balanced than when fresh. Along these lines, note that this is a "triple hopped double red ale" -- It is an imperial red or Red IPA more than an Amer. amber/red as classified by BA.

Pours a hazy red-amber with a semi-durable head. The aroma is a rather hop-forward - not your grandfather's red ale. The malt is still there as a base. In addition, "herbal", "earthy" and "spicy" can be applied to the nose ... and to the taste. The taste [3.75], however, is more balanced with a substantial medium malt component nearly keeping pace with the hops in this "triple hopped" ale. Both of these linger on and on in the aftertaste. Some nice complexity in both aroma and flavor.

M: medium+ body; well-chosen, medium carbonation.

O: better and much more drinkable than remembered; some aging recommended.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 23:01:54 | More by chinchill

Lemke10

Wisconsin

3.9/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I picked up as part of a M&M 6pk from Woodman’s in Sun Prairie late summer 2012.

Pours a reddish/orange color with a slight off-white head. Scent is mild with malts and slight hint of hops. Taste is bold with wheat, rye, and hops. After taste is slightly crisp and bitter. Drinks smooth but has a good grain taste that is hard to pass up. Made quite well!

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2012 03:47:12 | More by Lemke10

maximum12

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Ordered on tap at Taco Mac, jazzed to find a beer made with rye malts on the menu. Bring me the rye!

Pour is on the yellow side of orange, not at all red & much lighter than I expected. Nose: not much there. Beer, slightly sweet. Huh.

Kingpin is the beer you take one sip of & think, "Did I get the wrong beer?" As it warms it improved, slightly. The only component that jumped out was a stiff dose of white bread. Whiff of rye, bit of sweeetness, fleeing glimpse of hoppy bitterness at the end. Not much here.

Overall, I just don't have much to say. This is as mediocre as beer gets & with all those taps begging for attention, I was bummed to get something this hum-drum.

Serving type: nitro-bottle

08-23-2012 22:01:58 | More by maximum12

mactrail

California

3.6/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The usual orangey amber color in the big globe glass. Head is nothing sensational but plenty of carbonation in the mouth. Sweet and fruity, like a Tripel but without the Belgian yeasty flavor. More hops too, and just a little of the leafy, vegetal, and dank flavor.

Rich and seems stronger than 7.5%. Sweet and sharp on the tongue. A perfumey sort of flavor. Flowery with some odd fruit notes. Not one of my favorites from Bridgeport, but they get a lot of flavor into this beer. It's more malty and perhaps simple than you might like, and hop fiends will be left panting. However, it's quite full of hoppy flavors without the total bitter takeover. Aftertaste does have enough bitterness to make its mark.

Quite pleasant for sipping. From the 12 oz bottle. Cost was a reasonable $1.49 for a single.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2012 06:27:43 | More by mactrail

TheSixthRing

California

3.88/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance - Pours a nice reddish amber with a 2 finger head, good retention and a thick, semi-sticky lacing.

Smell - Bready, with a hint of Caramel and a citrus hop notes.

Taste - Follows the nose; bready, caramel malts. Finishes sweet, with red apple and a faint citrus note sparkling faintly in the back end.

Mouthfeel - Medium body. Fairly decent carbonation.

Overall - A good red ale. Lots of interesting, mellow flavors. Definitely a must try, if not for you, at least me again.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 05:50:25 | More by TheSixthRing

TheSeeker61

Georgia

4/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- Poured a two finger head with a off reddish tint into a pint glass.

S- Has a fresh cherry malty sweet smell.

T- The intial taste is a hoppy malty mix. Not as sweet as the smell which is good for me. The hops dominate moreso than the malts.

M- I like this mouthfeel. Medium bodied mouthfeel.

0- Really like this beer. Kinda surprised as most reviewers dedn't give this a positive review. It's not the best red ale I've had but I like it as I like hoppy beers and like the hops found in this one.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2012 21:32:22 | More by TheSeeker61

intensify

Colorado

3.8/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a dark copper colored body with 5% visibility, if that. Small, off white head dissapeared into a cloud floating atop.

S- figs, banana, caramel, bready/biscuity, bubble gum sweetness and a touch of alcohol.

T- Caramel, bready/biscuity backbone, dark fruits, malts and hops.

M- Medium bodied, medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. Could use a thicker body.

Impressed. Has a ton of goodies packed away in a nicely priced 12oz bottle. Makes for a nice desert, or a snack in that case.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2012 06:23:50 | More by intensify

mastodonj

Colorado

3.43/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

poured into a diconic

Great looking ale with a foamy, fluffy head and nice lacing. And of course, a reddish amber color.

Smell was eclectic: real good malt, some fruitiness but I couldn't say exactly what, plus a nutty aroma.

A nice smooth hoppiness offset with malt.

Very good mouthfeel owing to the excellent smooth carbonation.

Altogether, a very drinkable ale and with 7.5 ABV, that is something you may have to watch out for.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2012 00:27:17 | More by mastodonj

BaileysBrews

3.1/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Not a Red Ale guy. I guess that should disqualify me from the review but here is a review anyway. Smooth, a little flat for my taste in terms of carbonation. Some flavor but I feel one flavor was more dominant than the others and I can't put my finger on it. I gave the bottle to my brother-in-law to finish because well, I don't want to waste it. He like it but it wasn't a favorite of his. Maybe I swayed his opinion. Bridgeport should focus on lighter beers in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2012 19:55:43 | More by BaileysBrews