Bridge Burner Special Reserve Ale - Lakefront Brewery, Inc.

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

3.73/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Review from BeerAdvocate magazine Vol. II Issue VIII:

Brewed with a few different hops and a fruit ale yeast, just what a strong ale needs. Good foaming, and the retention shows off with a lot of sticky lace on the glass. Dark brass color, great clarity. Ripe orchard fruit; pear, peaches, apples and plums in the nose. Hint of caramel and toasted malt, and a prominent oil hop in the aroma as well. Extremely smooth with a lush and creamy full body. Hop bitterness prickles the taste buds to start and then slowly unfolds with flavors of wood, blond tobacco and soft pine. Big malt profile here that wields caramel, a hint of burnt sugar and a toasted biscuit flavor. Baked apple fruitiness with a warming alcohol. The finish is semi-dry and full of lingering hop oil and toasted grain.

Big, bold and drinkable. This one grew on us real fast; nothing over the top, but loads of flavor packed into this beer. Balanced and a joy to drink, which makes this a little dangerous at 8-percent abv.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2010 05:16:05 | More by BeerAdvocate

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From notes.

A - Poured with a great deep amber or dark red colour. Bright. Three finger light brown head. Fluffy head. Good drapes of lace with a film of retention.

S - Caramel, earthy hop, really caramelly, dark fruit, gentle hop.

T - Spicy hop, caramel, lot's of caramel, dark fruit.

M - Gentle carbonation, medium to full body. Some spicy hop/caramel finish. A little bitterness.

O/D - Decent strong ale. Tame in the hop department, but tasty enough. Not breaking new ground at all, but tasty enough.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 19:58:09 | More by tbeckett

ssmack

Ontario (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

A dark tan brown with 1 inch of tan head that quickly dissolves to a thin head. The lacing though is very good.

A strong resin aroma hit me right off. Then the nice aroma of careml and roasted walnuts. Lots of piney hops too. But an alcohol smell is in there too.

The taste of roasted grains and grassy hops. Lots of maltiness too. Again a strong taste of alcohol spoils things.

A medium feel that lacks the bite of carbonation.

This is a rich tasting brew but too much taste from the alcohol. I enjoyed the balance of malt and hops. I wished that I had cellared this one to mellow the alcohol and intentsifed the tasted. I think the potential is there.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 00:52:22 | More by ssmack

ClevelandsRocks

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

06-09-2013 21:13:28 | More by ClevelandsRocks

Reddawg55

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%

06-08-2013 02:24:57 | More by Reddawg55

CCutch

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

06-04-2013 21:19:25 | More by CCutch

bubseymour

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

06-03-2013 01:08:52 | More by bubseymour

RangnaR

California

4/5  rDev +3.9%

05-28-2013 05:29:49 | More by RangnaR

jmkoscie

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%

05-28-2013 01:23:36 | More by jmkoscie

Hopheadjeffery

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%

05-21-2013 23:42:54 | More by Hopheadjeffery

GaryFields

Indiana

4/5  rDev +3.9%

05-16-2013 00:48:22 | More by GaryFields

theminutemen

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

05-14-2013 21:31:26 | More by theminutemen

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.3/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Served in a snifter at Firkin.

Now why would you wanna go and burn your bridges? Anyway, this stuff pours a clear topaz topped by a finger of light khaki foam. The nose comprises mild caramel, mixed greens, and very light maple syrup. The taste brings in more of the same, eliciting a flavor of syrup-covered greens. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fluid feel. Overall, a decent brew, though nothing to really get excited over.

Serving type: on-tap

05-09-2013 19:10:44 | More by TMoney2591

rlee1390

Indiana

3.76/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A-brown in the glass, clear two finger head with nice lacing

S- caramel dirt grass good deal of hops

T- some caramel, grass mix of hops no bitterness. Good but nothing stands out

M- medium bodied some carbonation

O- an average tasting brew. Seemed more like a strong amber than strong ale. Nothing to write home about.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 13:28:29 | More by rlee1390

TerryW

Ontario (Canada)

2.96/5  rDev -23.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

Good looking beer. Dark walnut colour with a handsome pillowy head. Leaves lots of lace.

Nose is boozy, sweet malt and charcoal, some dark fruit. Quite sweet and boozy to taste, somewhere between malt liquor and a barley wine. I just find it too sweet and too harsh on the palate to enjoy. Notable burned character. Burned, bitter finish.

Every aspect of this one is just too blunt to me. One harsh note after another, but nothing really hangs together. Sorry, but not to my taste.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 23:13:57 | More by TerryW

NightINgale

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev +3.9%

04-29-2013 02:53:22 | More by NightINgale

pixieskid

France

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

04-24-2013 13:44:26 | More by pixieskid

tbergsli

Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.9%

04-22-2013 01:06:25 | More by tbergsli

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.99/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bridge Burner looks like liquified rust, its red, orange and brown tones all blending into some kind of murky iron oxide soup. I've got to respect its attempt at highlights but, even directly into the light, this beer is as gloomy and lifeless as a far away galaxy (its lacing, coincidentally enough, takes the shape of an interstellar nebula that would be sure to get NASA's attention).

Despite a treacly malt presence, the aroma is a steady wall of hoppy flavours. It is distinctly earthy, the abundance of pine needles, resin, grass clippings and tree bark making it smell like a wet forest. Simultaneously, sharp citrus notes and aromatic guava, lime, passionfruit, lychee, and even gooseberry make it feel as though spring has finally come.

The strong muskiness of hops aside, this is also a malty offering and has layered tastes of toffee and biscuits, dry and roasted cereal grain. The palate experiences dark, almost treacly notes of fig, date and plum, all of which are enlivened by well integrated citrus and a sticky tree sap flavour that blends well with the sweetness of the caramel malt and dried fruits.

Thick and chewy, it drinks like a liquified fig newton or oatmeal raisin cookie. The hops, however, do continue long into the aftertaste with whispered notes of spruce resin and tree bark. This ale reinforces the notion that American craft beer must be bold but does so while hardly flashing any alcohol nor an excessive amount of bitterness.

Drinking Bridge Burner you get the impression that with this offering the brewery really wanted to impress; being able to discern where the hops end and the malts start is a task both Herculean and arcane, like knowing all the constellations or differentiating between sub-species of moth. What does it matter? This has plenty of both and all you need know is that it's good.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 05:37:06 | More by biegaman

leaddog

Alberta (Canada)

4.21/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Appearance - Pours a dark nut brown with a finger width of foamy beige head.

Smell - Malts, dark fruits (plum), earthy/musty hops (just a tad), hint of spice.

Taste - Malts including caramalts, plum and dark fruits, and spiciness from hops. Strong malt backbone. Nice mild bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. A little sticky.

Overall - An enjoyable strong ale by Lakefront. I like the stronger malt backbone with the hops playing the supporting role. Nice to find other American craft offerings in Calgary.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 04:12:52 | More by leaddog

Groulxsome

Ontario (Canada)

3.86/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A bottle into a tulip. The Bridge Burner is dark copper witha thick tan head. The aroma is citrus, a little fresh pine, molasses, sweet dark sugar, and slightly like sweet fruit punch (think about it, it's there). On the palate, a little more roasted barley character is present, with a good hit of lemon and a balanced bitterness. Not a lot of heat - though the alcohol heat is present - and overall a fairly rich, creamy body. Little lingering taste of chocolate, malt, and brown sugar. American Strong Ales are always such a mixed bag, this one comes close to being the American Ale equivalent of a Belgian Dubbel. Very much worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2013 01:19:50 | More by Groulxsome

Stalinski

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%

04-08-2013 22:35:01 | More by Stalinski

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.99/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: Poured a dark black color ale with a large dark foamy head with good retention and some light lacing. Aroma consists of dry roasted malt with some resin and citrus hops. Taste is a mix between some roasted malt notes with dry notes and some pine and citrus hops punch. Body is quite full with somewhat of a creamy texture and good carbonation with no apparent alcohol. Well balanced with good hops punch

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2013 20:14:19 | More by Phyl21ca

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from the LCBO, 650ml into a tulip.

Deep opaque burgundy, khaki head with moderate retention and a good bit of lace. Strong toffee and malt character, hops are there too and have some citrus and spice to them. More malt on the palate, alcohol, toffee, dark fruits and a bit of sweetness. Some roast and hops in the finish, roast and some chocolate bitterness lingers. Some sweetness and alcohol on the back end. Medium full feel, medium carbonation. Interesting, and saw faint comparisons to Arrogant Bastard can be drawn.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2013 00:48:56 | More by liamt07

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

04-02-2013 20:48:26 | More by kwjd