Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter Winter Warmer

Brewed by Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Elmsford, New York USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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UPDATED: MAR 21, 2007 Poured a near opaque, purple red color with no head or lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla, caramel malts, dried fruits, and a bit of roasted malts. Taste was full on elderberries, with more vanilla, a bit of bourbon, more dark fruits, roast, and some caramel malts as well. Low carbonation, and none of the 12% was detected.

Bottle, many thanks coldbrewky. Dark red brown color with huge beige head. Aroma of dark berries, caramel, some flowers, pear, oak. Taste, elderberries, roasted malt, chocolate, bourbon, liquorice, wood. Long sour finish. Nice, tasty beer.

Pours a barely translucent deep sable. Aroma has notes of maple syrup and bourbon. Mouth-filling flavor has a sour apple overtone plus caramel, smoky and licorice notes. Body is average but has plenty of fizz.

Pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma has light chocolate and a bit of fruit...notable sour notes...raisins and light bourbon. Flavor has a soury fruitiness and light bourbon vanilla character...mild chocolate. Mouthfeel is medium/full and creamy with a warming oaky finish that hints of bourbon. Not a fan of the soury qualities here.

Batch 5 shared with coldbrewky. dark amber color. sweet burbon, light clove, elderberry, bourbon, flowers, a tad tart. complex to a point of over kill. slightly drying mouth.

A gift from SJ. This was a nice change of pace. I always liked the American strong, but I don’t know why I don’t buy more of them. Any way, here’s what I loved about this one. The pleasant caramel malt, bourbon, wood, dark fruit with asoury / tart finish. Very enjoyable.

Tastes like a dark chocolate berry. Very nice appearance, but a bit too tart for my liking.

Dark brown/black color; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of toasted malt, oak/wood, vanilla, & dark fruit; Flavor of roasted sweet malt, caramel, chocolate, dark fruit (notably berries), raisons, and spice; Finish is slightly sour/tart; Nicely balanced & complex; Overall, nice bourbon quality to it - very good stuff.

Nor’ Easter pours a little bit like a stout. It’s dark. A very dark brown. A nice frothy 2 finger head is poured and has nice retention. Now I was expecting to get wow’ed by the smell of this beer for some reason. The mixture that it says on the front of the bottle got me ready for something awesome. Ale with elderberries aged in bourbon barrels. Yum sounds fantastic but what I got was very muted. The Elderberries gave off the biggest smell. They were sweet. But everything else like the ripe dark fruit, caramel, and bourbon was lingering there but just small. Taste was more of the same for me. Muted. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good though. The bourbon woody flavor definitely came through more on the taste. The berries are there and make for a kind of sour and bitter combination. Under all of that caramel and dark fruits sit on the bottom. Mouthfeel was really nice. Thick and smooth. Silky and sits in your mouth.

25oz bottle, batch 4. Pours out a nice dark brown hue, medium carbonation. Aromas are wood, vanilla, cherry, lots of malt. Palate is fantastic, the cherry and sour levels pound through the entry to mid with the barrel aging finishing it off very smooth. The levels of vanilla and cocoa are still intact although not as potent as it is fresh, but still a well rounded beer.

750ml bottle shared by the Madison crew. Deep brown-black, pronounced fruity aroma, adds a deep heavy sourness. World Class mouthfeel. Brings to mind De Dolle Reserva. Hides the alcohol well. Delicious dark malt tones merge with the fruity sourness. Perfect balance. Phenomenal!