Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Apple Brandy Barrel)

Formerly brewed at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Elmsford, New York USA

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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Sampled December 2009
Surprise, surprise (not) this beer pours with an excessive carbonation that produces a four finger thick, lightly browned head that lingers for a long time and leaves some light lacing as it slowly subsides. The beer is a deep brown color that shows some flashes of bright ruby color around the edges when held up to the light. The beer smells quite fruity, with a definite brandy note, there is a touch of spiciness that makes me think of cinnamon in some ways. There is also a touch of mustiness here, that almost leans towards a light funky cheesiness or a funky mushroom type note. If you really dig through the fruitiness there is a rich, toasted malt character in the finish; toasted whole grain bread notes, a touch of acidic roast malt, and maybe just a touch of smoke (but this is really hard to notice). The nose is actually pretty decent, it sort of reminds me of a really funky batch of crushed grapes that is in the middle of being fermented by a cheese and wine culture.

Tart tasting and quite dry, this is coupled with a toasted grain and a lingering light musty mushroom character. The excessive carbonation definitely contributes to an initial harshness, but luckily I can manually dissipate the excess carbonation. There is a light smokiness that also lingers in the finish along with a bitter / acrid roasted malt character. There is a touch more malt fullness than one might expect from a beer that is as dry as this is; the light acidity (which is definitely not just from the dark grain) tends to make this taste drier than it actually is. An at times biting roast character is noticeable here and can be a bit too jarring sometimes especially when you consider the light acidity. The fruitiness of the nose is not nearly as apparent in the flavor, unfortunately.

As the beer warms up it picks up a very light sweetness that lightly accentuates a dry chocolate note as well as boosting a very subtle smoked malt character. The middle and finish also begins to pick up some brandy like fruitiness, though just a touch.

This is definitely my second favorite of this series (behind the wine); it isn’t nearly as funky, and in fact could actually work with a bit more funk if it had a more boosted fruit character like the Wine-Barrel one does. A bit more fruitiness would really help this be much more balanced, though this still achieves a balance that most of the other SFTO don’t come close to achieving. Definitely an enjoyable beer, but it is showing hints of being great, but definitely isn’t quite there yet.

Originally reviewed: 2/2/10. Bottle received as awesome bonus from calise1122 (BA) in a trade awhile back. Thanks! Popped the cap, and this beer foamed all over the counter. Because of this, it took me about 10 minutes to pour a standard pint glass’-worth. Dark ruby-tinted cola colored, with a frothy tan head on top. Retention was fair. Left little lace on the glass. Scents of old apples, vinegar, pineapple, and a weird chemical twang. No smoke, and nothing resembling a Porter by any means. The body was full and creamy, but it had such a sour puckering taste that it gave the mouth a bit of a sharp bite on the end. Flavors of extremely tart, old apples. A bit of a stomach-acid flavor in there as well, which is not pleasant going down. Vinegar in the mouth in addition to the nose. I am getting no smokiness, no roasted malts from the original Porter, no hop bitterness. Nothing. As other BAs have noted, this beer is so far gone from a Porter, it’s a shame it even claims that style. I had such high hopes for this hybrid. Can’t win ’em all.

Tasted in 2009. Deep brown color with a large tan head. Aroma is of apple, smoke, wood, and grapes. Taste is of wood, light plum, and apple.

750 ml. Bottle. Brown color with a nice head. Nice apple brandy taste and aroma. Carbonation is heavy but still enjoyable.

750mL thanks to vtafro. The bottle opens with a small gush as expected. Pours with a giant, billowing tan head. Overcarbonated. Deep blackish pour. Decent lace. Nose is very funky acetic like Flemish red with balsamic vinegar, soy, red wine. Taste is dry cocoa powder, mild acetic red wine and balsamic. Feels like traditional blended sour London porter- historical style. Mild lactic palate with lemon with even apricot and peach complexities. Delicious.

750 ml bottle. Bottled in ’10. Imagine my surprise walking into Superstar Beverage in Bayport a week and a half ago and seeing this bottle on the shelf. I’ve been trying to score a bottle of this since it first came out and there it was. As they say, timing is everything. Pours just about black with a moderate dark tan head that lasted through the first quarter of the glass and left partial lace. Very pleasant smoky aroma along with roasted malt, and oak. Surprisingly, I’m not getting any influence from the apple brandy. The flavor is roasted malt, smoke, oak, and a bit of vanilla. Some fairly strong heat rises after the initial taste which I attributed to the influence of the apple brandy barrels since the abv is not that high. Otherwise, there is no other influence from the apple. Solid.

Tasted in mid-August from a capped 750mL bottle obtained in a trade, Batch 1. This one gushed just a bit. Pours an opaque brown-black with a thick tan head that slowly recedes to uneven lace. The nose is spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, along with oaky vanilla, sweet apple, darkly roasted malt, dark chocolate, brown sugar, and molasses. The flavor features the sweet apple and vanilla oak up front, moving to the spiced nutmeg and cinnamon, and a bit of smoked dark chocolate and roasted malt. The body is medium with average carbonation and a long smoked dark chocolate and roasted malt finish.

Nose is smoked applewood. Sweet dark malts with some espresso, peaty notes and tannic, light sweet with a carbonic sour edge. Some citrus and herbal hops, with oaky, smokey finish.

750ml corked bottle split at a tasting. Very nice appearance. Opaque brown-black, massive steady rusty beige head. Apple brandy aroma sort of shines. mellowed by some faint chocolate. Awesome belgo-mouthfeel, luscious. Interesting balance. Some raisin, dark fruit tones, brown sugar. Sweet and big, but very drinkable. The barrel really adds an intestign touch of depth to the Porter. Oaky, sour. Great beer.

@dmacs-750ml bottle-thanks to pineypower/Dean for sharing–pours a foamy light brown head with heavy trailing lace and brown color. Aroma is smoke/peat-apple brandy, wood, some medium malt. Taste is smoke/peat-apple brandy, wood, some medium malt.

Batch 1. Pours a lightly viscous, opaque black with a frothy, tan head. Big brett aroma, medicinal, a little nail polish, a little wood. Flavor is tart, apples, brett, band aid. Very infected. Dry finish which is also lightly tart. If you like your barrel aged porters infected, you’d probably love this.