Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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UPDATED: MAR 11, 2008 2007 Release; Sampled March 2008
The beer gushes just a bit as soon as I pop the cap, not much, but just enough to let me know this is a bit over carbonated. A careful pour yields a three-finger thick, cocoa stained, tan colored head. The beer is a very dark, concentrated brown color, but does show some brilliantly clear, ruby highlights when held up to the light. From the aroma you can definitely smell the Bourbon barrel influence. There is also quite a bit of sourness in the aroma, nothing overwhelming, but it makes me think that this has some wild bugs in it. The Bourbon barrel is the dominant influence though with notes of warm alcohol, buttery oak, spicy wood and ample vanillin (especially if you dig around a bit). There is a bit of sweetness here, reminiscent of prunes and wrapped up in the Bourbon notes, but to be honest I can’t smell much of anything except the barrel influence here, even the sourness seems to have dissipated with time.

Well carbonated, this foams up quite a bit as it hits my mouth. A quick swirl of my glass gets this to a more manageable level. Ample spicy oak up front yields to a tartness that seems to be heavily influenced by oak. I could almost be convinced that the noticeable tartness is just a product of this beer being so light bodied, with the roast malt character and such a big barrel character, but if I had to guess I would say that some souring bugs got into the barrel. Speaking of the body, this is definitely on the thin side, some more heft would certainly help it to stand up to the Bourbon barrel. The base beer definitely plays a supporting role here; it picks up some toasted malt notes towards the finish, perhaps a touch of smokiness (though this is hard to separate from the barrel notes) and some dry, chalky, slightly astringent burnt flavors and roast notes in the finish. The Bourbon barrel also provides a bit of alcoholic heat to the finish of this brew.

As the beer warms up a bit the Bourbon flavors seem to soften just a touch; it really becomes a bit smoother, though they are still easily the most dominant thing about this beer. This is most definitely wee-beast influenced, the sourness here is pretty clean, as I don’t get any other funk derived notes, though it may be that the loud Bourbon barrel characteristics drown this out. What brought this to a head was the fact that I started to nosh on some fresh baked bread, which really brings to the fore the sourness of this brew.

An interesting beer, but the base beer just doesn’t seem to be able to stand up to the Bourbon Barrel aging, or put another way, this was aged for too long in the barrel for my particular tastes. The sourness, while interesting, clean and nice, just clashes a bit too much with the Bourbon character: I think that the base beer would do well when paired with either of the two, but not both at once. I personally like the barrel to play a supporting role to the flavors of the base beer. Having said all that, this is still enjoyable if you appreciate a good sour mash Bourbon from time to time.

(Bottle) Pours black with brown edges. Small, light brown head. The aroma is sourish with buttery and woodsy bourbon. Light fruity and smoky undertones. Hints of dust and light horse blanket. The roast and the fruitiness play well together. The flavour is light sweet to dry, light bitter and medium sourish. Tones of vinegar, fruits, light roasted malt and citrus acid. Bit earthy and mouldy. The mouthfeel is tart with a light carbonation. Citric tart finish. Medium bodied.

It pours thick dark rum brown with a caramel head. The aroma has big sour notes with some chocolate bourbon as well. The flavor is super sour dominant, but good with not any wild phenyl notes but pure delicous sour.

750 ml bottle from trade. Thanks! Pours a rich dark blackish brown hue, with a thick creamy light brown milk chocolate head. Thicker film, good lacing. Aromas are sour cherries, red wine, touches of oak, vanilla, roast, and cocoa. Initial is sour cherries, red wine, some vanilla. Touches of cocoa, roast, toast, and biscuits. Some mellow vanilla, as the sour cherry asserts itself fully. Into the backend, lingering vanilla, toffee, sour cherries, red wine, and lingering touches of acidity. Really became a wild beast, but in a fairly enjoyable way. Sour cherries, oak, touches of dry red wine, light Bourbon spirit, vanilla, a touch dry and roasty. Really nice, but much different than anticipated. Still fairly complex, the base and original concept still have flashes, but an enjoyable sour cherry presence rues the day.

Sampled at an East Side Bottle Liberation Society tasting. This was black with a nice tan head. Big smoke in the nose along with wood. This stout is big and smoky with plenty of bourbon notes. It is very good.

This poured a dark brown color with a small tan head. Aroma was lots of bourbon opfront, with smokey peaty malt there too. Some light chocolate and coffee is barely there as well. Flavor was almost all bourbon and roast with light smokey oak. Decent/pretty good.

Bottle generously shared at the RBSG grand tasting. Pours the color of milk chocolate with thin khaki lacing. Aroma is richer as it warms of dark chocolate, bourbon, and applewood. Flavor starts with bourbon, then figs, and finally milk chocolate. Thin body but plenty of milk chocolate and bourbon in the finish. A nice milk chocolate-bourbon hybrid but not overly oaky.

14th June 2009
Opaque black beer. Light dry palate. After the joys of the Rum and Red Wine barrel versions this came as a rude shock. This is a sour beer. Not a bad thing by itself but there is not much else going on here. Where is the malt, the bourbon? Just a bare hint of barreling. More lambic than porter. Very dissapointing.

750 ml. bottle. A nice murky brown color. Bourbon comes through nice. A lot of lacto is present as this beer is tart.

08 bottle with BuckeyeSammy: pours muddy black with a fizzy, tan head. Peat, dank, Brett notes, charred wood on the nose. Light seltzer carbonation. Tart,Flemish sour notes. Medium finish. Distinctive porter for sure.

Looks like a glass of Pepsi. yeast settling on the bottom of my glass. Nice seltzery carbonation on the front end. sour notes throughout! So unique for a porter! More like a flemish sour than a porter. Bottle from 08’