Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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Batch 2; Sampled November 2008
Pretty darn well carbonated, a careful pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip rises a full-two fingers above the rim of my glass, for a total of seven-fingers of height. The head is a nicely browned, dark tan color. The beer is a dark, concentrated amber / brown that approaches black in color and the beer is pretty opaque as not a hint of light passes through it when held up to the light. The aroma smells of roasted grain, a weird, fruity rum-like note (with a bit of plum in there) and perhaps a touch of funk (I sure hope not though as I had enough of the funk in batch 1). The aroma is significantly burnt, at times smelling like burnt plums, burnt whole grain toast and there is also a significant, though at first not noticed, phenolic smoke character to this beer. The smoke can come off as a burnt vegetal note at times, but does add a savory, almost salty character to the finish of the nose. A touch of spicy alcohol also seems to come from the Rum barrel, though the barrel influence in the aroma is somewhat subtle.

Lightly sweet, savory, a bit hot and this finishes with a smoky phenolic note that sort of turns into a vegetal & plastic like flavor in the long, lingering finish. The upfront sweetness in this seems contributed by rum (both the alcohol and a touch of fruitiness), this beer quickly dries out though as the beer flows across the tongue. This has a nice roast character to it with notes of burnt cocoa, a touch of burnt acidity, a roasted nut note, a chalky burnt grain husk note and a burnt graininess. This is fairly light bodied and, if not for the hot alcohol and phenolics, this would be down right quaffable. Other notes of tart plum / prune, a touch of white pepper, a touch of brown sugar, fig and perhaps just a hint of cola.

As the beer warms up it becomes a lot more drinkable and balance, it loses a bunch of the harsh alcohol and roast notes and just becomes a bit more enjoyable. An interesting beer, it still doesn’t quite work for me, but is much better than batch 1. I am a bit surprised how tame the Rum character is, with a 12 year old Rum, I would expect a lot of rich Rum character, but that is just not the case.

Bottle:   Deep cola, HUGE foamy beige head, almost to the point that I think this beer is infected because the bottle just ooozes foam.   Otherwise sticky lacing.   Tart nose, roasted malts, lactose sweetness, barrel aging... can’t really tell that this is Rum.   Very warming tho.   Spritzy on the tongue, and not infected as I thought based on the foam.   Minor campfire as well.   Tart, yet smokey.   Faint Rum aspects.   Its rather nice that its not dominating.   Woody for sure, but also a little lactic.   Could stand to be heavier/maltier.   Fairly airy... burp.   Dry finish.   Body and mouthfeel are full to moderate.   This is a Porter right?   Could almost pass as a dark Sour of sorts.   Definitely interesting.

Bottle shared by someone at freetail release. Pours black withba coffee brown head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma has notes of sweet dark grains with heavy notes of smoke and a hint of rum. Flavor begins with smoked dark grains with a bit of rum in the finish.

Bottle generously shared at the RBSG grand tasting. Pours like dark chocolate. Intense aroma of bacon and milk chocolate. The rum is more noticeable in the flavor but is initially harsh. Eventually softens behind lots of smoke and milk chocolate. Lingering charred wood quality. This one nailed the smoked aspect.

Dark brown, almost black pour. Sour funky aroma with hints of grape. Light hops. Some roast underneath. Harsh boozy flavor with tons of alcohol. Light tartness.

Dark brown, creamy beige head. Lots of malt and rum booze in the nose, faintly sour but not as much as the wine barrel. Flavor is harsh, burnt with heat, rum, light greeness, a bit of malt and sugar but overcome b the barrel. Balance is not achieved. Slight elements from each aspect but no depth, no finish.

Bottle courtesy of ryan, thanks very much! Not much nose, but a taste of generic white rum. A bit boring.

750mL courtesy of ryan. Loved the infected bourbon SFTO, but this was just not doing it for me. Giant carbonation creates a large, creamy head atop a hazy brown body. Aroma of red wine reduction, sherry, cocoa. Taste is cocoa powder, dark chocolate, hint of sherry, a little fruity, some caramel. Not sure if this was the infected batch or not because of the vinous character. Bit of a chalky and semi-tart palate- riveting carbonation.

75cl bottle, thanks ? Small tan head atop dark brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel, some vinous. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, some vinous, rum. Medium-full body, some acidity.

bottle, batch 1 pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is strong spiced rum, hot alcohol and wood. Flavor is spicy and hot. Smoked malt and bitter cocoa end with a hot spiced rum finish with faint hints of vanilla. This is the best treatment I’ve had so far.

Bottle. I forget which batch, reviewing from notes. Cap exploded off and beer and foam went everywhere. I’ve never had a beer overflow this much, like a geyser. Dark brown body with a tan head. Aroma is boozy, sweet, chocolate, and coffee. Taste is very bitter and coffee with no noticeable rum overtones. Flat carbonation which was surprising after the incident with the cap.