Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Wine 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: JUL 8, 2008 750mL bottle @ Blind Tiger poured into a tulip glass. Well, I don’t know what the rest of you drank but this was definitely a Brett bomb. That signature sour cherry Brett was all over this. It felt like a fresh Heavyweight Ste-ve mixed with a heavy porter/light stout. There was a good thick body and a nice roastiness behind all this. In the taste I even felt a bit of smoke (which has been missing from this beer for a while now). Slightly under-carbonated with a heavy body adds to a monumental mouthfeel. Even though it seems like the brett was a mistake it makes for a crazy beer adventure.8/4/7/4/15.

Re-rate - Batch 2. Knowing the gushing power of this beer it sat in the fridge for 2 weeks. Then carefully it was popped open over a sink into a large Regenboog tulip. Then to play it safe into another glass. With maybe an inch of beer left in the bottle the foam rose twice the length. But I did a fine job (hooray me!). I was anxious to give this another shot since I thought I was a bit hurried in my first review. Which made perfect sense with my first sniff and taste because I was blown back by the audacity of this beer. This was an overbearing and over-carbonated, everything-thats-wrong-with-US-brewers bad. I mean I was thinking of dumping this. It was a mix of strong paint thinner brett, it was shooting into my nostrils, there were crazy tannins and lots of overly sweet chocolate. My first though was this was going down to like a 3. Luckily, I put this down and went to the bathroom. I came back and decided I will begin to bash this beer. Luckily, like a fine wine this breathed and mellowed. I guess the barrels have a way of doing that. Aroma was not the strongest aspect, I still get lots of roastiness and a slightly cheap/paint thinner brettiness. I don’t think they meld well together but just the union of such disparate items is cool enough (especially for a young American brewer). Taste is where the beer shines. The brett presents in sparkling wildness and lots of young fruit/cherry flavors. It dissipates quickly on the tongue and leaves a light sweet, faint tobacco porter roast. With some seltzer in the finish and you get a lovely drink easy for quaffing.7/4/8/4/16

Beer Selection of the Week #1 from the cellar. This is batch 3 aged 3 years I believe. I decided to review this one after losing faith in the SFTO series when I had the batch 4 last year and completely hated it. Batch 3 is superb. Gusher warning alert! SFTO’s are notorious for gushers and sure enough super carbonation insues. After the gushing it pours out a silky black body with a light coffee head. The aroma right off the bat is vastly improved. I can smell the acidity rip hard, along with cocoa, and a yeasty wild sour edge that screams Captain Lawrence. The palate is very balanced, but what I feared was a harsh acidic finish, with no flavor up front. Instead I get a rich cocoa up front with a slight lacking in the middle, almost fluffy from too much carbonation. Easy finish and you can tell this one doesn’t have the ABV that maybe it should. If i were to rate the previous one I had, it would have been maybe a 6 or 7. Faith renewed.

Another great beer by Capt Lawrence. I have never had a beer quite like this. The smoke is a player rather than dominating the whole brew. Strong astringent acidity and dark fruit/winey flavors. Delicious.

750 ml bottle, batch #4, thanks to Cletus.
A: dominate funk, roasted/slight smoke,cherry/stone fruits, hints of mint
T: tart up front, light smoke finish
A very interesting beer. I have heard of the significant inconsistencies in bottles and had that proven tonight. We got a good bottle.

750mL thanks to ryan. Small gusher. The pour is deep, blackish with an overcarbonated, massive brown head. Nose is more muddy than the Apple Brandy version. Less tight with olive brine, chemicals, plastic, licorice, and pepper in the nose. Weird Brett off-characters perhaps and mild acetone. Very strange. Volatile notes move aside for flowers and lavender and muted red wine. Even gets more complex sort of akin to Oerbier Reserva with red wine barrel with lemon, funk, and spice. Less red wine profile than the Apple Brandy version though. Taste is roasty, caramel, brine, some chalk, nutmeg and spice. Toasty. Very strange little beer.

Tasted in mid-August 2011 from a capped 750mL bottle obtained in a trade, Batch 4. This massive gusher pours a nearly black dark brown with a massive, rocky tan head that slowly recedes to rocky lace, leaving thick lace along the inside of the glass. The nose is features some cinnamon and clove spices, indicative of the oak, with molasses, dark chocolate, roasted malt, a hint of smoke, and a bit of sour apple aroma underlying. The flavor is a bit more sour apple and cherry with all of the dark chocolate and roasted notes, with the oak and the smoke finishing everything off. The body is medium with average carbonation and a long, sour, spiced oak, and smokey finish.

Bottle shared by someone at freetail release. Pours black with a lasting coffee brown head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma is an interesting combination of roasted malt, smoke and dry wine. Flavor is dominated by smoke with some roasted malt and a bit of a dry finish.

There is an add on label on the bottle warning that the contents are under pressure. This is no joke, the cork shot halfway across the room. this is a very heady brew that pours with a fizzy whit head that lingers and as it fades leaves a heavy lacing. Smoky as and tart notes in the nose and taste. A very unique brew that was enjoyed by all at the party.

bottle at 5k tasting - sour and smokey, some brine. roasted chocolate malts, smooth with some subtle carbonation. Grapey fruit, earthy weediness, oak and fruit in the finish.

Bottle sample. Dark brown pour, plenty of carbonation and an aroma of malt and a tiny amount of smoke. Flavor is light effervescent sour wood, some smoke and finished light. Very good, but didn’t get much wine out of this bottle.

Pours hazy brownish black with off white head, aroma has notes of medicinal grape sour, with some slight dark fruit, smoke, touch of roast. Taste is very grape forward with notes of medicine, alcohol, touch of smoke and roast with a dry, vinous finish. Very interesting. Once was enough, but it was tasty.