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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Batch 2; Sampled May 2008
I knew this might be a gusher and I still lost a couple ounces to my counter and sing. A soft pour still produces four-fingers of head in my glass plus another two fingers above the rim. The head is a tight, creamed-chocolate, tan color and the beer is a dark-chocolate brown / black color that is quite opaque even when held up to the light. As I pour this brew a nice wine-influenced aroma wafts to my nose. A deeper inspection yields ample Brettanomyces influence with notes of sweat, musty horse-blanket notes, butyric acid and a sharp-yet-light tartness. Underneath the more dominant funkiness is are some porter notes of toasted grain, lightly roasted coffee beans and if you smell the beer in a sideways sort of fashion (figuratively of course) there is a substantial, bright berry like wine character, a touch of jam and some leather and tobacco notes to this beer. The smoked malt aromatics have almost completely been subsumed by the other aromas, but there is perhaps a touch of saltiness here that could be attributed to it.

Lightly sweet tasting up front with a middle that has a nice berry-like wine character to it that just barely makes its presence known. A lot of the carbonation was lost during the initial gushing and in the 5+ minutes it has sat in my glass, it is still well carbonated though and this combines with a fairly light body to make this pretty easy drinking. The funk is a bit more muted in the flavor than in the aroma, but the Brett influence definitely comes out in the finish; musty, light notes of phenolic soaked cotton balls, butyric acid notes, some acidity that accentuates the wine character and a woody mushroom note. This finishes with a mix of fruit-driven wine flavors, and some porter flavors of toasted grain, roasted malts, toasted bread-like flavors and a touch of burnt grain bitterness. The actual oak contribution here is soft; there is some spicy oak character towards the finish, and a touch of tannic character seems to influence the texture, but it remains a supporting cast member here, which I quite like.

My second pour still has an incredible level of carbonation, this makes me realize how velvety the texture of this beer really is. Despite being very well carbonated the beer feels quite smooth and velvet-like all while foaming up as it crosses the tongue; quite an interesting textural experience that I don’t believe I have ever experienced in a beer before. I can’t taste any smokiness in this brew at all & I wonder if he left the smoke malt out of this brew completely.

This is by far my favorite of the from the oak beers so far. This doesn’t have any heavy-handed hard liquor competing with the funkiness that I really found jarring in the other two versions of this I have had. Instead the wine barrel influence works quite well with both the Brettanomyces and the base porter. I really like the fruit notes that the wine barrel aging have added to this beer, it is nothing heavy, but most certainly a welcome addition to up the complexity of this brew. Sans the slight wine influence, this is exactly as I would imagine an old, pre 1900s, unblended, stale porter would have been like (sans the modern malt formulation of course). This is just a great marriage of funkiness & barrel influence with porter. If it wasn’t so explosive already I would love to age some more of this. I definitely came into this with a bit of skepticism, but this has delivered and I am quite happy with this brew; this makes me really want to try the Port-Barrel version.

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.