Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold

Brewed by Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Pleasantville, New York USA

Bottle courtesy of Beerlando: Poured a deep golden and lightly hazy color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of Amarillo hops with a medium sweet malt base with some light fruity ester. Taste is also dominated by some light fruity ester with some medium-sweet malt base and a hoppy finish which kind of detract from the fine mal base. Full body with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Interesting and different take from the classic Belgian style but in the end the finish is too dry and hoppy to raise this beer to classic level.

From a 750mL Bottle. Courtesy of CharlesDarwin. Thank, Tom! Pours a mostly transparent, ripened banana gold color with a thick head of fizzy white. Fruity banana, papaya, and pear yeast esters with a hint of confectioner’s sugar. There’s a nice bready malt base that is livened up by some doughy yeast. Restrained citrusy hop resin, along with something lighter, perhaps a kiss of lemon zest. Light bodied, heavily carbonated mouthfeel with a prickling effervescence. Flavors of mild black pepper phenols up front on the palate, along with some honey malt. The hops come out mid-palate, combining with the yeast notes to create an almost funky lemon character. Candied orange, biscuit, and dusty pineapple rind. This tastes like it has a touch of brett in it, but it’s very subtle, and if it actually is brett, it’s adding a nice layer of complexity to the brew. The Amarillo hops come out boldly in the finish, leaving a lemon citrus bitterness lingering in the finish with some warming alcohols.

This poured deep golden to orange in color with a thick head. While it did not gush, pouring really accelerated the bubbles. The nose is filled with green apples, pineapple, yeast, honey, spice and some rock candy. In the mouth it was medium-bodied with a great balance of crispness, made more apparent from the carbonation, and a supple richness. There was a touch of alcohol noticable which is really my only complaint here.

I don’t generally care for tripels, but I found this incredibly enjoyable, and I’d love to pick this up again! Lightly hazed yellow golden with a thin white head. Dry estery fruit with some peppery saaz style hops maybe? (I’m not terribly surprised to see Amarillo listed, here, but I didn’t expect that!) Subdued carbonation, average body. Sweet fruity alcohol over peppery hopps. Saaz sort of pepper? Lingering astringency, alcohol. Dry, very refreshing. Comes off a lot like a drier European strong lager. Very nice indeed.

Courtesy of Dickensonbeer, 750ml Bottle. Pours a hazy golden color with a small white head. Nose is fruity, apples, pear, yeast, and mild spices. Initial taste is yeasty, lots of pear and Macintosh apples. Mid palate to finish displays a touch spices, medium hop bitterness and candi sugar. Good palate duration. Some spot lacing and good head retention. Medium body. Easy drinking, refreshing and enjoyable.

Bottle. Another solid beer from CL. Pours a mild golden body with a light head. Aroma is fruity, apple, pears, sweet wine. Some hop bitterness slips out and some oak as well. Good bitter hop character some sweet citrus and some abv, yeast and spices.

hazy yellow pour, big thick white head. Aroma of apples, pears, oranges, and yeast. Flavour is yeasty, and quite hoppy. Lots of citrus, and apples. Very very crisp finish, nice lingering bitterness. Excellent tripel.

2008-05-31. Gushed out of the bottle, eager to reach my glass. Hazy yellow body with a modest creamy white head. (3+) Aroma is a touch muted, mild yeast, touch of alcohol, muted fruit and pale malt (7+). Flavour is surprisingly subtle and smooth, light fruit, sweet pale malt, light bitterness in the finish. Smooth average palate suits it nicely. Very drinkable. Much more delicate than expected, perhaps owing to it having some time to meditate and find itself in the bottle? Just really nice. 2006 Vintage Bottle, Post-Mondial Tasting, Montreal