Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold

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

Bottle sampled at the Ratebeer meet-up 01.27.08 at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. Beer courtesy of lukin013.

Hazy gold, white head. Aroma is funky, musty, wheaty. Flavor is the same with honey, kiwi, syrup.

750ml shared by jasonp - 2007 batch. Nose of fruit and ammonia is my first impression, but later on there’s more pillowy lemon zest and pine scented yeast, with a creamed banana yeast note that grows throughout the drink, released more and more with increasing temperature. Tastes of creamed banana, milk, coconut cream and tropical fruits, with a really lively and fresh citrus mango and pineapple hop flavor. Frothy, crisp, effervescent, with some sweet candy sugar and lemon drop candy flavor, along with milder wheat and a strange twang of sour pears. Overall a complex and unique beer, with a lot to like.

(750ml bottle, Batch 3, thanks jasonp) Cloudy apple juice body with small white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, herbal, grape, some mango, pineapple, berry. Taste is medium sweet, pineapple, grape, mango. Medium body, fairly smooth, alcohol well contained. I haven’t shared the enthusiasm for this brewery that seems to have caught the site by storm, but this is a quality beer, and easily my favorite of those I’ve tried.

Rerate. 750mL bottle, batch 1, courtesy of yobdoog. Thanks, dude! Pours a slightly hazy golden color with very fine particulates; fluffy, textured white head with gorgeous retention and lacing that sticks; a beautiful pour. The aroma on this is phenomenol: tons of honey, fruit, dough, and a fantastic yeast character; a slight bit of orange / tropical / citrus bitterness coming through, even now; reminiscent of a perfectly aged bottle of Dulle Teve; near-perfect. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: honey, bread, complex yeastiness, white pepper: so many excellent, dense tripel qualities coming through, but not basic dry and peppery: instead there’s the nice addition of plenty of well-integrated fruit (tropical & citrus, mostly); bananas; incredibly dense, layered feel; pleasant dryness; relaxed hoppiness compared to the batch 3 jasonp shared; less sticky and better integrated; this is potentially the best tripel I’ve ever had. Lengthy finish, showing plenty of dough and toasted malts; pleasant end. Good lord, Scott. 9.5.9.5.18=4.6

750mL bottle, batch 3, courtesy of jasonp. Thanks, Jason! Pours a bright, slightly hazy honey-golden color; solid white head with great retention and lacing; pretty pour. Pleasant resiny citrus and minerals and yeast in the aroma; quite fresh and dense. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: plenty of citrus and minerals and tropical fruits; very nice hop character over a dry, dense Belgian core: yeast, white pepper, and honey. Lengthy finish, showing citrus and honey and yeast; some zesty hops at the end. 8.4.8.4.15=3.9

750 ml bottle. Pours a hazy golden with amber notes and a large frothy lacing white head. Great looking Tripel. Aroma of green apples, various mixed citrus, vanilla, some American hops, Belgian yeast esters, candy sweet maltiness, tropical fruits Flavor of yeast, green apple, some earthiness, corriander, honey, peppery, orange peel, hops, dry and alcohol well hidden, tingly carbonation. I’m really diggin the whole working American hops into the Belgian Ales.

2006 Bottle. Hazy gold / straw pour with some white head. Aroma is citrusy, some sweet malt, sugar, and a little spice. The flavor is very balanced, so much that it’s hard to point to a dominating flavor. It’s a mix of sweet malt, sugar, a little earthy malt, spices, and citrus. It was good.

Bottle of the 2006 vintage courtesy of golubj. Poured a hazy gold color with smallish white head. Aroma of citrus, sweet sugar, bread and some spice. Flavor was similar. Not overly tasty with some fruit and citrus. Alcohol was well hidden. Pretty tasty beer; interested to see how the apple brandy barrel aged version would taste.

Bottled in 2005. Pours a hazy yellow with a large white diminishing head. Quite sweet. Some amarillo notes but none of that fresh amarillo aromas I love... Not that it should be expected in a bottle from 2005. Light alcohol notes but LOTS of honey wityh a hint of raisins. Medium to full bodied with a very lively carbonation. Dry finish. Quite interesting brew.