Captain Lawrence Barrel Select #1

Brewed by Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Pleasantville, New York USA

Cask at EBF Session 1. Brown in color with some red highlights. Taste has some sour cherry, mild to moderate vinegar, with some caramel and earth. Taste is lightly oaky, and has some mild funk, moderate acetic sourness, caramel/crystal malts. This was pretty good.

750ml growler shared by goldtwins (thanks, Larry!) - completely still, hazy dark red beer - smells quite sweet for a sour, with cherry, dough, cognac, notes of damp wood - a lot of red wine vinegar in the flavor, oak, light funkiness - a little grain and grape character in the finish, followed by a little of the cognac sweetness from the aroma - compared to his other sours, this is lacking, so it’s good that he’s planning to blend this.

Growler: Pours a brown ruby- a bit murky looking. Lactic aroma with vingary balsamic character. There’s some underlying malt sweetness- crystal, nutty notes. As it warms some tart raspberry character is present. Sharp acidic body. Nice and low pH. Vinegary flavor with a light malt nuttiness underneath which fades as it warms. More balsamic/acetic character develops giving off passion fruit-like hints. The bacteria is present, but the earthiness/horsey character (brett) is lacking. Still pretty solid. Time will improve this stuff.

750ml bottle growler, courtesy GodOfThunder. Pours a very lightly hazy, ruby-orange amber color. A small, bubby, off-white head gathers at the surface, leaving a sudsy wash to mostly rejoin the body. The nose is sweet and sour, sort of vinegary, with notes of cherry steeped in fresh, vanilla laden oak. Flavors follow suit, balsamic acidity clashing with big-time, almost obtrusive oak, with sweet-tart cherries offerring a vinous character. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated, and very lightly syrupy with a bit of a sticky finish. This one is a bit of a letdown. Doesn’t seem possible that this is the same brewery that produced the magic that was Cuvee de Castleton.

From a growler from Bellport shared by Peter. After first popping the growler this was a bit questionable but it has definitely opened up and is quite nice now. Mostly flat in pour but there is still a touch of carbonation in the body which works well. Dark ruby brown, actually a beautiful color. Aroma is very nutty, mildly tart, lots of foliage but actually really lacking in aroma. The taste is great, peanuty tart up front leading into a thick, vinegary La Folie like finish. Very drinkable, a really solid effort.

In short: A toasted, malty and fruity amber ale with a medium acidic/sour finish. Decent.
How: Cask at Boston Extreme Beer Fest 2009
The look: Clear amber body topped by a very small beige ring of foam
In long: Unusual toasted sweet malt backbone for a so-called Sour Ale. Toasted baguette crust dipped in caramel. Rather fruity with red grapes, berries, cherries and such. Some oak. Despite me noting many flavour elements the beer was low on taste, not bland, but just not very flavourful. Very smooth except for the finish with its short but sharp acidic and sour bite. A nice beer for sure but below average for a Captain Lawrence Sour Ale. Call it an intuition, a sixth sense, a premonition, whatever… but something tells me there will be more Barrel Select beers from Captain Lawrence.

Growler filled at Bellport Cold Beer & Soda. Pours a hazy dark brown with a few reddish amber highlights when held against the sun with a thin, bubbled head that quickly and completely disappears. Pleasant aroma of cherry with some tart notes along with some mild oak. Very flavorful with lots of sour cherry, but the sourness is not overdone. Tart and bright would be my best description. Granny Smith apple, malt, and some earthy oak are also present in the flavor. Well rounded in the mouth. I have to agree with Paul, this will be a nice, solid base beer for Scott to use.

Growler from Bellport Beer&Soda. Pours a mahogany brown with no head. Aroma of lacto and sweettart candies. Flavor is rather sour with some oak notes and toasted malt in the finish. Puckeringly sour and difficult to get through. Certainly not a beer to have a whole pint of, but it’s pretty good in small samples. On its own it leaves something to be desired, but I’ll be interested to see what Scott ultimately decides to do with this. 7/4/7/3/14 (3.5/5)