Captain Lawrence Golden Delicious

Formerly brewed at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Pleasantville, New York USA

My Bottom Line:
The stark wooden barrel character seems to increase the already frank alcohol presence in this raw and flavorful sipper where spicy hops and sweet apple fruitiness fly all about in an enjoyable display of ambition.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is barely any head to garnish the misty blond. A disgusting yeast blob plunked into one of our glasses when serving. Ugh.
-Carbonation is detached from the flavor profile, pulsing its big bubbles in the weird directions.
-The finish is rather dry, yet doesn’t have enough character to be memorable, imho.
-Those huge chunks of yeast could not be avoided.
-I have come to expect more from any Captain Lawrence release, so I have to say I was a tad disappointed by this one.

Bottle.

750ml Recieved in a trade a while back from EriktheRed, thanks a lot Erik! Golden Delicious pours a deep golden with hints of orange. Large carbonation bubbles rise from everywhere through the slightly hazed liquid. The head grew to one and a half fingers of cean white frothiness. Eventually fell to a finger and was supported by the massive amounts of carbonation. The smell is loaded with juicy apple brandy and oak. A touch of vanilla and some sweet candied apple throughout although nuted. This definately smells good but I can’t pull much, if any, tripel out of the glass. The barrel aging is certainly evident though. This beer will warm you up right off the bat. There isn’t much tripel in the flavor either. Freshly picked and squeezed apples up front, well, throughout actually with a juicy sweetness on the swallow. Oak and vanilla sway in and out of the fray. The alcohol isn’t all that noticeable until after the swallow. The whole gullet warms when it hits the belly. Again, not much of a tripel but good none the less. The mouthfeel is the best part of this beer. It’s all toghether light and effervescent to the point of being velvety but still moving quickly. A snifter of this in a sitting is enough for me, maybe two. That’s the most I could handle at a time. Two snifters would be pushing it though. An interesting idea from Captain Lawrence. One I was anxiously awaiting the release of. Golden Delicious is good but I think the barrel aging was overdone. I have another bottle I’m going to give a year or two. Maybe that’ll help mellow things out. 4/19/08

Big thanks to the STL crew for sharing this brew. Pours hazy amber with suspended floaties and a white head. The aroma is a nice mix of liquor and beer with neither overwhelming the other. There is brandy, coconut, apples, light cinnamon and dry-tripel malt. Medium smooth body that’s very clean with sharp, but gentle, carbonation. The flavor begins with pale tripel malt, apple brandy, light vanilla, some abv and sour apples. The finish is hot, but nice. A bit of age should do wonders for this one. It is too hot now, but with some time I’m betting this will be wonderful.

750ml bottle from Brent and served in my NB Worthy glass: Deep golden hue with a fizzy head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of apple brandy and fusel alcohol, herbal hops, light allspice and pepper, woody, vinous and a tad medicinal. The taste pretty much follows suit with big apple notes and alcohol in your face. There are some Belgian yeast notes in midsection before wandering off towards a vanilla, oak and hop spice finish. The mouth feel is aggressive and lively, very warming and moderately dry.

WOW, this beer is hot and takes no prisoners. Need to get another bottle and let age for 2 years minimal. FYI, no gusher here but then again my bottle as been kept still for over a month.

Bottle courtesy of theisti, via beastiefan2k. After an opening that resembles a volcanic lava flow, it pours a dingy amber-orange with a loose, fluffy, white head. There is a ton of "crud" in this one which gradually settles at the bottom of the glass. The nose is of perfume and woody apple brandy barrel; yeasty tripel notes hide in the background. Medium-bodied with soft, fine carbonation, it transitions to a mildly dry alcohol finish. The flavor is of yeasty apples, alcohol and wood. It finishes with a dry, lingering apple and alcohol warmth. Hotter than Xtra Gold, I enjoy this one and prefer its softer mouthfeel to that of its base beer. Thanks for sharing this one with me, Tim.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, jerc, mabel & tupalev - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Reddish-golden with a few floaties and a small head. Very active body, lotsa bubbles whipping around in the glass. Aroma - wow! - apples, spice (cinnamon, nutmeg), booze (brandy), oak - very warm, very good. Medium bodied with a lot of fizz. Flavour of apples and wood, spice and yeast, definitely some booze, but I didn’t find it nearly as hot as some of the other folks at the tasting. I really, really liked this.

Served too cold, initially, at 45 deg in Expedition snifter. Very spritzy, champagne-like. Intense apple presence, cidery at first. Good bit of alcohol burn; this is hot no question. The aroma smells strongly of alcohol, too.

As the beer warms there become a bread pudding flavor, in a slightly thickening body. As it warms further, buttery apple cake comes through in the aroma. The flavor is becoming a smidgeon grainy, with anise.

Still developing -- more later. Tentative early rating: Thanks to hophead75.

Prediction: this beer will age into a weird thin beer, like Matilda - bretty and wild, effervescent so it’ll blow the top off, CRAZY!

750 ml bottle from beastiefan2k. Pour is a gusher - hazy golden with floating particulates with a billowing white head that falls fast. Very fine carbonation is visible. Aroma of Brandy booziness, with floral-citrus hops. Lots of apple on the nose. Taste is very sharp on the apple Brandy initially, falling quickly into more traditional Tripel flavors - fruit (apple) sweetness with grassy Belgian yeastiness. Pretty boozy on the finish. Really cool concept that was well executed, just too much Brandy and apple for me. Thanks for sending this one my way Eugene!