Captain Lawrence Golden Delicious

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

Bottle (750ml - green). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc, mabel and tupalev - my bottle via trade with puzzl. Murky-hazy orange with a smallish creamy off-white head. Aroma - lovely, strong - strong alcohol, sweet oak vanilla, definite brandy and apple, somewhat bitter in the background - soft, insistent and damn fine. Taste - up front huge alcohol, sweet booze and soft oak/vanilla - long boozy linger. Thick, softly acidic mouthfeel, not much carbonation but lovely bubbling in the bottle. Excellent, just excellent.

Many thanks to stine for sharing this treat. Hazy gold pour with oak, apple-jack/calvados, and vanilla on the nose. Excellent funky oak flavor with a spicy apple undercurrent.

Smells quite characteristically of apples as I am pouring this brew. It is well carbonated, even foaming a bit as soon as I pop the cap. The head is quite frothy, fairly large bubbled, initially three-fingers thick, but disappears fairly quickly and is a pale, off-white color. The beer is a deep copper color and shows a brilliantly clear, rich gold / polished copper color when held up to the light. A deeper inspection of the aroma yields a mix of flower-like cider and buttery oak aromatics. The buttery oak notes are quite noticeable and almost seem a bit like diacetyl. The aroma has a fleeting spiciness to it at times that seems to be a mix of apple nose, oak and fermentation character and makes me think of a rich, buttery, cinnamon apple desert. The aroma is not nearly as complex as I was expecting though; the Tripel character seems to have been lost somewhere along the way.

Lightly sweet up front, which accents some soft apple flavors. The body is quite thin for a beer of this strength, though some tannins seem to give this a touch of texture towards the finish. Light hop flavors are also noticeable up front (an herbal citrus mix) before the oak character kicks in and provides a mix of spicy oak note, buttery-oak notes and a bit of warming alcohol. The barrel character is not as overwhelming as one might expect, especially since it does seem to be the most notable part of this beer. The beer does start out quite smooth with flavors of the Tripel and apples, but then becomes sharper and more biting as the brandy and oak flavors kick in through to the finish. Toasty oak notes mix in with the apple and Tripel flavors up front, especially as the beer warms a bit.

Allowing this to warm up from the initial 50°F / 10°C temperature helps to soften the barrel character just a bit; though really it seems to bring out a bit more complexity up front, but the hot alcohol and sharp barrel notes still seem to overwhelm the finish. Up front I like the mix of clean apple flavors, soft citrus and lightly sweet grain character.

The finish is a bit too spicy and hot for this beer to be truly great, in fact it really can detract from the experience of this beer. Some age might help some, but it will be a race between oxidation and long lingering oak notes; if the barrel character can mellow before the base Tripel over oxidizes then this might end up really tasty, but it will take at least a year if not multiple years before this is evident. I really like the idea of this brew and hope that later releases of this brew show a better balance between Tripel and barrel character.

Bottle. Hazy yellow-orange pour with some white head. The aroma is spicy apples and brandy, yeast, and some fruit underneath. The flavor is similar, with the spicy / hot alcohol and apples dominating. The yeast is also still quite noticable, and I am hoping the flavors blend better over time.

750 ml bottle shared with toncatcher. Lots of bready woody notes on the nose of this golden yellow pour with a generous white head. Citrus and bright fruit aromas too. Flavors were lots of wood, brandy, some spice. Some apple and lots of alcohol on the finish. Very yummy.

Thanks to Stine for sharing. An usual beer. I am happy to see a non-bourbon barrel, the apple brandy is a good idea and not something I have had before. This is hot from alcohol. It has a very nice apple and yeast aroma, as if it is naturally fermented in barrels, almost like a lambic. The apple character is there in the aroma and flavor, some hint of brandy or even calvados.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, burnished gold body with a tiny white head. Smell: Spiced sliced apples and pears with brandy-bumped caramel and a pinch of pepper. Taste: Spiced pears, brandywine, and a splash of apple cider with a resounding sweetness and a hint of musky apple peelings. No real hop character coming through. Sharply warming alcohol presence throughout. Slight woodiness that grows into the boozey finish and lasts into the aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Moderate carbonation. Warming mouthfeel. Drinkability: A nice beer, it certainly brings new life to the tripel style. Bless them for that.

Thanks to the two people that sent this to me and to those that shared bottles at the Cleveland tasting. Pours cloudy straw colored with a decent white head. Aroma is brandy and oak, but brandy is overwhelming. Very hot alcohol flavor with some of the base beer coming through. A bit of wood as well. Palate is average. May need some time to mellow.