Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter Winter Warmer

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

Bottle shared by Marcus. Aromas of plum, berry & other dark fruit. Opaque brown/black color with a tan ring. Vinous, woody, dark fruity, malty with a touch of coffee. The finish is vinous, and darkly fruity. No real heat at all. Arguably one of the better ales in our world.

This black ale poured with a thin tan head that dissipated quickly. There is a fruity and malty aroma. The flavor is very thick, with notes of berries, chocolate and coffee, and a a bourbon finish. The alcohol is well-disguised.

Batch #2, 750 ml bottle from my good friend Rusty Kuntz (not his real name). The pour is deep mahogany with 2-fingers of brown head and great lacing. This one looks great. The nose is amazingly complex, a smattering of elderberries, scotchy malt, cherries, oaky bourbon, spicy yeast, brown sugar, cabernet. I smelled this one for a good long time. The taste is fruity, starting off almost like a fine blackberry merlot, yet evolving over time to introduce more oaky spirity and holiday spicy and yeasty notes. This one never got hot for me, and I was amazed at how many flavors and aromas this threw at me, all the while remaining in perfect balance. This is indubitably one of the best beers I have ever had.

1 pint draught, Barcode. Dark brownish black colour. Next to no head. Only some beige bubbles around the edges. Distant notes of raisins. Sweet flavours. Quite bitter with some drying hops. Roasted malts. Low carbonation level. Smooth roasted malt flavours towards the finish.

Shared w/therealbastard: Pours deep purple/black with maroon head. Aromas of alcohol,berries,and malt. Flavors of strong alcohol, sweet malt, and tart fruit. Bad flavors imo and I didn’t enjoy this at all.

Thanks hophead75. Pours a dark brown ruby with a one to two finger creamy tan head. The aroma is bourbon, malty, sweet, raisins, fruit, nutmeg, vanilla. The flavor is warm, fruity, vanilla, bourbon, spicy, very nice barrel aging. The palate has a very nice carbonation and finishes warm. Fantastic beer.

This one was very close to being exceptional. Pours a black with a amber/purple hue, with a think head and thin lacing. Just to get my complaint out of the way, too much bourbon. It detracted from the flavor somewhat, but did so without overpowering (which was a plus). The flavor (minus the bourbon) was EXCEPTIONAL. I loved the taste of elderberries here. I used to make elderberry wine, and it was very nice to see someone using them for beer. Very malty, dark, complex. Dark fuits swirl around the tastebuds...mmmm. Like it says, sip this one, it makes all the difference. A very very nice warmer!

Batch one bottle courtesy of JB175. Pour is dark brown with redish highlights. Very small off white head. aroma is malty, leather, wood, dark fruits and booze. Pretty good start. Flavor is a little hot with fruity sweetness and strong malts backing. Definately has the wood showing. Pretty dry. I need to re- visit this beer because it seemed a lot was going on.