Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter Winter Warmer

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

Batch 3 bottle thanks to dchmela. Thanks, Dave! Pours dark brown, getting a bit murky near the end of the bottle, with a light tan, slightly gray-tinted head. Confusing aromas of chocolate, slight berries/fruit, bourbon, and vanilla. As it warms, I warmed to it a bit, but not completely. Similar palate... a lot going on. Interesting for sure, but I never settled into it. Good but not great. One of the better "winter warmers" though, for sure.

Cool, vinous and complex beer with extreme red-wine notes. Has a good background of caramell, vanilla, fudge and chocolate though. Very drinkable with no sign of the ABV and absolutely lovely with some high quality cheese. Really luxurious brew that I would love to have at home, would love to lay it down for awhile longer.

Bottle from the Otown throwdown. Damn this is good shit!! Dark, dark brown pour with a good tan head. Aroma is bourbon up front and tons of dried frutis, berries, bready notes, yeast and some chocolate is evident too. Flavor is so nice. Bourbon mixed with some berries, caramel, chocolate, malt and vanilla. Holy crap this is a winner!!

Bottle (1pt., 9.4 oz.) Batch 1shared by shigadeyo. Pours a dark brown to black with garnet highlights and a medium sized beige head. The aroma has big dark fruits, raisins, bourbon, and dark malts with a hint of oxidation. The flavor has more dark fruitiness with a strong berry presence. Dark malts, bourbon, oak, vanilla, dark chocolate are also present. The alcohol is warming, but not up front in the flavor. Medium to medium-full bodied. This has held up pretty well and is still very tasty.

Rating #700 woo hoo! Bottle acquired in trade with Jabic. Huge thanks Jimmy for sending this my way! Batch 1. Pours deep brown, with a nearly black center. Beautiful, silky tan head and low-medium carbonation. Killer aroma that I can only best describe as blueberry pancake batter with light tones of apple and bourbon. There is also some light toffee, dark malt and Belgian yeast in the nose. Flavor is smooth, with prominent notes of chocolate, cocoa, berry, light licorice, biscuit and oak wood. Things come together very well in the finish, with a full-bodied palate and lingering bitter nuances of oak and whiskey. Alcohol is well-restrained, but warmth is noticeable. Almost a numbing mouthfeel. I would love to see how this stacks up against other batches. Very, very good.

Batch 3, from Secret Santa. Pretty feisty, over the top. Poured a very dark brown, opaque in the glass with a thin layer of fine foam. Aroma had a lot of dark malts, not quite roasty, and some dark fruit, a touch raisiny, plus quite a bit of oak and perhaps, if there’s any room left, a spongy bourbon vanilla. Flavor was dominated by the strong oaks and raisiny/vanilla sweetness, plus quite a bit of hot alcohol in the finish. Very tannic. Fine mouthfeel, soft and low carbonation. Neat components but there seems to be just to be too much, too tannic, too hot.

Pours cola brown with some creamy brown head. Lots of berry in the nose as it warms. A bit hot. A little wood, fruit, chocolate and booze. Full bodied and balanced in the finish. Thanks for sharing Stfun.

750ml bottle from MrChopin, big thanks Kevin. Very dark, thick red/brown with an off-white head. Sweet malty flavor, some vanilla and wood as well. Very smooth, more vanilla and a little bourbon. This was very tasty, wouldn’t mind a couple more.