Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter Winter Warmer

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

Batch No. 1

1/21/2009: Nor’ Easter Winter Warmer has a nice, dark ruby-brown with a substantial, beige head. The aroma is slightly oxidized, but has a really nice dark fruit and raisin aroma. The flavor is great, but difficult to describe. It isn’t roasty, but has a unique dark fruitiness (black raspberry), is moderately sweet, and has a somewhat semi-sweet dark chocolateness to it. The finish is slightly dry with some light woody/oak characteristics and just a hint of vanilla. This beer has come together really well and is quite excellent. It definitely has a dark flavor with plenty of berry characteristics. There is also a good vanilla flavor. I really like this beer. It is quite unique and impressive. It only has a medium to medium-full body, but is still quite smooth and very drinkable.

1 pint, 9.4 fl. oz. capped bottle sent to me by hopdog and shared with Tmoney99 and alexsdad06. Thanks Steve! Rating #193 for this beer.

The aroma is of oak, bourbon, berries, malts. The bourbon comes through the strongest. The appearance is coca-cola brown, opaque, very thin tan head. The flavor is most strongly bourbon, definite notes from the oak, fruity sweetness, chocolate. As it warms, the bourbon yields to the other flavors a little more (I highly recommend this). Very thin mouthfeel, particularly for a winter warmer. The finish is bourbon leeched out of oak. It lingers for quite a while. Nice brew, not as good as I had expected.

750mL bottle, batch 2, courtesy of shaebs99, poured into a tulip. This one pours almost black with only hints of mahogany around the edges, with a one-finger creamy tan head that dissipates to a ring fairly quickly and leaves spotty lacing. The aroma really smells like bourbon soaked berries dipped in some chocolate. It all melds together very well, with the bourbon not too overpowering in the nose. Sweet dark chocolate and fruits dominate the front end of the taste, with the bourbon and oak presence really growing into a fairly dry finish. The bourbon leaves a definite burn on the back of the throat as it goes down. For a beer this dark and big, the mouthfeel was on the lighter side of things with less carbonation than I was expecting. This is really complex beer with all kinds of stuff going on, but it comes together as a whole really well. Good stuff!

I had this on tap last night after Brooklyn Black OPS and initially I thought the bartender poured me the wrong beer because they taste so similiar. In my opinion this beer is a Double/imperial Stout. This beer poured jet black with a 2 fingered head and tons of lacing. The smell was huge with toasted malts with a hint of barrel aged flavors. I was very suprised with the flavor because it had almost as much bourbon barrel flavor as Black OPS, and just like that beer it had a wonderful creamy malt base. The mouthfeel was nice and creamy and the carbonation level seemed spot on. For 11% a highly drinkable brew and I would suggest this to an Bourbon Barrel aged stout fans.

Bottle, courtesy Kevin. Pours a brown soda color, with thin wet braids of lacing and a thin head. Dark fruit and candy sugar pound the nose, with raisins, caramel, vanilla, bourbon, a touch of licorice and some heat in the end. Flavor is raisin and some chocolate, with caramel, banana, creamy lactose, slight tart aspect, and chewy berries. Creamy mouthfeel, delicious, with a near-perfect finish. Could put back a few gallons of these no problem.

Batch 2. This poured dark brown to black in color with a moderate light brown head that fades away. The nose is malt-dominated with aromas of milk chocolate and caramel toffee, red and dark berries, bourbon and vanilla. In the mouth it was medium-bodied with refreshing carbonation. It was rich and deep really building into a powerful midpalate with a long lingering fishish that does hint at the alcohol. While there is very nice carbonation in the midpalate, it also comes off as quite creamy. Very nice effort.

Batch 3. Sepia with a creamy white-tan head. Let this one warm up. Even when near room temp, nose is still very sweet, slightly fruity, creamy bourbon, almost tequila, some brown sugar and alcohol, but the subtlety is all buried under the bourbon. The flavor is where the warmth matters, the bourbon pulling back to reveal lots of wood, brown sugar, and alcohol. Very watery palate, long finish in bourbon and wood. Maybe I had a bad bottle, but this was beastly, the better qualities lost in the murky barrel. Older Viscosity absolutely demolishes this.

Bottle. Dark brown blackish color. Flavor is roasted malt, raisin, brown sugar, and bourbon barrel. Medium bodied. A bit chewy and thick on the palate. Finish is dry and warming, with notes of alcohol. Solid strong ale.