Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Bourbon Barrel)

Brewed by Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Pleasantville, New York USA

bottle (batch 1)....sampled at an Evening w/ Pantanap #3....poured a dark brown with some reddish hues on the edges. light brown head to top it off....coconut, vanilla, and bourbon notes make up the nose along with some fruity esthers (which were more prominent in the rum)....flavors of light smoke, some bourbon with an ashy finish. mouthfeel was a little thin and could have been a little more robust.....i enjoyed this just a little more than the rum but was still a bit disappointed overall.

750ml, batch 1, sampled at "An evening with Pantanap #3". thanks to our gracious host for the sample. We sampled this next to the rum version. Pours a dark brown with a tan head. Bourbon malts in the nose. Chocolate and roast coming through. This one actually tastes like a porter with the roasted malts, bourbon, and bitter chocolate. Not great but they balance each other out well. As we were finishing this up and this became warmer it developed a strange sourness. Hmm.... Decent overall though.

750ml bottle. sampled at "An evening with Pantanap #3". thanks to kan for this. sampled nex to rum barrel version. pours dark brown with tan head. nose is big bourbon with nice coconut, oak, and chocolate. flavor has bourbon, sharp wood, some smoke, meaty. body is a tad thin, decent, as i drink it becomes a bit sour too.

Bottle courtesy of golubj. Poured a dark brown with a medium to large, light brown, fizzy head. Aroma had bourbon, a lot of sourness, roasted malt, and chocolate. Flavor was a lot more sour than I expected; however, I warmed up to it a bit. Besides the oaky, sour component there was a good balance of roasted malt and bourbon. Some chocolate and vanilla as well. As mentioned, it was sour, but a little bit of sweetness. A little disappointed overall with this. I’m not sure if the underlying beer stood up well enough against the aging. That being said, it wasn’t bad; I just had a little bit higher expectations.

Thanks to tronraner for sharing this one at decaturstevo’s tasting. Deep, dark mahogany pour, big off-white head. The aroma is big and fruity with lots of dark dried fruits. Along comes some smoke and an acidic touch. The flavor is as complex as the aroma, and follows it pretty much. The hops come in at the finish with some bitterness that is almost lost to the slightly sour, wine like finish. Interesting, and very well done.

In short: Unclassifiable woody (barrel), roasted. chocolaty, sour and somewhat funky beer. Smooth and highly complex. Unreal.
How: Bottle 750ml, batch 1, about 6 months old. HUGE thanks to Dave (dmac621) for this one.
The look: Very dark burgundy body with a large tan head with medium retention
In long: Lots and lots of barrel with some oak sourness. The roastiness blends in with the barrel for a roasted wood sensation. Lots of chocolate. And lets not forget the funkiness that approaches Brettanomyces. Fruity notes limited to a light plums and grapes presence. Finish has some ice-cream, more wood and ashes. Despite the wide flavour spectrum (funkiness, sourness, chocolate, wood, etc.) the beer is not intense at all and let itself drink like a session-beer. Soft body and soft carbonation. This stuff is way out there. At time it felt like a chocolaty Flemish Sour and at other times it felt as a Jolly Pumpkin Porter (which doesn’t exist). This thing is unreal. Any more “out there” and it would only be available exclusively in a parallel universe.

Shared by Stine. I appreciate the opportunity to try this rare beer. Lightly sour, but good sour, yeast flavor. The bourbon is there in the aroma and flavor, but it is mild, like bourbon should be when it is in beer. Some sweet malt and light coffee. Exceptionally well balanced, rich, and very smooth on the palate.

750 ml bottle shared with Padrefan98 at the Red Poppy Relase. Smokey aromas off this dark dark pour with nice tan head. More aromas of wood and oak. Flavors were similar with chocolate and more bourbon. Very Nice.