Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Bottle, batch 2. Pours a dark brown with a super thick tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, oak, and a slight tartness. The tartness really picks up in the flavor leaving behind only a background of roasted malt and maybe a touch of bourbon. My tastebuds are quite sensitive to bourbon and even they didn’t really pick up much. I haven’t been able to figure out if this bottle was intentionally or unintentionally infected with lacto. Either way, it didn’t do much for the beer. The tartness/sourness and roasted porter notes did not mesh well together. Similar to the SftO Wine, this was just an odd beer. 7/4/6/3/14 (3.4/5)

Bouteille de 750 ml partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez MartinT. Arôme: Légère odeur de fumée et de chocolat. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un moyen col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût de fumée, de petits fruits et de vanille. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. (Rating #2192)

Courtesy dchmela, thanks Dave. Pours a dark brown brown almost cola colored body with a small tan head that slowly fades to a thin film on top. THe aroma shows notes of dark chocolate, dark fruits, oak, vanilla, and some sour mash. The flavor follows with more chocolate covered vinous fruits, some smoke, vanilla, and some sour yeastfrom the barrel. Medium bodied with nice carbonation and a very smooth and creamy mouthfeel. The bourbon barrel reallys gives this some nice flavor profiles. A really well done and complex porter.

750ml in tulip. Black with lasting brown head and some lace. Acidic tart fruit wood and chocolate smoke and faint bourbon aroma. Mild smoke and chocolate with lots of acidic tartness and faint bourbon and wood. I guess it’s a novelty, but just give me the regular smoked porter.

Bottles in trade from JB185, and dmac. Thanks! Pours a rich dark brown to black with a fizzy lasting tan head. Smell is lightly smoky chocolate and some smooth mild sweet bourbon. Pretty nice. Taste is a bit tart along with some dry cocoa and cherry flavors. Kind of a chalky, powdery finish to the flavor, and a pretty high carbonation level. Not undrinkably high, but this is definitely overcarbonated. Finishes with a strange flavor that I can’t quite place on smokiness or bourbon or anything in particular. Can’t really pick out bourbon in the flavor, nor smoke actually. Just a tartness that makes me think it would have been aged in wine barrels...Unless the tartness is infection. Who knows.

750 ml bottle into tulip. Rating from Oct. 2007. Thanks to whoever brought this to our hotel room tasting during GABF of that year (I think either Captain Cougar or goldtwins, but I don’t remember). Smells: acid, oakey alcohol, and apple. In the mouth: a smooth background of powdered chocolate, kind of chalky texture. Oak woodiness is throughout, as well as an oily hop flavor (which is probably a result of the hops blending with the bourbon). Hop oil dominates the finish with smoke coming only late and tickling the top of the tongue.

750 ml bottle, batch 1, via trade - I didnt take any notes, so this is going to be short and sweet. This beer tasted, smelled, and looked like the Rum barrel SftO. I had high hopes for this one. I just didnt get the smokiness and bourbon I was looking for. Tasted a little off too, oxidation. I think this beer is probably best drank fresh.

Pours darkest brown with a minimal head. Super sour and smoky aroma with some coffee and sweetness. Flavor is incredibly sour and not much else. Not terribly pleasant.