Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

Bottle courtesy of goldtwins. Thanks for the bottles Larry. Pours black with a thin, tan skin of bubbles at the surface. The nose is horrible at first, smelling very much like wood stain. After it has a few minutes to "air out", however, it improves a bit: woody, caramel-rum, a touch of smoke, coffee and light chocolate. Light-bodied with fine, assertive carbonation and a mildly sour finish. Sweet, fruity and woody with a touch of smoke and light rum cask. This beer is all over the place and isn’t nearly as good as I’d hoped it would be.

750ml Batch 1 bottle, with mucho Thank You’s to Greg (Gregis) for sharing! Pours a dark brown with a fizzy tan head that maintains a thin covering, some sheets of lacing. Aroma is smoke, some spicy rum, and molasses. Flavor is more of the same, with more spicy rum that does not integrate well into the overall beer. A bit flat and both the nose and flavor are a somewhat disjointed. A nice effort, but didn’t seem to come together and work very well for me. Thanks again Greg!

750ml bottle. Gregis very generous. Roast, brown sugar, oak, dark fruits. Dark color. Roast, dark chocolate, ash, oak, light booze. The alcohol is neither hot, harsh, or in the way.

Sampled at Hellbilly’s Hellraiser II. 750ml bottle courtesy of Bockyhorsey. First in a three beer vertical. Pours an opaque brown with little head. Nose is smokey rum, dark fruits and brown sugar. Palate is much the same with a very rummy finish. Decent beer. Thanks Bill.

Batch #1 - 750 ml bottle courtesy of a trade with goldtwins. Pours black with a moderate tan head that lasted until the end and left partial lace. Very pleasant aroma of oak, light smoke, rum and caramel. The flavor is almost completely dominated by the rum, which is quite strong. Some notes of oak and caramel are also present, but are much more in the background. I was surprised to see the abv was only 6.4% on this beer, becuase there is quite alot of heat at the finish. A fun, different, and enjoyable beer.

Sampled at hellbillys hellraiser II. Bottle courtesy of bockyhorsey. Pours a hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma of smoke, porter, fruits, rum, yeast. Flavor is smoke, bourbon, porter, fruits, yeast, molasses. Very nicely done. Thanks Bill

Thanks to Stine for sharing. A black colored beer with lots of carbonation out of Eben’s 750 ml. There is an aroma of brett-yeast, and some malt. I wasn’t sure what style I was drinking and I thought this was much higher in alcohol than it actually is. Just a little rum as well as oak and more yeast, that creates a very dry beer. Medium on the palate and a finish with dry, lightly roasted malt. A very nice beer, and it is great to see an unusual barrel rather than the standard bourbon.

I received this 750 ml. bomber from Eyedrinkale as part of the BIF Race 2008. The warning about a gusher in one of the previous reviews was on my mind as I opened the bomber, and sure enough quick hand work was needed to prevent a full eruption onto the desk. Hell as I poured the beer and set the bomber down, foam kept building up and filled all of the headspace and started oozing out. That’s a carbon footprint Al Gore surely would not approve of. The beer itself looked very black in the tulip, and the foam atop it died down to some serious lacing that formed legs. The smell was oak and a lot of it. I am a fan of barrel aging in general, but the woodiness was a bit overdone here. The oak tannins made this tasted a lot like a dark Saison than a Porter. There was a little bit of chocolate in the background. I could not taste much of a rum character, and if smoke was not mentioned on the label, I would have not noticed the absence of it. The beer felt thick and soothing in the mouth, and although not mentioned, the belly warming indicated that this was quite a potent brew. That being said, the complicated aging process seems to have detracted rather than added to this Porter. I’d like a lot more smoke please.