Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

From a 750mL Bottle. Dark brown pour with shades of tobacco and a tall head of foamy tan. A prominent vinous, tart brett cherry aroma greets the nose initially, followed by a wave of chocolate and dry bread crust. A subtle wisp of smoke is present as well, but the cherry brett tartness dominates the bouquet. Medium bodied, heavily carbonated mouthfeel with a spritzy texture. Lots of cherry flavor and chocolate malt. Hints of smoke but the vinous brett notes dominate. The brett character from the barrel actually overwhelms the other flavor dimensions, in my opinion, and creates a bit of a clash un-balance with the base beer. Still, the flavors are definitely satisfying.

Bottle@DrBills. Poured brown with a thin head. Nice thin smoke aroma. Nice carbonation with a dry finish.

Bottle as a gift. This thing scared me as I tipped over on the floor, carpeted I might add, and it leaked out like a mother fucker all over my carpet. I realized at that point that there could possible problems in the bottle. This was soured and infected.

What do I make of this beer. I’m honestly a bit confused. I mean it’s really something that perplexes me. Take the name, Smoke from the Oak. It’s a smoked porter aged in rum barrels. Okay, sounds like an awesome idea. But I got no smoke, no porter nor did I get any rum outta this. I did get some barrel (wood) in spades though. Lots and lots of wood. In fact by the time my brother and I had finished this bottle, it was damned near like drinking some kind of chewy burgandy red wine than a porter.

First, the beer is a textbook gusher. I wish I’d had read eaglefan and Sap’s comments because it would have saved me some clean-up time. Pop the cap and it’s Mt. Vesuvius in on the counter. Great. So I rush pour two glasses and what fills my glass is a HUGE 6 finger head with about 1/2 inch of beer at the bottom. I had to wait 10 minutes before I could actually manage to drink it. Aromas that first hit me is some tart dark fruits. Some light chocolate notes, and roasted notes but damn...they were really, really light. Mostly fruity and funky. Appearance is a dark brown, nearly black with some red highlights on the edges. Flavors....sigh....flavors. Well, it’s fruity. Fruity to the point, as I mentioned earlier, of being wine like. It’s got some funk to it, which is nice, but the taste is so overwhelmingly tart wood and funk all I can think about is red wine. It looses any semblance of being beer. I mean, I know it’s beer but talk about blurring the lines. Consider it blurred.

bottle (batch 1)....thanks to devon (or is it devin?) who shared his at an Evening w/ Pantanap #3...similar looks to the bourbon ba version with an ever so slighly darker head.....an abundance of fruit make up the nose and some added malt. this really didn’t smell like a porter....a little roast and smoke makes their way in the flavor but less so than the bourbon but this one is a whole lot fruitier which in my eyes detracts from the brew.

750ml, batch 1, sampled at "An evening with Pantanap #3". thanks to xnoxhatex for the sample. We sampled this next to the bourbon version. Pours dark brown with a frothy tan head. Malt and rum in the nose with sugar and red fruit rounding it out. Sweet flavors that become a little sour as it warms. Alcohol, fruit, rum, cherries, berries, and a little bit of roast hiding underneath. This hardly tasted like a porter and all of this fruit becomes too much. The bourbon version definitely had the upper hand on this one.

750ml, batch 1, sampled at "An evening with Pantanap #3". thanks to xnoxhatex for the sample. sampled next to bourbon barrel version. pours dark brown with tan head. nose of dark fruits, sweet oak. flavor roast, lots of dark fruits, and subtle rum notes. slightly harsh wood and sour. tasty though but bourbon was better.

From a trade at the GABF. Very nice flavors of malt, chocolate, some burnt wood. I liked this beer from CL. I Can’t wait to try more of thier stuff.