Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

750 ml bottle shared with Padrefan98. Batch 1. Dark pour with good sized head. Lots of Dark fruit, coffee, wood. Sweet flavors of rum and more dark fruit. Hints of tartness too. Finishes with roasted bitter chocolate. Tartness in the aromas was mostly absent in the flavor.

750 ml bottle shared by BBB63
What a huge gushing mess! Mike didn’t think it was all that funny but I got a bit of a chuckle out of it. Shit was all over the place.
Dark brown with a light brown or tan head.
Lots of brett aroma and mostly just citrus and wood character.
Lots of bacteria and wild yeast character with a long alcoholic finish.
Medium to light body. High carbonation. Super dry finish.
It really comes off as any other barrel aged and brett infused beer out there. I really wish some of the porter character was still there.

750ml Batch #1 Bottle courtesy of mcallister. The rum barrel version of Smoke from the Oak pours black into a snifter. This is one hell of a dark stout. There’s not a hint of light coming through. A nice two finger creamy ecru head rose as I poured and settled very slowly to a one finger crown leaving sheet lacing down the glass. Great looking brew! Smell is pretty unique. The porter and rum barrel qualities are pretty balanced although the barrel seems to just nose ahead. Roasty malts and faint semi-sweet chocolate get things started. The ghost like aroma of rum glides in and out throughout. The oak comes through in the middle and the end brings notes of molasses and brown sugar. Although this mostly sounds like it’s all rum it’s really well balanced. This is one of those beers that has a different flavor than the aroma would suggest. The rum notes come quick as this porter hits your tongue but disappear just as quickly. Dark fruits take over as the rum disappears and lead into semi-sweet chocolate that’s lasts through the swallow. There’s a hint of oak here and a drop of rum there (molasses and brown sugar) but they’re just small components of a porter. There’s not much in the area of smoke like I was expecting. Some alcohol warmth (or the idea of warmth from the rum) comes through on the finish and warms me up after the swallow. As I drink this beer the chocolate notes really come through and linger after the swallow. Very nice! Medium body with smooth mouthfeel. This beer works through very quickly so you better be ready to taste as you drink. My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is the body could be just a little heavier. The medium body does boost drinkability. For a barrel aged beer this goes down very easy. This bottle is a breeze to finish. Interesting idea and a good beer from Captain Lawrence. My first of the rum barrel aged variety and hopefully not my last. Captain Lawrence is doing some interesting things and I want to try them all. 11/22/07

Bottle from Bendo, A full forced GUSHER, volcanic action all over my kitchen, so much so that Brian heard it with the bathroom door closed! I lost close to 80% of the beer on the walls and ceiling!! The ceiling of my front room!!! Lucky I was still able to get about 2 oz per person after this mess....

Well it it is deep brown with a fading head and spotty lace. The aroma is funky and brett induced with cherry and apple , coconut, rum, vanilla. oak, chocolate, and some hazelnut. The taste starts with sweet malts balanced by fruity and twangy acids. Milk chocolate and light smoke with a rum imbued finish. The mouth feel is dry and chalky, touch mouthwatering with the funk. I wish I had more to sample, but alas not gonna happen. A solid brew but in the end it was nothing special.

Bottle. Brown pour with a tan head. Aroma of sweet rum, light sour, smoke, roast and some straight booze. Flavors of rum, roasted malt and a slight sourness. Medium body sweet/boozey with a boozey finish. Interesting, although the rum overpowers.

Pours opaque, dark brown with mahogany edging. A moderately thick, tan head of about and inch built up from a carefull pour. Retention was not lengthy and the brew was left with a placid surface after several minutes. A few errant dots of lacework clung to the glass. Aromatics are filled with rum, bitter chocolate, and coffee notes. The rum comes at you straight on with an almost "green" quality, followed quickly with the cocoa. The nose trails off with a lactic and vineous nod, and warming. Mouthfeel is somewhat thinnish for a porter and oily from the rum. Slightly tannic and drying. The pallet is boozy with rum, as promised. The rum isn’t of the raisiny type, but more neutral and tropical, with a hint of citrus. Bakers chocolate, with shades of Kahlua and smoked embers follow the almost hot rum. A lactic tinge starts to linger with each sip, and begs one to wonder if aging a bottle would add to the tartness. Finishes with a throat warming alcohol nod, and drying burnt chocolate bits.

Bottle shared w/ jsh12bama. Too light in the pants for me w/ a mild sour finish. Very small rum notes up front. Okay.

750ml bottle courtesy of jimbowood. Minimal tan head. Slight rum, alcohol flavor. Had good flavor to it but was expecting more rum taste. Too lightbodied and thin as well. Still decent beer.