Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

Bottle. Poured dark brown almost back. The aroma is sweet roasted malt, dark fruit and strong rum over-tones. Flavor is quite boozy with a hard roasted malt background and accents of fig, rum and smoke. Finishes dry and woody.

Bomber. Aroma is remarkably the essence of rum and dark liquer, with some light grass and toasted malt. Palate is very creamy, almost buttery in its smoothness. Carbonation is definitely second fiddle here. Flavor starts with molasses and brown sugar, dark flavors that are robust and distinct. Mid-palate contributes roasts, rum, and dark chocolate. Finish is where this beer really shines: the sweet malt, roasts, and slight smoked meat are complexified by a funk that is really appealing to me. God, overall there is so much going on here . . . I started getting everything and the kitchen sink, such as green apple funk and teriyaki meat. Wow, love this, good job CL.

Pours a dark brown with a huge foamy off-white head. Aroma is hugely oaky, and the rum is definitely present. Vanilla. Underneath that you have the typical roasted-malt porter characteristics. Smoke is there, but really subtle. Flavor is more smoky than you’d expect from the aroma though... smoky beers always remind me of ham, ha. Nice though. Seems a little sour... it’s hard to tell if it truly is sour (I’ve had so many sour beers lately that it’s possible the oak just sets off that "sour" signal in my brain?) Leaves a bitter taste on the tongue. This is actually a little bland, the flavor leaves something to be desired. For the huge effort that seems to have gone into this, I think it could be a lot better.

Thanks to Daknole for this. To complete the trifecta. Batch 2. After previous experience with this brand I decided to open cold over a sink. Thankfully that’s not necessary as this was not a gusher. Pours a muddy brown/black with a huge tan head. Aroma shows rauchmalt, still present underneath wood and rum. Intense spiciness and harsh, wood tannins, very strong also present. The strong whatever, I don’t know if it’s from the wood or the rum but it’s very heavy, is slightly distracting and makes the beer less harmonious. Certainly complex and there’s a lot going on in the nose. Vanilla, tobacco, more smoke, slight garbage aroma. A distant cousin to HOTD Adam. Some dark fruits in there too. Flavor shows some classic smoked porter flavors with the chocolate, smoke and ash with a dry, ashy mouthfeel. Certainly recognizable as a smoked porter in the flavor department. Slightly tannic and boozy on the back end. This is certainly my least favorite of the SFTO beers. It is complex and interesting but it’s a little unfocused and has a couple glaring mistakes that detract from the whole. Glad I got to try this but give me the other 2 every day of the week over this.

Poured brown with a tan head. Aroma of rum, fruit, and candy. Good sweet flavor with some rum hints. Fruit and spice in the finish.

[2014-20090219] 1pt9.4floz bottle. Sweet spicy malt aroma has roasted characteristics. Murky, dark dark brown body with a small long-lasting creamy tan head. Sweet malt roasted peppery grains flavour, not much smoke other than some sweet smoky rum in the aftertaste. Medium-full body. Average.
Overheard: "I like this more than lollipops."
(c/o blankboy, w/ him, garthicus, GregClow, HogTownHarry, jerc)

Thanks go out to Kempleton for his bottle I almost didn’t post a review, the bottle foamed a little when opening but the aroma of Brett was strong. I didn’t know if it was infected on purpose or not? It was from batch 2 The tulip looked glass was filled with two fingers worth of tan head on a black body. Again the Brett was strong I got a little rum and one other person got some smoke as it warmed. A funky porter for sure with a splash of rum was how it tasted to me the body was medium with good carbonation for a porter. I’ll give it an average score on the drinkability only because I don’t know if the infection was on purpose. I may change it later

dark brown pour. tons and tons of tan head. Wasnt a gusher, but a bit of head escaped slowly from the bottle after I opened it. Aroma has tons of red wine notes, wood, light rum, plums and some roasty notes. Flavor follows suit with some very nice red wine notes, light rum and slighy smoke. Fruity notes and some slight sweetness make this a nice beer. Very enjoyable.