Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel)

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

Bottle into snifter. Pours a pitch-dark brown, slightly translucent around the edges, with no head to speak of. Aroma is vanilla and oak, sweet brown sugar, bit of boozy rum - big and delicious, and a bit more complex than some bourbon-heavy barrel-aged aromas. Taste is sweet and roasty up front, roasted malt pairing with a sweet molasses note, hint of licorice or star anise, underlying smoke helps to balance the sweetness. Bit of alcohol emerges towards the finish, with vanilla, smoke and charred wood, rum, bit more licorice. Mouthfeel is pretty much still, almost no carbonation, with a medium body. Could have used just a hint of carbonation. Really nice beer, but the aroma certainly writes a check the taste has a bit of difficulty cashing. Add just a hint of soft carbonation to lift the flavor up and the beer jumps up significantly in my book.

Batch 2. Thanks to my buddy Joe for the hookup. After reading about the gushing problems of previous bottles, I was careful when opening and had the opposite effect, nothing. I was a little worried until i tasted it and then I knew it was alright. Pours a thick chocolate brown with no head. Huge barrel and vanilla aroma with nice hints of spicy boozy rum. Chocolate malt body, little carbonation with a tangy rum taste. Nice smooth barrel notes, not aggressive. Just a really great beer.

Batch #1. WOW. Very distinct PFFFT when I uncapped the bottle. Then a very slow rise and evacuation of the bottle with a dense light brown foam. The BASTARD started gushing on me! Slapped the lips over her until I got the goblet out. Poured about 3+ inches of head . Light brown in color of varying sized bubbles. Kind of sloppy. Sweet malty aroma with lots of blackberry and anise aromas. Kind of weird. Alcoholic rum notes as well. Color is a very dark brown. Very lively in the mouth. Lots of carbonation which actually takes away from the mouthfeel a bit. Some sour notes, roasted grains, sweet malts and some rum again. I am not a big rum fan so this is not going to be a winner in my book. Really the rum dominates the brew and totally takes it away from the porter aspect. Finishes strong alcohol (even though it really isin’t) and sweet. Not the best offering from Captain Lawrence. Wow, just caught it before a smoke stack of bubbles protruded from the bottle. Have to drink this one quickly!

(750ml bottle, Batch 1, courtesy of Mar) Pours a cloudy brown body with a medium beige head. Aroma of rum, plums, wood, roasted malt, chocolate, and vinous. Flavor of rum, oak, and dark fruit with a dry finish.

Big thanks to the BA who sent me this. Pours extremely dark brown, lasting head. Rum is quite apparent on the nose, some coffe and chocolate as well. Faint smoke. Flavor is complex, the rum doesn’t dominate but serves to compliment the rest. A nice chocolatey flavor, with a bit more smoke on the palate than the nose would suggest, and a slight roastiness. A clean woodiness comes through. As it warms, the rum starts to rear its head. Medium bodied, but very coating mouthfeel. Great job by Scott Vacaro with this one, the barrel doesn’t overpower the beer, yet the barrel makes its presence well known.

750 Batch Uno! Pours black as night with small off white head. When I cracked this one... A true Gusher!. Aromas of roasted malt and burnt pennies. Flavor is very bland and not much flavor is there. Not too impressed and kind of let down. No rum presence and not much smoke.

750 bottle batch #2 poured into a snifter has a super dark brown borderline black color with little head at all and a still look in the glass. aroma starts out with lightly roasted malt, dark fruit, a touch of wood, noted alcohol, and an interesting underlying sweet tropical rum. mouth feel is medium full with slight carbonation. flavor comes off initially as a roasted porter, plumb, raisin, and lightly toasted wood. about the third sip in the tropical rum catches up and blends in and really complements the porter despite the two flavors being so far apart. hints of bitterness and chocolate creep into the sweetness and it seems to return to a porter flavor again. nicely done except for the lack of carbonation.

750ml bottle sampled side by side with Bourbon barrel and Wine barrel. Thanks Axilla. The only one that didn’t spew when opened. Poured cloudy brown in color with a small beige head. Aroma of initially of straight rum, even almost some vodka. Notes of smoked malts present. Taste comes in very sweet at first with dry finish. Flavors of smoked malts, burnt caramel, and a little raison. Smoothed out a bit after sitting for 15 minutes.