Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Wine Barrel)

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

Thanks to dmac for this. My east coast hookup! I was lucky enough to have the Smoked Porter (thanks to dmac) and this one very close together, within a couple of days. You can see where the SFTO series gets its qualities and how it changes. The wine version is excellent, but I think the Bourbon is my favorite.

750 ml bottle shared with Padrefan and some other guy. Smokiness was a little more subtle than in other versions. Still aromas of smoke and roasted malts. Flavors were similar with wood from the barrel coming through. Some tartness either from the wine or just the oak, I’m not too sure. But it was tasty.

Draft. Poured black and flat with no head. Merlot for sure. Strong merlot nose. This beer really bursts of flavor as it rolls over your tongue. Slightly sweet finish with a bit of an alcohol burn.Interesting flavors, but I preferred the bourbon barrel.

750 ml bottle purchased from the Captain himself. Pours a deep dark brown with a small creamy head. Aroma has lots of funk, red wine, roastiness, chocolate. Body is thin, a little to thin for my taste, and light carbonation. The funk stays strong into the flavor with lots of wine notes, chocolate and wood. By far my favorite from the SFTO series, so far that is.

Bottle at the after-Dark Lord Day tasting. Thanks to Vferg.
Wow, I have never seen a gusher like this. I’ve seen head overflow, but this was a geyser. Half of the contents ejected in a stream that peaked at 4 inches above the bottle and coated the table in beer. The pour is a dark auburn with a tan head. It’s very woody, oak is quite dominant. Some slight smokiness with vinous notes. The flavour is nothing like the aroma. The wood notes become very subdued. The vinous notes become quite dominant. This brew also has a lambic-like, dry sourness, which is quite interesting to see in a porter. Towards the finish, coffee, smoke, and wood notes start to show a little.
This is a very, very interesting beer. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Thanks again, Vferg!

Bottle, batch 2. Overflowed... Dark brownish red pour with a fine tan head. Funky and sour smelling. Dark fruit (esp. cherry), cocoa, molasses - the funkiness is stronger than the porter notes, but they’re still in there. Flavor is really sour, with a dry and smoky finish. The flavor is less complex than the aroma, but we’ll see if that changes as it warms. Interesting beer, clearly well conceived.

Bottle, Batch 2. Gusher! 1/4 of an ounce wasted, damnit! This transformed into a lovely, useful large head; long-lasting and constantly aromatic, purty, whatever you want. Very intriguing aroma, starting off very winelike, then sour red fruits, then intermittently porter charcateristics, coffee, chocolate, roasted malt. Flavor is even more intriguing: these individual characteristics can be pulled out individually, but when taken together, looking at the forest before the trees, this brew presents itself as a sour ale with dark, roasted malt. Very, very interesting. At the end of the day, I can’t say the flavors necessarily always mesh, and maybe selfishly I kind of wanted the porter to show it’s face more, which it did sometimes, faded, teased again, faded... Certainly I can’t drop it below a 4, if certain things had happened I may have gone higher, but the bottom line is a very interesing, very unique, and of course very good, brew.

Rating #100!!! Bottle, batch 2. Pours black with a HUGE dark tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of tart sour fruit, red wine. Initial flavor of sour fruit/wine with notes of the porter coming out in the finish (coffee, roast). This is a very unique beer and one of the better ones I’ve had that has been aged in a wine barrel, so this gets extra points from me for creativity. I enjoyed the beer’s sweetness initially, but as I continued to drink it got a little too sweet and almost medicinal. I would have liked to get more of the porter character in the flavor. Still, an interesting beer to try.