Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter

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

Pours a pitch black with a nice tan head. Flavor is nice and thick. Robust malty edges. Coffe tones. This is just a nice thick porter. I drink this and I think: Porter! Good feel. Very drinkable. Gotta love Captain Lawrence.

Had this one last at the free tasting. Had to pick up a growler on the way out. The pour produced an opaque deep-brown colour with a dense mocha head that retains very well with tons on lacing. The aroma is chocolatey and smokey, though it lacked bacon-like smoked aromas. The flavour had rich coffee tones, milk chocolate, gentle smoke and roasted malts. It is smooth and refined, being highly drinkable. The mouthfeel is slick, full-bodied and gently carbonated. There is only a whisper of smoke in the finish and very subdued hops. I’d like to get my hands on some of their barrel-aged offerings of this brewski.

On tap @ Blind Tiger in NYC. Since this said smoked I was going to pass on it, but some of the NY guys said I should give it a try and I’m glad I did. Pours very dark with a tan head. The aroma has lots of chocolate and a bit so smoke (thankfully not meaty), roasted malt and no real bitterness to be seen. Medium smooth body that glides with very gentle carbonation. The flavor starts with milk chocolate, smoke and good roasted malt ~ the flavor is quite big, but everything is very gentle as well. The finish has a hint of hops and a mix of milk and dark chocolate. Excellent porter.

4/25/2008: Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter dark brown to black in color and quite opaque. It has no residual head and an average level of carbonation. The aroma is mostly rich chocolate with a bit of roastieness/char around the edges. Lots of semi-sweet chocolate is evident in the flavor (so much so that even my wife enjoyed this beer). There is also enough caramelized malt to add just enough sweetness amongst the others flavor which include light coffee, hints of dark fruits, a touch of milk chocolate. A little barrel char is noted in the finish. This beer has a medium-full to full body and is very smooth on the palate. Overall this beer is balanced, slightly sweet, and not too roasty. However, there was much less smoke than expected.

Draught at the Blind Tiger in New York City (Greenwich Village). Rating #75 for this beer...

Growler at Dmac’s. Pours out black with a tiny lacing white head. Rich aroma of roasted malts ans some smoke. Taste is complex with roasted malts, some chocolate decent smoky meat flavor, but could use some more smoke.

Very dark pour from a growler shared by Padrefan and special thanks to dmac for hooking this socal group up. Decent head too. Aromas were smoke and touches of metal. Some metal in the flavor as well, but typical porter dust and smoke blended nicely to make this a pretty yummy beer.

Poured from a growler at Jon (Padrefan’s) house. A great mini tasting with Fordest and Toncatcher. Uber dark brown with a small tan head. The aroma was moderately smoky with burnt grains, oak and some dark fruits. The flavor was lightly smoky with raisins, chocolate, brown sugar and biter hops. The mouthfeel was smooth, but just a bit thinner than I would have liked. The finish was long and dry with a light astringency. Overall: A very good smoked beer but I would have preferred a bigger bolder smokiness. Very nice--thanks Jon.

Another growler thanks to dmac. Not my favorite style but this one could win me over. The smokiness wasn’t in your face. The sweetness was there that gave it a nice balance. Very good.