Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Bourbon Barrel)
I am big fan of bourbon. It is one of the only true American distillated, and has a long rich history to go with it. Many people don’t know that by law, for a whiskey to be called bourbon, it must be aged in brand new, charred American oak barrels. So once that bourbon is dumped from the barrel for bottling that barrel can no longer be used to make bourbon and is of no more use to the distiller. That’s were we come in. We acquired freshly emptied bourbon barrels to age our Smoked Porter in, and it was worth the extra effort. We present to you the perfect marriage of beer, bourbon and oak for you to enjoy.
3.8
241 reviews
Elmsford, United States
Community reviews
bottle(batch 1) thanks to hopdog! Pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is tart barrel, oak, tart cherry and bourbon. The tart aroma is not present in the flavor, only rich smoked malts, oak, vanilla, and a lingering light bourbon in the finish. Nice stuff.
bottle: smokey, chocolate molasses and brown sugar. nice balance between roasty and bitter. big malty profile with a hint of fruity tart. earthy and wooden finish.
Bottle pours murky brown color with tan head. Aroma is straight bourbon and smoke. Medium mouthfeel. Flavor is mostly in your face bourbon upfront, then lends to a mix of vanilla and smoke, then develops into a concentration of wonderful flavors of chocolate and grain, then finishes with a touch of lingering bourbon. Beautiful. Probably helps that I love bourbon for this one since its pretty heavy on the bourbon. Its not hot though. Which is surprising. Just damn good.
Bottle: Poured a deep dirty brown/black color ale with a super large light brown foamy head with great retention and some lacing. Aroma of Brett with loads of sour and tart notes with some funky yeast and light warming bourbon notes. Taste is very nice with loads of notes of Brett with a clear tart profile and good notes of oak. Bourbon is harder to distinguish though still noticeable. Body is about average with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very well done and very unique – makes me wish I had access to this on a more regular basis.
Batch No. 2
11/29/2009: Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Bourbon Barrel)... Aroma: Sour - almost like vinegar, cherry; Brett. Appearance: Near black in color with a purple-ish; bubbly and frothy tan-colored head. Flavor: Wow, VERY sout and acidic! Tart black cherry; red wine; no bourbon at all. Palate: Medium-bodied; too much carbonation. Overall: No traditional porter characteristics except for color; wierd porter, but decednt sour.
1 pint, 9.4 fl. oz. bottle shared by alexsdad06. Thanks Brad! Rating #219 for this beer.
Sampled at DLD2010. Dark brown color with tan head. Aroma of (surprise) bourbon, slick, sourness, brett, chocolate, coffee. Pretty awesome. Flavor is sour barrel, chocolate, cherry, vanilla. Pretty much an orgy of awesome flavors. A bit funky. Pretty cool. Definitely one to seek out.
Pours dark with great head. Aroma is very woody with apparent alcohol. Flavor is tart, woody, and smoky...seems a little out of balance. Full body and clean finish.
750ml bottle pops... and gushes. Finally pours a watery, nearly opaque brown with a creamy tan head. Schizophrenic nose, bourbon, vanilla, cherry, brett, coconut, light chocolate. Flavor is also scattered, sweet, cherry, vanilla, coconut. Starts like a bretty porter then the barrel kicks in at the end with some butterscotch flavors. Finish is sweet, sour and buttery. This was good, but I don’t know if I’d drink a whole bottle or ever order it again. Stand alone it was really nice, but bizarre.
750mL gusher. Courtesy of ryan? Pours a hazy brown with a lively tan head that leaves good lacework. Aroma: sour cherries, Brett infection, a tad lactic, some major oak and barrel notes, rich chocolate all combining into one of my favorite noses- true Flemish red. Taste is serious Brett funkiness and dryness, some red wine sourness, coconut, vanilla, spicy bourbon. And all this at a near session abv. Excellent.
Black. Gusher, brown head. Aroma of strong bourbon, oak, cherry, licorice, vanilla. Taste is very fizzy, sour, bitter with prunes and raisins. Bourbon shock in the middle. Infection probably lends a bit of character to it.
75cl bottle. Black with a beige head. The aroma is a mix or sour chocolate, caramel, boourbon, and light smoke that somehow comes together almost perfectly. The flavor is likewise sour and a little funky with a sour, lemon-cocoa character that is pretty much a dark chocolate Flanders red ale. The malt, barrel character, and acidity and pretty much perfectly balanced. Medium bodied with soft, but ample carbonation. After not being that into the wine barrel version, this was absolutely the knock my pants off beer surprise of the night. Utterly delicious stuff.
750ml from hoppymeal - thanks Derek! As per usual with this series, a vigorous dark brown pour with a big rocky head. But not the gusher I’ve seen in some, just sayin’. Nose is hugely tart, and - while the bourbon and vanilla tannins are certainly detectable in both the nose and the flavor - the aged oak used in all these beers just gives them all a vinous quality. Good thing I think it’s so rockin’ delicious. Again, the bourbon is there, ever so subtly (I can’t get any of the smoke this time around), but this beer is sour porter all the way. Yummy.
Pours a dark clear brown with a beige head. Chocolate malts, sherry, very light bourbon on the nose. Acidic tart cherries in the flavor, almost winey, some vapory barrel influence, dry chocolatey graham and dark grains. Pretty ridiculous how this all managed to come together from an accidental infection.’ I dig it.
Bottle via trade thanks to stoad on BA. Pours darkest brown with a one-finger beige head and good lacing. Aroma is smoke, roast, bourbon, oak, and a little funk. Flavor is similar to the aroma, somewhat funky. Basically take a good smoked porter, add bourbon, then throw in a bunch of wild yeast. I’m pretty sure that they knew what they were doing when they were making this, as the "infection" works pretty well with the beer. Definite brett and tannic dark fruit wine presence. Medium body and slightly acidic on the palate. This isn’t quite as good as the wine barrel version, but I like it.
750 ml bottle- batch 1. Pours a deep wooden brown- hazy with a foamy head. Aroma is light smoke- chocolate, roasty, toasted malts, burnt oak barrels, sweet caramel and bourbon, light brett, and almost some red wine tannic thing going on. Oaky vanilla flavor with the chocolate smoke and roast, bourbon seems restrained but noticeable, modest tannins, and slight bitterness. Sampled in late 2007 soon after the release.
750 ml bottle from hopdog. Pours a dark brown color with a medium sized beige head that thins quickly. The aroma has a strange tart fruitiness. There are slight hints of bourbon, but much like the wine barrel version I am missing any roast or signs of the base beer. Is this listed as a sour? The flavor is soured. This may be decent if it were intended to be a sour, but since I was looking for a porter aged in bourbon barrels, I am left wondering if I even want to try the other two versions. Another infected batch from CL. My experience has been very hit or miss with this brewery.
Gushed a deep amber. Nose was funky lactic acid, caramel, bourbon notes. Flavor was tart acidity, definitely infected, but a good infected flavor. Mild sweet malts, funky brett, bourbon and earthiness. Pretty good, not sure if it was intended to be sour though.
Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured a dark reddish brown color with an aqverage frothy light brown head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate toasted malt, chocolate and acidic aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy toasted chocolate flavor with a heavy acidic finish of moderate duration. My expectations where not met.
Bottle, thanks Secret Santa. Sadly this isn’t nearly as good as the regular old smoked porter. The barrel kind of thins it out - leaving a shadow of the rich goodness that it once was. Yeah, the barrel adds some interesting woody notes. Yeah, it’s an interesting experiment. But I’d much rather have a 750 of the base beer than this.
bottle cortesy of Rudolf, shared with Rudolf, el jefe & jacob. heavily carbonated dark black pour. somewhat feint roasted malt aroma, mild bourbon presence in aroma. Mouthfeel was spritzy & lively. Flavor was big & roasty, mild bourbon. some tartness. not gathering too much smoke either. Good but not great. Batch 1
750mL bottle, batch 1, courtesy of gregc.
Pours dark, dark brown out of the bottle and settles in almost completely black in the lass underneath a bubbly tan head that recedes to a big rocky collar being fed by bubbles from the bottom.
Aroma has lots of sour cherries with hints of dark chocolate and roasted malts in the background. I honestly didn’t get much bourbon in the nose, just some acidic sourness on top of the small porter presence.
I actually thought the taste was much better than the aroma. The sour cherry tartness is present but not nearly as overpowering. The underlying toasted malts and chocolate are much more prevalent and the bourbon makes its presence felt as well, especially in the finish where there is definite burn as it goes down.
The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with lots of carbonation and silky smooth with toasted character battling with some dry tartness in the finish.
Unorthodox and interesting, this beer is like nothing I’ve had before. The aroma was a bit of a let down with no bourbon at all and a dominant sourness that didn’t allow the underlying beer to come out much. The taste, on the other hand, brought all of the ingredients out and integrates them very well. Tasty.
Batch 2 - Thanks dchmela! - Yeah, I’m going to rate it...Pours thin and dk brown with a small beige head...aroma is lemon, bourbon...you know where this is going...Flavour is like burning sour battery acid, with a nice bourbon oak nuance...fuck them until they return my email...
Update: Talking with the brewery and we’re working it out...Very classy thing to do!
Pours a dark chestnut brown color with a huge frothy beige head that lasts throughout leaving chunky lacing in the glass. Earthy oak aroma with hints of vanilla, chocolate, caramel, toffee and a huge bourbon presence. Full-bodied with a very smokey flavor. Notes of chocolate maltiness, oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Slightly sweet with tight carbonation, smokey and huge bourbon presence.
From the Bottle at Dr Bill’s Tasting Falling Rock Tap House, Denver 09/10/2008
Smoked bourbon aroma. Thick white head. Dark coloured and strong in alcohol with a crisp and bitter finish.
Aroma is sweet accented with sour notes. Straight black with a lacey heaad. Lightly sweet and grapefruit peel bitter.
Bottle, batch 2, thanks to Summer Secret Santa 2009. Pours murky brown with a bit of a reddish hue, capped with a thin brown head. Really unique aroma; primarily tart with notes of cherry, wild yeast, and oak in the forefront, and trace amounts of chocolate, vanilla and smoke. Flavor is tart as well. Sour cherry, smoke, green pepper, chocolate, oak, and lactic tartness interact well. Finish is tart, with lactic acid, vegetal notes, and a little chocolate. Thin body. This is a lot different than I expected, but as a sourhead, I enjoyed it.
Smokey and rubbing alcohol nose with added roasty notes, dark pour...tan head. Smokey malty flavors with some added oak notes, and a crisp finish. Nice smokey and clean beer, drinkable fo sho
Blind tasting at Papsø’s
Black color; medium creamy head. The aroma shows some roasted malt, wood, vanilla, light sourness. The flavor mixes equally the chocolate and the roasted malt; the body is medium, there is light sourness; alcohol warmth; strange but dynamic. Interesting, but I’m undecided if I’m impressed or less.
Bottle 75cl. @ Papsoes blindtasting. [ Bottle #12. ]
Clear dark brown color with a large, creamy, good lacing, fully lasting, beige head. Aroma is light heavy malty, roasted, caramel, berry sour, moderate wood, bourbon - red wine, cherry notes. Flavor is heavy sweet, moderate acidic and light to moderate bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20090612]
Another drain pour here...and another infected mess. The aroma of the bourbon was noticeable on the nose as well as some cherry wood smoke. Massive tan head rests above a deep dark brown body. Flavor again is incredibly sour and undrinkable. Thin mouthfeel...WHAT THE HELL!!!