Dried floral hop whiff leads to buttery barleywine warmth immediately assimilating heavy alcohol ascent of succulent multi-dimensional copper-hazed medium body. Sweet ‘n’ sour malt-sugared fruit-spiced sass coats astringent earthen nuttiness. Pungent fig-date finish counters watery lightness. Competes favorably with less subtle Abbaye de Floreffe Brown Ale.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
CARACOLE ARTISANAL SAXO BLONDE ALE
Billowy white-headed straw-clouded artisan ale with 7.2% alcohol flow preserves wheat-honeyed Scotch malt palate as taut citric hop spritz, peppery clove-coriander-mint adjuncts, and mild banana-vanilla dalliance spice up barleywine torrent. More complex, and therefore better, than most bubbly blondes.
CARACOLE ARTISANAL AMBER ALE
Concealed 8% alcohol flow appeases buttery sweet malt warmth, variant burnt wood tones, and billowy hop quilt. Sympathetic smoked barley finish hides floral-dried apple-peach nuances.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE XTRA GOLD AMERICAN STYLE TRIPPEL ALE
Dank mildewed yeast reminiscent of cave-aged Belgian ale styling soaks through mandarin orange, Peach Melba, candied pineapple, and melon illusions of hazy golden liquid, settling to floral-hopped pink grapefruit finish. Needs fizzier carbonation. On second passage one year forward, bottle aging provided better floral bouquet, sourer lemon seed tartness, and sweeter grapefruit tang.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SUNBLOCK WITTE
Summery pale straw witbier combines lean Belgian-like white peppered coriander-clove spicing with robust German-styled graining. A bit of a chameleon, its initial overripe banana sweetness recedes as lemon-soured orange peel bittering increases above carbolic soda-like fizz. When metallic alcohol burn subsides, plentiful floral accents affect wood-chipped sawdust respite; finishing sturdily with yellow-fruited abundance.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SMOKE FROM THE OAK – WINE
Smoky oak-aged wine-barreled mahogany-hued porter gains vinous Merlot density and soured cider tartness above burnt hickory spell. Dry port-burgundy midst reinforces tannic white grape, sour black cherry, and pipe tobacco illusions. Faintest black chocolate malting further embitters charred timber recess.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SMOKED PORTER
Robust espresso-coffee bitterness informs roasted hop-charred walnut-beechwood dryness and parched black chocolate souring. Sticky anise-tar thicket ambushes Band-Aid-like German smoked malt passage.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SAINT VINCENT’S DUBBEL BELGIAN ABBEY ALE
Profound hazy auburn dubbel perfectly replicates funky fungi-like yeast dankness of finest Abbey ales, retaining chewy brown-sugared honey-dipped caramel malting, boozy burgundy-sherry incisiveness, and vinous white grape acidity. Bruised orange-cherry-banana angularity, pureed plum-raisin souring, and tingly cinnamon-clove-ginger spicing strengthen imminent chocolate-vanilla influence, battling back astringent 8% alcohol-soaked metallic pungency to rounded floral-spiced Muscat grape finish. Definitely a worthy nightcap.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE NOR’EASTER WINTER WARMER
Bold bourbon-barreled mahogany-hued seasonal may lack advertised elderberry influence, but smoked molasses malting, Belgian-styled candied yeast, and restrained medicinal warmth pick up slack alongside compelling chocolate liqueur creaminess. Beneath, earthen peat saturates dry fig-date surge, black licorice splurge, and purple grape-wined swerve to resonant burgundy finish. Burnt toast murk coarsens latent fruitcake whim.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE LIQUID GOLD
Mildly tart lemony freshness consumes polite wheat base and acetous hop-embittered fizz of hazy golden Belgian-styled pale ale. Thin floral-tinged mandarin orange subsidy picks up remote candied yeast tinge to counter slightest black pepper spicing.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE FRESH CHESTER PALE ALE
Pleasing lemony grapefruit easement lightly embitters grassy-hopped wheat husk, cardboard-y pale malt dryness, and mineral grained recess. But pasty texture and slight alcohol burn cloak apple skin snick and floral lick.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BROWN BIRD BROWN ALE
Appealingly sweet ‘n sour medium-bodied brown ale hides chocolate-covered honey-malted almond paste sweetness beneath oily phenol-hopped walnut char, sour-creamed hazelnut uprising, and molasses-soaked burnt toasting. Swirled vanilla bean souring recedes to peat-y wood bottomed stridency.