IPA - Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

MusicaleMike

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Got this in a trade recently. 1223NO16130059 is printed on the side. Tough to decipher that, but if I had to guess, best before Nov. 16, 2013?

Poured into a pint glass, this IPA has a great golden head that rises up and compacts to form a sea foam-like head that rounds over the rim of the glass much like a scoop of ice cream. The body is a hazy golden amber, which shows consistent bubble through the life of the beer. A fantastic first impression, yet the head doesn't last.

True to style, this IPA carries a hop-heavy aroma that jumps out of the glass with pungent whiffs of pine and lemongrass, underscored by a light toasted/baked bread malt character. The hop profile is unique, or at least, less common than your typical West Coast IPA. No hops are specified by the brewer (at least not yet...the beer isn't even listed on their website), but it doesn't carry the stereotypical citrus fruit aroma and sweet flavor. This IPA is a bit more herbal and dry, with a lemongrass character that is carried into the finish. A medium-bodied IPA, with bight carbonation throughout and a dry finish, gives this beer a significant amount of "drinkability" that is perfect for these coming summer months.

While I am not sure of the alcohol on this, it doesn't come off as more than 6% by volume. I would think that this beer won't be as highly acclaimed as Heady Topper and the likes because it doesn't have that flavor of the month, tropical juice aroma and flavor, but I think it succeeds as an American IPA just as much as any of the highly sought after IPA's out there. Fantastic take on the American style.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 23:17:05 | More by MusicaleMike

VelvetExtract

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A-Pours a clear orange with a very thin head. Some light chill haze. Decent amounts of lacing too.

S-Sweet clementiney citrus hops. A bit spicy in its hoppiness too. Piney to a certain extent. Lighter graininess with a breaded malty core. I don't love the nose but it is fairly decent.

T-It has an add tangyness to it. Kinda medicinal and earthy. Bitter flower stems. The hop profile is unique but I don't think I am too enamored with it. It does grow on you, though. Sweetness is noticeable and it blends with the hoppiness to create a unified flavor.

M-Moderate bitterness with a medium body. Good carbonation. A bit sticky or chewy.

O/D-A bit disappointing. Their DIPA is a stud; while this isn't a dud, I know Captain Lawrence could do considerably better work.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 23:24:02 | More by VelvetExtract

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.39/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

No sign of freshness info on this bottle. Poured in to tulip.

A - Translucent medium orange with half a finger of cream coloured head.

S - Fresh pine, orange zest and cut grass with a prominent caramel malt sweetness.

T - A good bitterness up front with grassy, herbal ad musky flavours and just a touch of citrus. A good caramel malt sweetness is present in the background.

M - Medium body with some hop oils present. Light carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:57:16 | More by TheSevenDuffs

dar482

New York

4.24/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

The color is a very clear muted clear light brown. Looks a like apple juice. There isn’t much carbonation rising in the glass. There is a big foamy 1-2 head with lots of lacing.

The aroma has a lot of malt along with some hop freshness. It’s a very very muted aroma.

The beer creeps up on the palate with some grapefruit bitterness, and it finishes with a good simple dry finish. There’s a very good amount of maltiness to clean up this beer. There’s certainly some grassy and pine notes in there. Not big on the fresh citrus or fruit tones. It has a very calm restricted balance to it, despite the dry grapefruit peel finish. I certaintly get the crystal malt in there. Reminds me a bit of a 60 Minute.

It’s quite a good beer for those into a balanced malt backbone and a dry finish in their IPAs. Quite good.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 04:36:04 | More by dar482

MadScientist

New York

4.69/5  rDev +23.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

A: A light copper with slight orange hue and great clarity. A persistent, rocky off-white head producing a good a head stand when poured.

S: A heady, strong hops aroma with a lot of citrus and pineapple some tropical fruit character as well like mango. Three is a moderate herbacous smell from the dry hopping. There is a light malt sweetness with a touch of caramel malt and some biscuit. A light alcohol sweetness.

T: A very strong citrus hops flavor with a strong hops bitterness. The hops are again lots of citrus and pineapple with some tropical notes. The balance is fairly bitter but the malt brings some sweetness and a little caramel and provides a good support for the hops. The finish is off-dry. There is a a light bit of ale esters but fairly clean like a chico yeast.

M: A medium bodied beer with a moderately-light creaminess and moderately-strong carbonation.

O: An outstanding hop bomb with excellent balance for those seeking a bitter beer. When I'm looking for an American this is exactly what I want but can so rarely find, a fresh, citrusy beer with a firm bitterness balanced with enough malt to support a ton of hops all will have a huge hop nose. This beer makes is going on my short list of great IPAs.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 23:28:24 | More by MadScientist

Bauzen

New York

3.39/5  rDev -11%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

I would rather drink this beer than an off-the-shelf brand... But that's about as much credit as it gets. Outside of it's aroma upon first opening the bottle, nothing about this IPA had any enthusiasm in the flavor profile. It's dry, flat, and boring for a 'craft' beer. It's probably best suited for those who prefer a light, conservative approach to the pale ale genre.

It's an IPA from a company that generally shines with other style brews.
Going forward, I'm sticking to Captain Lawrence's 'Liquid Gold'.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2013 23:59:55 | More by Bauzen

SpeedwayJim

New York

3.3/5  rDev -13.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

12oz. bottle into a Brooklyn Brewery snifter.

Pours a frothy, foamy 2 finger white head with moderate retention. Beer is a clear goldenrod. Lacing is thick and layered with decent stick. Nice looking beer.

Nose is sweet citrus, grapefruit, and mango with just a hint of cane sugar and hop bitterness in the back. Not the most aromatic.

Opens sappy. Notes of citrus, ethanol, and corn adjunct. Some sap and pine resin hop bitterness towards the middle. End is more piney hop bitterness with a slightly sweet citrus aftertaste. Decent.

Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation. Bubbly and biting in the mouth and goes down spritzy and quenching. Messy finish with a slightly lingering aftertaste. Solid.

A decent beer but all things considered, this is very middle-of-the-road. You can do better in this loaded beer style.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2013 01:45:30 | More by SpeedwayJim

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Been a very long time since I've had something from CL. I do have two different sours aging from them though. Anyways. Interesting citric character on this one. And the floral tones too. Something about it seems...a bit wild, I think I have to say. It's nice and it works, but something about it seems a bit uniquely boisterous. Anyways. I can dig it.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 07:24:15 | More by RblWthACoz

Gmann

New York

3.5/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a slightly hazy toasted straw color with honey highlights. The head is short, off-white, and settles into a light ring.

The aroma is bready with notes of honey. The hop aroma is a tad light. I get some apricot, pineapple and a whiff of grass.

The beer has a solid pale malt base which provides a bready base and again a hint of honey. The hops are grassy, some light pine and perhaps a touch herbal. It is fairly clean though, nothing lingers too much.

The feel is moderate with fizzy carbonation. Sweet on the palate but finishes with a hoppy bitterness, has good balance. Drinks quite well.

Its an average IPA, the hop profile is just ok, not too flavorful.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 23:25:50 | More by Gmann

metter98

New York

3.96/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A: The beer is relatively clear yellow in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short off white head that has good retention properties and hardly died down, leaving some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: There are moderate aromas of citrus hops and notes of pine resin hops in the nose.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and has citrusy and pine resin flavors along with a light to moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer has nice hoppy aromas and flavors and is very easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 23:18:56 | More by metter98

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

4.01/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Looks like a great start to a great beer. Clear bright amber brown with a 1/2 inch of sticky white head. Excellent lacing.
S - Smell is bright floral and piney hops, soft but fluent enough. Gram cracker and sugary malts as well.
T - Much better than the DIPA. Well hidden ABV with citrus hops, sugary malts, and some toffee malt goodness.
M - Light to medium body, seems to be around 7% since it drinks a bit malt forward but hops are bright.

Overall I love a well crafted IPA and this one is great. Very affordable too since it was a $1.89 for the single.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2013 22:28:48 | More by DrDemento456

cosmicevan

New York

4.31/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

bottle picked up locally, enjoyed from a capt lawrence tulip.

a - brew poured a transparent orange with a thin fizzy head that dissolved in a few minutes leaving a thin skin of head and some bubbly lacing sticking to the glass.

s - smells really nice. great hop with nice citric and soft fruity notes. not a hop bomb by any means, more of a tropical fruit. really nice. subtle.

t - taste follows the nose perfectly. great fruity hopping. i REALLY like this beer. it works perfect for me, great citric notes, tropical fruits...not much pine.

m - medium bodied. subtle bittering on the finish, but not really. extremely drinkable.

o - overall, this is a really nice IPA for what i like, but drink them NOW...if the hops fade you'll have a malt bomb as this is really subtle hopped. well done capt, i like this way more than the capt reserve.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2013 06:18:56 | More by cosmicevan

mdfb79

New York

4.06/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

From 02/28/13 notes. Picked this up the day before at City Swiggers for $2.39 a bottle. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into my Bell's tulip.

a - Pours a somewhat transparent golden-orange color with one finger of fluffy off white head and moderate carbonation evident. Nice lacing and retention on the glass, looks pretty nice.

s - Smells of citrus hops, fruity malts, bready malts, toasted malts, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and lemon. Nice nose with a good amount of hops.

t - Tastes of fruity malts, citrus hops, tropical fruits, floral hops, earthy notes, grapefruit, bready malts. More malts and fruit here than the nose and less hops, but still quite nice.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. No bitterness and easy to drink considering it is 7% ABV.

o - Overall a really nice IPA; haven't had their Imperial IPA in a while so need to try that again, but I like this more from what I remember. Hops are there, especially in the nose, and a lot of fruit. Easy to drink; would definitely pick a 6er of this up again sometime.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2013 18:25:39 | More by mdfb79

elgiacomo

Georgia

3.49/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle, unknown date but I believe this is a brand-new beer so it should be fresh. Served at around 40F.

Pours clear golden amber with a one finger white head that leaves a nice ring of drippy lacing and holds a small cap.

Aroma is a mix of orange/lemon citrus hops, herbal earthy hops, some pine, hint of apricot and pineapple, bit of caramel malt and bread. As it warms the caramel really starts coming to the forefront. Good strength.

Flavor is citrus hops, orange, grapefruit, lemon, some pine, bready, caramel malt on the back end, bit of alcohol on the finish, mild sweetness, good bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, oily, a little sticky, good carbonation.

Solid IPA. Nothing groundbreaking, but a nice hop fix and good bitterness for the style.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2013 23:40:56 | More by elgiacomo

LarryK

New York

2.19/5  rDev -42.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Grabbed a bottle of this just-released brew last Friday -- I've been eagerly awaiting it ever since Captain Lawrence announced they were finally doing a regular IPA months ago -- and I hate to say it, but I really disliked it.

12-oz bottle bought at Beer Table Pantry poured into my Stone IPA specialty glass. I really really wanted this to be good, and it's just not.

Appearance: Orange-hued; standard IPA coloring.

Smell: Got a burst of wonderful, citrusy hop aroma upon uncapping but it faded almost instantly.

Taste: Doesn't really taste like any IPA I've ever had. I don't know if I somehow got a bad bottle or if something went wrong with this initial batch, but the flavor is so muted I can't even detect what the hop profile is. Maybe a hint of Simcoe and/or Centennial, but if so this is doing those hops a disservice. Finish is dry but also mostly lacking in any assertive hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: A bit coarse, if anything.

Overall: Disappointing though willing to give another shot; ideally on tap. I've been hoping that a local brewer would release an IPA rivaling Flower Power just so New York can finally say we have more than one world-class IPA, but this definitely ain't it.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2013 19:03:03 | More by LarryK

chefjack428

Pennsylvania

4.29/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle form a Six Pack.

Pours a really nice yellowish color with some orange hues.
Aroma is pretty explosive. Tropical fruits, citrus and honey.
Taste is also very nice. A very nice sweetness that is balanced very well with a slightly bitter finish of the hops. Nice grapefruit, lemon and mango like sweetness.
Overall I am extremely impressed by this. I think it can hold its own with sucks, blind pig and nugget nectar. Hopefully they come to PA soon, so I can add this to the IPA list.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2013 01:00:02 | More by chefjack428

Billolick

New York

4/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Freshie growler filled at the mother ship yesterday.

Pours glowing lighter amber with an orange hue, lightly hazed, under a super fine bubble eggshell head, stays then going to a tiny bubble film , slim collar, nice dense sheeting and strands of lacing.

Nose is mostly resiny hops with some grapefruit in the rear.

Dense hop blast, with again resins, then again grapefruit and tropical fruit hints.

Well hopped, densely flavorful and highly enjoyable addition to the CL line. Kinda amazing that Scott and the crew have not put am IPA into the rotation over the past 6 years when the rest of the craft world has bee fixated on the style.

The talk around the brewery was that this batch was a bit over dry hopped, so look for the next try to be less resiny and more fruity/grapefruitcentric…real nice IPA which likely will only get better….

Serving type: growler

01-27-2013 01:03:43 | More by Billolick