Captain Lawrence Rosso e Marrone

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Batch 1; Sampled April 2009
A solid pour into my Tripel Karmeliet tulip produces a one-finger thick, fizzy, tan colored head that dissipates fairly quickly. The beer is a dark, murky, plum color that shows a somewhat hazed, dark cherry red color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of sour cherries up front (though not as vibrant as sour pie cherries would be), tart lactic notes, tannic wood aromas, spicy oak and lots of woody plank like character. This is quite fruity smelling, but it is hard to break out the exact fruits that the nose evokes; it seems comprised of aromas like cherry, cranberries, a touch of concord grape character, some currant notes as well as something that is distinctly fruity, but that I can’t quite describe. Towards the end of my glass (once the beer has warmed up quite a bit), musty Brettanomyces notes are noticeable with a touch of urea and some sweaty leather notes. The nose has a nice mix of wood and fruit, with a interesting backdrop of funkiness that boosts the complexity quite a bit.

The beer tastes tart as it first hits my tongue and the sourness becomes more gripping as it moves across my palate. The finish is a complex mix of tart, tannic fruit, wood, and berry-like notes. The carbonation adds a fizzy texture and there is also a tannic heft to the body of this beer that adds weight to what would otherwise be a light beer. This beer has an exquisite texture to it because of the oak and fruit; it really clings to the palate, with a texture that is beyond the finishing gravity. The oak adds some nice spiciness as well as an earthiness that is at least somewhat barrel influenced. As the beer warms up a light mustiness becomes noticeable, a touch of barnyard character also becomes noticeable though both are not much beyond a subtle touch.

This is a very nice beer; the grapes add a nice complexity that is boosted by the oak character and the ample, but not quite overwhelming, sourness. This is a nicely balanced beer, though the aroma really needs to warm up quite a bit before it becomes nicely complex from the underlying Brettanomyces influence.