Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold Tripel

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Bottle, kindly shared by fellow homebrewer Even. ABV not mentioned on the label. Deep golden colour, big to moderate head. Pleasant aroma of fruity American hops. Fruity flavour with notes of Belgian yeast and American hops. Quite good.

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

Bottle from GMCC2181. Poured a pale golden color, decent to generous sized white head. The aroma was apples, grains, some yeast. Flavor followed suit, apples, grains, yeast, dry grassy type hop finish, light-fruited candy. Mouthfeel was light and dry, crisp finish, good stuff. Thanks, Gabe!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of Beerlando: Poured a deep golden and lightly hazy color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of Amarillo hops with a medium sweet malt base with some light fruity ester. Taste is also dominated by some light fruity ester with some medium-sweet malt base and a hoppy finish which kind of detract from the fine mal base. Full body with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Interesting and different take from the classic Belgian style but in the end the finish is too dry and hoppy to raise this beer to classic level.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

So far, the only thing that Capt. Lawrence has made that I enjoy is their Nor'Easter. Fantastic beer. This beer? Not so fantastic, but still tasty enough I guess. The beer pours out a cloudy golden color with a nice 3-finger thick head. Aroma is some honeyish malts, light fruity profile and some herbal bitterness that I liked. Flavors are citrusy sweet, some yeast and spices also make an appearance but the alcohol is nearly too much. It wasn't quite at that level yet, but still very noticeable. Reminded me of eating a fresh apricot dipped in pine sap.

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

This is definitely a American style Tripel because of the copious amount of hops used. Way too hoppy to be conmsidered a Belgian Trppel...maybe a new catefory needs to be started to reflect the hoppier style of Trippels. A cloudy full-bodied golden yellow ale witha white head. I tasted citrus-like yet spicy hops allt throughout and a hint of sweetness at the end. A very delicious creative version of a Trippel.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Tasted at the May Northern California Beer Tasting. This Belgian Triple pours a medium orange gold color from a 750ml bottle. Medium to large sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, biscuit and sweet. A medium bodied Triple. The malts are fruity and sweet. There is a touch of yeast. The hops are spicy. Kind of citrusy, lemon peel and grapefruit in front of the biscuity malts. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Hides the alcohol well. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Pours with a cloudy, golden body topped by a medium thick, white head with some lacing. It’s slightly sweet with notes of honey and a nice grassy bitter note. Medium body, well carbonated and warming.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This one has a good floral quality mixed in with the herbal nature. There’s an adequate bitterness to match the sweetness and unlike the Dubbel, it lacks the alcoholic heat. Much better beer.

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

Newest Release? Sampled May 2008
Quite well carbonated, the beer starts to foam a bit as soon as I pop the cap, I have enough time to careful pour some off into my 25cl tulip glass without losing any beer though. The careful pour yields four fingers of head that continues to rise another finger above the rim of my glass. The head is a light tan color that leaves ample lace on the sides of my glass and capsizes with interesting, structural textures. the beer is a clear copper color, but shows an almost brilliantly clear, gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is a mix of funk and fruity notes. Surprisingly the funk leans toward Brettanomyces like aromatics (sweat-laden leather notes), but the fruitiness is all Amarillo hops (apricot, pineapple, bergamot and even some kiwi notes). A nice, pale malt character adds a subtle influence to the nose with notes of fresh crushed pale malt, saltine crackers and a fresh grain note. The funkiness seems to die down with time, making me almost wonder if I ever noticed it in the first place.

Sweet tasting up front, which accentuates fruity, Amarillo driven flavors of apricot, lychee and pineapple. The carbonation has died down some, but still provides a prickly texture that can’t quite overwhelm the soft creamy body that this brew has. A solid, yeast-derived funkiness resides here; it is not quite as noticeable as in most Tripels because of the ample hop character, but still plays a very important role. Funky notes of phenolic soaked, musty cotton balls are lightly noticed as are some light clove notes, an earthy-musty flavor, a touch of sweat-cured leather, . There is a touch of warming alcohol in the finish that at times adds a spiciness to the beer reminiscent of a mix of white pepper, ginger (that is also accented by the hops), clove and something I can only describe as fruity / estery / spicy higher alcohols.

My second pour is still excessively carbonated, this time I end up with a finger and a half thick crown of foam that floats above the rim of my glass. I am quite happy that a tulip glass allows me to get to the sweet nectar below, despite the almost six fingers of foam. With my nose newly tipped with a bit of foam, my first sip of this lightly orange-tinged and hazier beer lends a bit of rounded yeastiness to the flavor profile. This beer just keeps on getting better and better; I truly am a sucker for Amarillo & when combined with Belgian-inspired beers, well I am just about in heaven.

Despite being so hop driven, I really like how funky this beer is. I wouldn’t guess that this was infected by Brettanomyces necessarily, but with the funk & excessive carbonation it certainly does a good job of faking a subtle Brett influence. I really like the over-the-top Amarillo character as compared to the first batch I had that was quite muted in its hoppiness comparatively. The hops do tend to drown out some of the complexity, but this is far more well integrated than my last experience & for that I am quite pleased. This is definitely exactly what I was hoping for when I heard that the brewer was increasing the dry hops in this beer. I liked this the first time around, but now I am really digging it.

Second Batch (definitely not first), Sampled September 2007
3.9 8/8/7/8/8
Very well carbonated, despite a very careful pour the beer produces a 7 finger thick, pale tan colored head that is able to maintain itself a full three fingers above the top of my tulip glass. The beer is an orangish tinged, darkish, gold color and is lightly hazy because of tons of swirling, streaming, fine carbonation bubbles that are apparent when held up to the light. An interesting mix of dry, musty cotton-like funk, and fruity hop notes greets my nose as I pour this brew. Spicy esters and phenols really mute the hop character quite well; said another way the ample hopping here does not dominate the aroma as much as it would in a less fermentation driven beer. Interesting aromatic notes of white pepper, ginger, grains of paradise, a green herbaceous character, candied citrus peel, lychee, are all quite noticeable. Some austere malt notes are also noticeable underneath the yeast and hop notes and they really are noticeable towards the finish; I sense a biscuit like malt character, some honey-like grain character and some bread-like aromas.

The beer is quite a bit drier than I was expecting, yet is fairly full feeling on the tongue, despite the ample carbonation. The dryness really hides the super fruity hop notes that I was expecting from the hops, yet they are still noticeable as flavors of lemon zest, apricot notes and some tangelo. The spiciness of this brew is quite apparent and in fact higher alcohols contribute a piquant, approaching even harsh at times, warming to the finish of this beer. Phenolic notes also contribute to the finish, almost contributing a tongue numbing turpene-derived character (clove is definitely apparent) as well as a hint of a plastic note. Between the higher alcohols, the phenolic notes and a substantial level of esters, this is one spice driven brew; flavors of pepper, ginger, kefir lime leaf, menthol, nutmeg, Hatch green chile and a touch of chive.

As the beer warms and loses some of the carbonation, it begins to soften a bit and become a bit more well integrated. The fruity hop notes pick up a bit (in the flavor, and especially in the aroma), as does the previously ignored malt flavors. The malt lends some honey like notes, some dry, soda cracker flavors and flavors of fresh cracked pale-kilned malt. The aroma actually becomes quite a bit more driven by the über-fruity Amarillo character, though the hot, higher alcohol notes are still readily apparent.

This beer is incredibly complex, and for that I am quite exited as I always enjoy a challenging brew, but somehow it is not quite as well integrated as it should be. Said another way, if all of the complexity combined into a harmonious explosion of flavor, instead of the slight cacophonous mix that is here, this would be an incredibly good beer. Still, even as it is, this is one tasty beer, from an obviously talented brewer and I would be happy to drink this beer, tasting exactly as it is, on a regular basis. I can’t wait to get more of these beers.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 8

Poured a hazy golden color with a large, white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla, citrus fruits, earthy yeast, with tons of spices, and a bit of apple as well. Taste of more spices, coriander and orange peel, with more citrus, candy sugar, vanilla cream, and a bit of white pepper.