Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
| Captain Lawrence |
| Location |
99 Castleton Street, Pleasantville, NY 10570 USA |
| Owner(s) |
Scott Vaccaro |
| Year opened |
2005[1] |
| Annual production |
5,000 bbl |
General
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company is an award-winning craft brewery located in Pleasantville, NY. The brewery is owned and run by head brewer Scott Vaccaro. Vaccaro, a homebrewer since 1995, trained in brewing science at UC Davis. He interned at Adnams Brewery, in the U.K. Before founding Captain Lawrence in 2005, he worked at Sierra Nevada and Danbury, CT's short-lived Colorado Brewery.
Many of Captain Lawrence's offerings are strongly influenced by traditional Belgian styles of beer, although often with an American twist. Barrel-aging and beers with sourness or flavors contributed by wild yeasts, such as Brettanomyces, and bacteria have also become part of their repertoire.
Like many small breweries, Captain Lawrence seeks to be environmentally sensitive, including donating spent grain to a local farmer for use as cattle feed.[2] Their beers are fermented in stainless steel cylindro-conical vessels.
The brewery takes its name from Captain Lawrence Drive in South Salem, NY - the road on which Vaccaro's childhood home is located. The street is named after Samuel Lawrence (1733-1796) who was a Captain in the Westchester County Militia, 3rd Regiment during the American Revolution.
The facility in Pleasantville is open for tastings, visits, and purchases on Thursdays and Fridays (4-7pm, and Saturdays (noon - 6pm). growlers purchases are available for take-out. Half kegs and mini kegs (5 gal.) can be purchased by arrangement via the brewery website: CaptainLawrenceBrewing.com
Awards and Recognition
2009 - Rosso e Marrone Gold Medal, American-Style Sour Ale, Great American Beer Festival.
2008 - Xtra Gold Gold Medal, American-Belgo Style Ale, Great American Beer Festival.
Golden Delicious Bronze Medal, Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, Great American Beer Festival.
2007 - Beeradvocate magazine ranked Captain Lawrence #5 among its "Top 50 American Breweries".
Cuvée De Castleton was awarded a Gold Medal in the American Sour Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival.
Captain's Reserve Double IPA Silver Medal, TAP New York.
2006 - Captain Lawrence was the winner of the Matthew Vassar Brewer's Cup, which recognizes the best Craft Beer Brewery in the Hudson Valley.
The Captain’s Reserve Double IPA won a Gold Medal for Best Craft Beer in New York State, and a Gold Medal for Best Beer in the Hudson Valley.
Liquid Gold earned a Bronze Medal for Best Beer in the Hudson Valley.
Beers
Year 'Round Brews
- Freshchester Pale Ale (5.6% ABV)
- Liquid Gold (6.0% ABV) A Belgian style Blonde Ale, made with Belgian ale yeast and coriander.
- Brown Bird Ale (4.8% ABV) American Brown Ale.
- Smoked Porter (ABV not listed) American Porter made with German smoked malt.
- Captain’s Reserve Double IPA (8.0% ABV) A version of the contemporary American "double" or extra strong India Pale Ale style.
- Captain's Kölsch (5.5% ABV) A Kölsch, first brewed Spring 2010.
Seasonal and Specialty Offerings
- Xtra Gold (10.0% ABV) A strong golden ale in the Belgian Abbey Tripel style, but flavored with American hop varieties including Amarillo.
- Golden Delicious (10.0%+ ABV) An American Tripel aged in oak apple brandy barrels.
- Imperial Smoked Porter (12.0% ABV) A Strong Porter made with German smoked malt.
- Smoke from the Oak (ABV not listed) A strong Smoked Porter that has been released in several different barrel-aged versions.
- Nor'easter Winter Warmer (11.0% ABV) A strong dark ale in the Belgian tradition, flavored with elderberries.
- St. Vincent's Dubbel (8.0% ABV) A richly-flavored[3] malty brown ale in the Belgian Abbey Dubbel style.
- Cuvée De Castleton (8.0% ABV) An American "Wild Ale" fermented with Muscat grapes and Brettanomyces.
- Rosso e Marrone (ABV not listed) An American Sour Ale fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels. "Rosso e Marrone" is Italian for "Red and Brown". BeerAdvocate lists this beer as a Flanders Oud Bruin.
- Birra DeCicco (6.0% ABV) Described on the label as a "Malt Beverage Brewed with Chestnut Honey and Jam". This limited release was a collaboration with DeCicco Food Market, a grocery in Ardsley, New York that has an extensive selection of craft and microbrew beers.
- Pumpkin Ale (5.5% ABV) An Amber Ale brewed with pumpkin and pumpkin spices.
- Espresso Stout A Stout Brewed with espresso coffee.
- Five Years Later (10.0% ABV) Brewed to celebrate the brewery's fifth anniversary, a strong almost black ale brewed with five varieties of malt and five different hops.
- Winter Rye (5.0% ABV) A onetime beer brewed using organic rye and crystal malt from Valley Malting Co in Massachusetts. Brewed with a German yeast strain and lightly dry hopped with US Goldings.
References
- ^ Beer Me! — Captain Lawrence Brewing — Pleasantville, New York, United States
- ^ "Scott Vaccaro Opens Captain Lawrence Brewery". The Journal News. January 19, 2006.
- ^ Wharton, Rachel (September 4, 2007). "Gourmet beers for Labor Day feasts". Daily News (New York). http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2007/08/31/2007-08-31_gourmet_beers_for_labor_day_feasts.html. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
External links