The Wench Takes on NYC and Hits Captain Lawrence
True story: The Wench is a gypsy. She calls no one place home. It is almost impossible to trace her. In fact, she probably does not have a legitimate postal address.
But, if she was to claim one place as home … it would be New York.
So here is the deal: I grew up in NY, just 60 miles north of NYC. My parents still live in the Hudson Valley. My father commutes to White Plains every day for work.
Naturally, I have a bit of New York pride in me. So when I discovered Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. during Great American Beer Festival 2009, I was excited. Okay, so maybe I fell in love with Captain Lawrence. But it was not for its NY location, but for its awesome beer.
It happens.
I met Scott Vaccarro during GABF. He kind of, sort of, almost remembers meeting me. But then, he also admits being “slightly intoxicated” during GABF. Which is completely acceptable. After all, what happens at GABF… stays at GABF.
Scott is doing phenomenal things, not just for the New York beer scene, but for the craft beer scene in general — as I am sure you all know. Captain Lawrence has won the Gold at GABF for two years now in the American Sours category, which is a category extremely coveted at this time. They are also dabbling in several barrel-aged experiments.
But what people don’t know, is that Captain Lawrence produces amazing classic beer styles as well. Case and point? The Kölsch.
As fate would have it, I was visiting the State of New York for the Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Workshop (yeah, that’s a mouthful). The trip ended up being ended and I had the opportunity to visit my parents in “down-state” NY (yes, there is such a thing as down-state NY … despite what all those Manhattan brats will tell you). And just around that very time, Captain Lawrence was releasing its exmtrely coveted Rosso E Marrone.
Technically, Rosso E Marrone is considered to be an American Sour “fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels.” From what I understand, the base beer is a standard brown ale. The beer spends about two years in oak wine barrels and then an additional 6 months in the bottle before it finally ready to be released. Grape juice was incorporated into the beer after about one year in the barrel — which adds to its complexity.
Don’t ask me how I was one of the first people in the door that day and left without a single bottle of Rosso. What can I say? The Wench gets distracted very easily.
I met a bunch of fellow bloggers in the sunny, yet extremely chilly (errrr 20 degrees) parking lot of Captain Lawrence around 9AM. Most of them had been there since 8am. Seeing as I had just driven 5 hours from Syracuse to my parents house and did not get to sleep until 2AM, getting up early that morning was a bit hard. And CL is at least an hour (with no traffic) from my parents house.
Prior to arriving, I received ample warning from both the head brewer, Scott Vaccaro, and assistant brewer, Rich Baker. I anticipated some sort of line, full of hardcore beer geeks. But I did not anticipate a full blown-out tailgating party.
After what seemed like an endless drive with my father When I arrived, the CL parking lot was buzzing with 200 plus slightly intoxicated, shivering, yet very happy people.
Since I knew that we weren’t allowed in the brewery till 10AM (on the dot), I had chilled down some non-NY beers the nights before — couple of Russian River Supplications, The Bruery’s White Oak and Bar Harbor’s Cadillac Mountain Stout.
Although my parents can drink me under the table, they opted not to attend the crazy beer release. And I don’t blame them. While I know they recognize and appreciate good booze when they see it (my parents are brats … ahem … wonder where I got it from?), I also know that they are a bit “beyond” camping out in parking lots and waiting on ridiculous lines just to get a taste of the “hottest new trend.”
There is one exception (maybe two exceptions) to this rule. And that is Ohio State football. My Dad will do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, for Ohio State football. I think he would have given me up for adoption on the Black Market as a child just to score a ticket to the MCHGAN game. There were times that my Dad visited me while I was attending OSU, and I know he had a better time partying than I did. While I was busy being a good student and dedicated athlete, my own father was attending tailgating parties and drinking at campus bars. Ahhh… those were the days.
When my Dad witnessed the craziness of the CL parking lot, he opted to drop me off instead of join me in the debaucheries that ultimately ensued. And so, I dragged myself … my mini cooler of craft beer, my over night bag, and my entire case of Supplication … out of the car and proceeded to search for my, until then, virtual friends from the Twitter and beer blogging realm.
The friends were easy to find. I was naturally drawn to the crowd that had two kegs, a grill loaded with bacon, and a beer pong table.
I was pleasantly greeted by a cup (plastic to be exact– deal with it, we were in a freaking parking lot) of Rodenbach Grand Cru. Not a bad reception, if I do say so myself.
That morning (for quite possibly the first time in my life) I made heads turn. While I would love to say that my awkwardly unattractive self attracted the attention of everyone I passed by, it would be a lie. In my hands I carried a case of Russian River Supplication — what some people may consider “The Holy Grail” of beers … and I had a case of it … in New York … which was UNHEARD of.
The case of Supplication was for the assistant brewer of Captain Lawrence, Rich Baker. And it subsequently got me into the brewery before anyone else on the line. By then, my feet were numb. My fingers were frozen. I had barely enough beer to warm my insides.
But all my troubles melted away as I was literally fed tasters upon tasters of Captain Lawrence beer. Luckily, the first beer I was given to taste was the Kölsch, and because of that, I can vividly recall all of my tasting notes.
Most over-saturated and over-stimulated American beer drinking palates have a hard time acknowledging and enjoying the more “simpler” styles. It is a shame, but can we really blame them? After all, it is the American way — bigger, stronger, bolder = better. Right? Right? Okay … so this is a debate for another time.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Kölsch, it happens to be a very unique and rather intriguing style. The style originated in Cologne, Germany. The Kölsch is made using pale malts (or German Pils malt) and it is highly attenuated, clear and hoppy (Noble hops, though –either Hallertau, Tettnang, Spalt or Hersbrucker). But the most important aspect of a Kölsch is its fermentation process.
The Kölsch is an odd beer because it is fermented with ale yeast (specifically Kölsch yeast, if you want to get technical) at cooler than average temperatures. Post fermentation, the beer is lagered for at least one month before serving.
Captain Lawrence’s Kölsch was pale gold in color with a brilliant clarity and a delicate head that dissipated rather quickly. It was was medium-bodied, crisp, clean and very well attenuated. To me, it was perfect.
For there, the beers get more an more blurry. There were lots of beers, lots of laughs, lots of crazy stuff … and lots of pictures.
I do vividly remember four of the beers, though. Westie 12 reared its ugly head … I mean showed its beautiful face. And it was glorious. I took a “nap” with an Oak-aged YETI (numbered and all) on some bags of malt. I had the rare opportunity to taste a 14 year old Lambic from Canada. And the whip cream on the sundae? I got to taste the Rosso E Morrone at Captain Lawrence.
A fellow beer blogger/connoisseur in our group decided that he would be freaking awesome and open a bottle of the super limited and nationally coveted Rosso.
Verdict? Freaking amazing. Sour, fruity, oaky … super delicious.
In summation, the morning/early afternoon at Captain Lawrence was epic. Epically awesome.
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