Bottle (10/21/22) shared by Steve! Opaque black, thin head, good retention, light lacing. Aroma is strong bourbon, sweet smoke, earthy, peaty oak, dark fruit.Taste is strong earthy, peaty oak, mild bourbon, mild roasted malt. Smooth, frothy texture, average carbonation. Bourbon too strong in aroma and earthy, peaty angle isn't a huge favorite.

Bottle from Dickinsonbeer, tasted at DTS in Bunnik. Batch # 1. Balsamic vinegar, cinnamon and only a hint of smoke in the aroma. the smoke is more noticeable in the flavor, that has some oaky and sour notes, bretty even. Hint of licorice. Delicious, well balanced beer with some warming alcohol in spite of the modest ABV.

From Mar 2008

I got this in a trade with nutbrown. Thanks Alan!

Batch 1:

It pours a near pitch black with some reddish hues and a 2 finger head of billowy tannish foam. Nice lacing. Very good head retention.

The smell has notes of bourbon and a strong sour nose that reminds me of a american wild ale. I also get a little vanilla. Not exactly what I was expecting, or was I?

The taste has some bourbon, some vanilla, some good woodiness, a touch of chocolate, and strong sour notes. The sour, imo, is just a tad too strong here and does seem to dominate but it certainly is, for me, an easy drinking Porter. I can't say that I detect much of the smoke....some day, I would love to try the version that isn't barrel aged just to see how it compares.

The mouthfeel is medium-light, the carbonation is fairly robust, and it finishes with a nice taste of that bourbon. Like I said before, it's easy drinking so I'd guess the abv would be in the ~6%abv range.

All in all, I like this offering from Captain Lawrence, as I did the rum barrel aged version. Very interesting flavours and pretty darned palate pleasing.

Bottle from Batch 1 courtesy of mcallister, thanks for the opportunity. Pours a solid dark brown/black color with a huge off white head that fills half the glass and takes forever to recede. The aroma holds some roast and chocolate with a solid hit of bourbon and oak and a curious fruity tartness. The flavor follows the aroma with the sour cherries and lemons taking over the lead role and just about obscuring the porter that was once in this bottle. Medium body with a ludicrous amount of carbonation and an tart ashy bubbly mouthfeel. This beer is a shell of its former self. Some wild yeast have gotten into the bottle and turned this beer, or maybe I just sat on the bottle for too many years.

14th June 2009
Opaque black beer. Light dry palate. After the joys of the Rum and Red Wine barrel versions this came as a rude shock. This is a sour beer. Not a bad thing by itself but there is not much else going on here. Where is the malt, the bourbon? Just a bare hint of barreling. More lambic than porter. Very dissapointing.

Batch one bottle at the 5th Annual Epic Beer Tasting in Richmond, VA, November 28, 2010. Pours a hazy, murky brown color with a thin tan head. Aroma of smoke, tart notes, bourbon and apple. The taste is faint smoke, earthy notes, light roasty notes, cherries and a tart finish. Medium bodied.

bottle(batch 1) thanks to hopdog! Pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is tart barrel, oak, tart cherry and bourbon. The tart aroma is not present in the flavor, only rich smoked malts, oak, vanilla, and a lingering light bourbon in the finish. Nice stuff.