The strange object appeared to have fallen from space, hurtling through the air before thrusting its staff into the earth like a Gold Rush speculator. It had chains and a basket and a silver pole, and someone had affixed a bunch of Captain Lawrence stickers to it.

Was it space junk? The flag of a conquering Viking splinter group? Soviet spy gear, perhaps?

“I don’t know what it is,” says Andrew Hansen from Bedford Hills, as he sipped the Grapefruit Pail, an American pale ale brewed with grapefruits and dry hopped with peels. “I feel like I should.”

His pal, Andrew Cascudo of West Hartford, Connecticut, is pretty confident he can identify the foreign contraption. “Is it for Frisbee golf?”

Indeed, it is.

Cemented into the beer patio’s lawn, the Frisbee golf target was given to the brewery by the team it sponsors—“Team Captain Lawrence” competes in Frisbee golf tournaments (instead of whacking a golf ball toward the hole, Frisbee golfers fling a disc at a target) up and down the coast from October through April.

“It’s a practice basket for putting,” says Bill Newman of Yorktown, the team manager and, in his words, “keg rustler.” “It’s a thank you gift to the brewery.”

Newman says he may provide “loaner discs”—Frisbees you can borrow at the bar—so people can practice their Frisbee golf stroke, and have a few laughs while doing so.

The practice basket is the latest addition designed to make the Captain Lawrence tasting room, and adjacent beer patio, the ultimate in adult recess. As if sampling the likes of the Imperial India Pale Ale, the Captain’s Kolsch and the Liquid Gold weren’t enough to command your attention, there is bocce, Frisbee golf and, at times, cornhole—there’s even a competition in the latter at the brewery May 30. (If you’re unfamiliar with cornhole, ask someone south of the Mason Dixon Line.)

Beer-friendly diversions aside, some prefer simply dropping a blanket on the lawn somewhere in the shade and hanging out, such as the growing crowd gathered to celebrate the birthday of Ali Pierce of Harrison. “I’ve got lots of friends and family coming,” says the birthday girl happily.

The group got together at the brewery for friend Henry Fanelli of Stamford’s birthday a few weeks ago, and had so much fun they decided to come again. “It’s nice weather, so we figured we’d sit and have a couple beers and a hot dog,” says Henry, who prefers the small batch selections, which these days include the malty Baltic Porter and a German dunkelweiss known as Rosa Pfefferkorn. “I try to sample those whenever I can—it’s nice to see what they can do with beer.”

The setting is perfect, but the two babies the group has brought—“future husband and wife”, notes a woman in their party—don’t seem to be playing along. “They’re both in bad moods,” says Henry.

Moods are not an issue for the Vlad Gogish party. Vlad, of White Plains, too is marking his birthday at the brewery—he’s 28, if you’re scoring at home, and celebrating with a lively batch of friends. He was under the impression that Captain Lawrence still was not charging for samples—the policy changed several weeks ago—but said he was fine paying a few bucks to sample his favorite beers, which include the Liquid Gold Belgian-style ale.

“Quality beer speaks for itself,” he says.

Meanwhile, the Andrews continue to eye the Frisbee golf target, as well as the bocce court.

“I’m used to playing bocce on a lawn or a gravel road,” says Andrew Cascudo as he sips the Rosa Pfefferkorn (that sounds like a girl Dwight Schrute would fall in love with, doesn’t it?). “I never played on a professional court before.”

The toughest decisions at the brewery used to be deciding which beer to drink. These days, it’s what game to play along with your beer, and we have Bill Newman and his Frisbee putting basket, in part, to blame for that.

“It’s another thing for people to do,” says Bill, “while having a beer sample.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 60 appeared first on Small Bites.

Captain Lawrence Brewing will see your imperial IPA and raise you one.

Yes, a triple India Pale Ale is in the works in the brewery’s pilot system. The guys are slowly dry hopping the brew to get the maximum “hoppiness,” as owner Scott Vaccaro puts it, out of it. It’s called Seeking Alpha—a nod to the “alpha” acids in the hops that give the ale its trademark bitter flavor. The triple IPA should be available in the tasting room in the next month or so.

“It’s an all-around hops monster,” says Scott. “If it works out well, we may do a big batch.”

The Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, a double IPA, is one of the most popular beers in the tasting room, so interest in the triple India Pale Ale should be, like the hops content, even greater.

Also bubbling out of the pilot system: Justin Sturgess’s richly malty Baltic Porter; a new concoction from Chris Rome that is enhanced with pink peppercorn dried berries and brewed in the German dark lager “dunkel” style; and Ryan Kipp’s take on the IPA—featuring Chinook hops and flavored with grapefruit peel and grapefruit juice for a blast of citrusy flavor.

“We’re definitely cranking out as much pilot beer as we can,” Scott says. “It just keeps flowing.”

We mentioned the intriguing Captain Lawrence-Still the One collaboration last month, which has the brewery’s Freshchester Pale Ale distilled into a floral, fruity whiskey right here in Westchester. It’ll be a few years before it’s available—whiskeys of course take their sweet time to develop—but the initial returns look promising. “The early opinion is, it’s a killer whiskey,” says Scott. “[Distiller] Ed Tiege has taken it to a few whiskey shows, and everyone tells him they think it will be amazing.”

A couple years in the charred oak barrels will only make it more inviting.

Scott is recently back from upstate New York, hosting beer dinners in Buffalo and Rochester, along with one at the NY Wine & Culinary Center in Canandaigua, helping spread the word about Captain Lawrence to our upstate friends. “We figured we’d go up, say hello, kiss some babies, and drink some beer,” he says.

With spring finally acting like its old self, the patio is in full swing, as is the bocce court that goes so nicely with a Kolsch, a Sun Block and other warmer weather favorites. Look for the cover to come off the outdoor bar in the coming weeks, eliminating those exhausting 50-foot walks into the tasting room.

Finally, as you may have seen on News 12, the brewery got a heartfelt shout-out at the State of the County address last week, as Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino singled out Captain Lawrence—along with a bakery in Peekskill—as a great example of local entrepreneurial spirit.

“If you want to understand economic growth in Westchester, there is no better place to start than with beer and cookies,” said Astorino. “What do beer and cookies have to do with economic growth? They tell the story of two companies that are great at what they do, could locate anywhere, but have chosen Westchester as home. They are Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Elmsford and Bake-Me-A-Wish in Peekskill…Today, Westchester is the beneficiary of their hard work. I challenge anyone to come up with a tastier beer or chocolate chip cookie.”

Scott, in attendance at the County Courthouse in White Plains, was pleased—and humbled—by the mention in front of Westchester’s movers and shakers.

“We’re just making beer—we’re not saving babies,” Scott says with a laugh. “But if what we do is making people happy, then we’re happy.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 58 appeared first on Small Bites.

People always look forward to unwinding over locally brewed craft beers on the weekend at Captain Lawrence, but after last week’s horrors, visitors seemed a little more eager to kick back and relax with friends. And while it won’t last long, it’s also a time when Red Sox gear is almost as common in the Yankees’ backyard as pinstriped apparel—and when those wearing the Boston garb are greeted with an altogether different upraised digit than they may be accustomed to: the thumb.

Dave Feinstein of Edgemont is wearing a Boston Marathon jacket. He ran on Patriots’ Day, posted a swift 3:09 (around 7 minutes a mile), and was back at his hotel when tragedy struck. He’s enjoying a Freshchester Pale Ale with pal Matt Podell of New York City. “My 914 pride is showing through,” Dave says of his selection.

Dave had run a 2:58 at the Hartford Marathon in October, and was humbled by the challenging Boston course. “A few Liquid Golds,” teases Matt, sipping an Imperial IPA, “and maybe you would’ve moved quicker.”

From his hotel room last Monday, Dave was busy checking on friends who were also running the marathon, and assuring distressed loved ones of his well being. “Everyone I ever met was texting, messaging me on Facebook,” he says, “seeing that I was OK.”

Thankfully, he was.

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Kristin Plater and John Silvestri have more than a marathon under their belts today—they’ve made the bike ride up from Brooklyn, meeting friend Brian Hashimoto in Harlem, then continuing on the West Side Highway to the inviting North County rail trail that extends toward the brewery like a yellow brick road. She did the 33 miles in biker boots, on a no-frills bike she calls “Pink” whose flashiest attribute is the milk crate affixed to the back. After a few Kolsch samples, some Village Dog grub for lunch, and fresh air on the patio, Kristin is ready to ride back. “I’d like to come back a lot more often,” she says. “Maybe I can make it my job, bringing people up here on bikes.”

I’m watching through the brewery’s back door as the threesome hits the road. Fittingly, Creedence’s “Looking Out My Back Door” plays. Valhalla author Steven Derosa is enjoying the malty Baltic Porter and sporting a Red Sox jacket. It’s an uncommon choice for a guy born in the Bronx, but it turns out he’s a lifelong fan of Tom Seaver, and rooted for every team Seaver played for, including the Mets, Reds and, yes, the ’86 Red Sox. When Tom Terrific retired as a Red Sox, Steven’s fandom was sealed.

His pug Bogie sometimes wears his own Red Sox jacket, but the pooch goes without on this fine spring day. Steven’s has elicited a thumbs-up from a woman in the tasting room moments before. “It’s a solidarity thing,” he says.

Out on the patio, Pawan Agnihotri is celebrating his 40^th birthday with a Smoked Porter while Bernard Louisnathan, also of Hartsdale, has the Baltic Porter. Unwinding after a day of hiking and biking, Bernard offers up a detailed history of the Adirondack chairs they’re sitting in. “We love these things,” says Pawan. “Much better than the bench.”

Yet Porter Hill and pal Holly Haertel of Greenwich have no issue with the picnic table they are sharing. Porters—the Baltic from the pilot system and the old standby Smoked—are popular choices today, but Porter Hill opts for the Ginger Man Ale. “I don’t even like porters,” he says with a shrug.

Holly is a Yankee fan, but is wearing Porter’s Red Sox hat as she sips the Sun Block wheat ale. Porter’s sister and cousin are at Fenway, enjoying the impromptu Neil Diamond performance and a thrilling comeback win that even a New Yorker could appreciate. “It’s not back to normal,” he says. “But it’s getting better.”

Speaking of getting better, Dave Feinstein is already planning how to shave a few minutes off the unforgiving Boston course next year. “If you’d asked me after the 17^th mile if I was running it next year, I would’ve said no,” he says. “If you’d asked me after the race, I would’ve said no. But now I’m coming back next year with a vengeance—you don’t let the bad guys get you down.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, No. 57 appeared first on Small Bites.

A quick skip through world history suggests that most every revolution began because someone had to start paying for something that they used to get for free. So when Captain Lawrence Brewing introduced a new policy earlier this month—$5 for 5 sample tokens, $10 for 12, and free tokens for buying merch—one had to wonder if those who’d become accustomed to free brew would be rioting up and down Rte. 9A, pitchforks and muskets in hand.

We polled people in the tasting room Saturday about what they thought of the policy, and waited for the onslaught of complaints. For sure, not everyone’s psyched to be paying for beer—just ask the guys behind the bar, who get an earful now and then. But no one we spoke to—and we asked them to be honest—said they had a problem with the new policy.

“This isn’t a Bud or Coors Light from the local bodega,” says Caitlin Doody of Dobbs Ferry, enjoying a Sun Block alongside her pal Jenn Michaelis of New Rochelle.

Jenn nods in agreement. “A lot of thought goes into each brew,” she adds. “And it’s only a dollar.”

Caitlin tried the Sun Block years ago in Pleasantville, and digs the new iteration, dry hopped with cascade hops for a little extra bite. The pricing policy hardly affects her, she says, because she buys a growler anyway, after sampling a handful to see what she wants, and the purchase pays her back in tokens.

Jenn couldn’t say no to the Wild Rover dry stout (“I have a sweet spot for stouts,” she says), and is also enjoying the Sun Block. “It gets you excited for summer,” she says.

There’s no line for samples and, as of 2 p.m., still an unclaimed table or two. Caitlin suspects it may be related to the new policy. “It weeds out the riff-raff who stand here and drink beer all day,” she says.

Across the room, Mike and Kathy Czajkowski of Schenectady are celebrating their anniversary. They’re staying in Tarrytown for the weekend, and found Captain Lawrence after googling “Tarrytown” and “Brewery.” (Captain Lawrence is actually in Elmsford, a quick hop from Tarrytown.) It is their first time in the brewery, so they never got to experience the former $2 glass/free samples policy. Mike believes the first sample after a tour should be free, but otherwise has no problem paying for fresh craft brew. He’s opted for the Liquid Gold, while Kathy enjoys the Freshchester Pale Ale.

The tasting room gives the Czajkowskis—or Mike, at least—a break from sight-seeing. “There are only so many historic houses I can take him to,” says Kathy. “I figured I’d throw him a bone.”

Mike raises his glass. “This is my bone,” he says.

Melissa Leonard and Monica Sheremeta also came from upstate—Oneonta, in fact. Monica works at the celebrated Ommegang brewery and is enjoying a Golden Delicious she’s purchased a bottle of. Melissa has the Smoked Porter. They too are cool with paying for samples, though Melissa offers a suggestion: Have one of the staff guys offer up tasting notes as she samples the Ginger Man, the Imperial IPA, the new raspberry-fermented Ruby Tuesday. “That’s sort of lacking,” she says. (For the record, there are detailed descriptions of the day’s menu in printouts around the tasting room, but Melissa would prefer they come from an actual person.)

Their beer connoisseur pal who is, for the moment, touring Captain Lawrence will likely have some notes to share when his tour concludes. Later, the threesome is on to Tarrytown to hop the train to the Bronx for Yankees-Orioles.

Elbows on the bar, the brothers Raum are toasting an old friend. Henry (“the older one,” Henry says), a retired Marine, lives in Quantico, Virginia. Willie (“the handsome one,” says Willie) is up in Croton. A pal they worked with in the ‘70s, at the Valhalla train station restaurant, has died, and his friends will soon meet up there and raise several glasses to his memory.

The man used to dress up as the Viking mascot at Valhalla High School games; the brothers say they’ll honor him by partying like Vikings tonight. The Raums—the older one and the handsome one alike—say $5 for five samples of quality, locally brewed beer is nothing to moan about.

“Giving out beer isn’t sustainable,” says Henry. “It keeps things under control, and it’s really not a lot to ask of people.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 56 appeared first on Small Bites.

The announcement was a quiet one, just four quick lines. But it sparked an outsize amount of activity.

The post hit Facebook at 1 p.m.: The Rosso E Marrone, Captain Lawrence’s brown ale fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels, was available in the tasting room as of 4 p.m. Thursday. Just 250 cases—and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

For a certain segment of the population—dudes who truly love a nuanced, albeit not-for-everyone brew known as a sour ale—it was a call to action. Meetings were missed, workdays abruptly truncated and plans inexorably altered, as the fans of the Rosso scrambled to be at Captain Lawrence Brewing by 4.

Ryan Maguire drove down from Albany. He never misses the Captain Lawrence special bottle releases. His beer-trading buddies appreciate the Rosso E Marrone, adds Ryan, and—driving 270 miles round trip up and down I-87—he clearly does too.

“Every time Captain Lawrence does sours,” Ryan says, “I gotta have it.”

In previous years, the brewery would announce the special bottles’ release date in advance, prompting diehards to camp in the parking lot the night before, like technophiles awaiting the new iPhone. To help everyone sleep a little better, Captain Lawrence decided to post the Rosso’s availability a few hours in advance, and let social media do its work.

Which it has. A little before 4 p.m., there are 20 people on line—19 guys and a woman. Alan is in front, having made the trip over the Hudson from Budd Lake, New Jersey. Like Ryan, he makes a point of attending every special release at Captain Lawrence, dating back to the Pleasantville days. Alan is with his friend Siobhan. He too mentions trading buddies, and plans to share the sour.

“I send them all over,” he says. “These will go to Texas, Washington State, California, Minnesota, Illinois. If they want to send something back, that’s great.”

Captain Lawrence’s sour ales, he adds, are big hits on the trading circuit. “Not a lot of breweries make exceptional sour ales,” says Alan.

The doors open at 4, and the pilgrims file in. It becomes evident that the gathering is more than just about buying beer—it’s about being part of an event. Jay from Poughkeepsie—several people we spoke to opted to leave out their last names, perhaps due to them ducking out of work early—is the first to get his hands on the Rosso. Jay fondly recalls the first Rosso release on Valentine’s Day in 2009.

“It was back before you had to sleep out,” he says. “A lot has changed since those years.”

His box of brew tucked under his arm, Jay is on to Peekskill Brewery to add to his craft beer stash, before hopping a train to Manhattan, where he’ll be the most sought after guy at a friend’s beer tasting party.

By 4:05, the retail line has swelled to 40 people; the female contingent has swelled to three. At $15 a pop, the 12.7 ounce bottles are not cheap. Six is the maximum, and everyone gets their six.

There’s a decidedly Grateful Dead concert vibe to the tasting room. Everyone seems to know each other from previous Captain Lawrence special releases, and is psyched to catch up and compare notes on newly discovered beers. They trade brews with faraway friends like Deadheads trade tapes of a particularly hot show. Like the old Dead tours, they blown off work to be here.

Dino Acquarelli of Brookfield, Connecticut did just that, but intends to follow through on plans to take clients to a Rangers game at the Garden in a few hours. But first, there are samples to enjoy. “A great quality local beer is nice to share with friends from different parts of the country,” he says, some of his schwag slated for Nashville, Chicago, California. “We’ll tailgate at a sports event or concert. They’ll bring cool stuff from their region, and I’ll bring some from mine.”

Like many in the tasting room, Dino has made a considerable effort to be here, has shelled out substantial scratch for the beers, and intends to give a bunch of them away.

Dino’s pal Joe Gonzalez, smiling happily with his six bottles of sour in tow, sees things a bit differently.

“I plan to drink them all,” he says. “Every single one.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 55 appeared first on Small Bites.

The calendar has been insisting it’s spring, and finally there was another indicator of the season on the last weekend of March—people hanging out on the back patio at Captain Lawrence Brewing, sampling craft beer, tossing the bocce balls, and thinking about the warm months ahead.

For one party of six from the historic Battle Hill neighborhood in White Plains (“the wrong side of the tracks,” jokes one), it’s a full-on class trip; Dwight Straub assures us that everyone in their party had their permission slips signed. He’s sipping the Smoked Porter, which he deems to be a fitting choice just hours before a giant bunny was set to hop through Westchester, break into our homes, and leave sugary sweets for the kiddies and the mice.

“It’s got a licorice taste,” Dwight says. “Black jelly beans…A very appropriate choice for Easter.”

A friend of the Battle Hill gang had actually given up beer for Lent; not surprisingly, he didn’t make the trip today. “He may have been incarcerated,” quips Mike Hritz of their pal’s decision to lay off the beer.

Frank Vieni is quaffing the Brown Ale. He recently brewed his own batch of a Belgian beer he called Ballpark Red for the baseball season, though it was gone before Opening Day. Dwight’s wife Adrienne is enjoying a Kolsch.

“I’m actually not a beer drinker,” she says, bringing an awkward silence to the patio. It’s punctuated by the sound of dogs barking; there are a high number of them on site today, which the Battle Hill boys think may be related to the inviting fire hydrant smack in the middle of the patio.

Everyone—two legs or four—is digging the warmest day of the year. “The crocuses came through on our front lawn for the first time,” says Dwight. “It inspired us to come here and enjoy the great outdoors.”

The blessed weather has compelled Julie Vanderlee to make the trek from Chester in Orange County. She’s been visiting Captain Lawrence since well before its Elmsford days, selling nuts at the Pleasantville farmer’s market down the road from the brewery’s original locale. Julie’s brought some nuts for the boys behind the bar, and is simply enjoying a quiet moment in the sun with a cup of craft beer. “I went with the Kolsch because it’s a beautiful, sunny day,” she says. “My eagerness about spring led to my taste in beer today.”

Also saying hello to the boys at the bar—and venturing from the northlands, for that matter—are George and Liz Okon of Hopewell Junction. They’re friends with the father of Justin Perrone behind the bar, who’s due in the tasting room at any moment. The Okons are marking their first trip to Captain Lawrence with a couple Kolsches. Thoughts are drifting to summer barbecues; George is eager to take his new smoker for a test run. “Ribs, salmon, trout, wild turkey—-not the stuff you drink,” he says. “You’re invited.”

I’m in.

Across the room, a gaggle of pals from their days growing up in Harrison is relaxing after some hardcore bocce. The guys beat the girls, 8 games to 1. A rematch may follow. Sampling the Winter Ale, Celeste Hofland of West Harrison is taking advantage of the final weekend before a new pricing setup goes into effect at CL.

“Free is a good incentive to try different beers,” she says.

Next up for Celeste: the Ginger Man Ale.

The line for samples is short. The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s retro swing cranks out of the speakers. Author Steven Derosa is discussing Hitchcock with his dog Bogey. The mood is upbeat, despite the fact that someone has parked in the Budget Rental lot again.

Back on the patio, David Peretz is enjoying his good fortune. He’s up from Philly, visiting some old friends, who surprised him with a visit to the brewery. “I wanted to introduce him to something that’s up and coming,” says Steve Rosenberg of White Plains. “I liked the idea of taking the tour and sampling some beers, and the weather is great—I didn’t expect this.”

David sips a 12-ounce cup of the hoppy wheat beer Sun Block. He takes in his surroundings—the sun, the dogs, the buoyant crew from Battle Hill—and smiles. “What could be better?” he says.

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 54 appeared first on Small Bites.

The waiting, as Tom Petty once said, is the hardest part, while some other big thinker famously noted that patience a virtue. So you’ll need a bit of patience as you wait for the compelling collaboration between Captain Lawrence and the Still the One distillery in Port Chester to come to fruition. Still the One is distilling Freshchester Pale Ale into a very intriguing, locally produced whiskey.

Captain Lawrence owner Scott Vaccaro calls the mash-up “floral and fruity, with a hint of hops.”

Now, the waiting part. A small batch may be available for tasting by the end of 2013, while the pale ale whiskey is slated for broader consumption another year or so after that.

The wait for the beloved Rosso E Marrone sour ale won’t be nearly as long. The beer’s release used to prompt diehard fans of the Rosso to drive from miles around to sleep outside the old Pleasantville location, like those camping out for the latest iPhone, before the beer’s release. Captain Lawrence won’t post a release date in advance, but will make the Rosso E Marrone’s availability known on the website soon as the beer, currently bottle-conditioning in the brewery, is ready.

“It’s sitting as we wait for it to carbonate,” says Scott. “The beer will tell us when it’s ready.”

The Rosso won the gold medal among American Sour Ales at the Great American Beer Fest in 2009. While that style of beer is not for everyone, a more widely accessible brew is the Sun Block, which Scott calls an unfiltered American wheat beer dry hopped with cascade hops. Available in the tasting room, Sun Block is a new formulation of an older beer; it was previously a Belgian white. “We’ve cranked up the hops a little,” Scott says. “There’s more flavor and a lemony aroma, thanks to the hops.”

In the big and bold brew department, Scott has ordered up a Baltic Porter for the brewery’s experimental pilot system. Made with Kolsch yeast, it’s a smooth and malty concoction. “We’ve been making porters from Day One but we haven’t played around with the Kolsch yeast in them,” he says. “It’s a nice little add-on.”

Also continuing to ferment is the Frost Monster, a formidable imperial stout that’s hanging out in 50-gallon oak barrels. “It’s coming along nicely,” says Scott, who nonetheless has “no clue” when the Frost Monster will be ready to tap.

Another intriguing, and mega-bodied, brew to look out for: a triple IPA that’s in its earliest stages. “It’s all about the hops,” is about all Scott will say about it.

Finally, the endless winter is trying everyone’s patience as it continues to put spring plans, including al fresco beer sampling, on hold. Try to be patient. “We’re hoping the snow on the bocce court will melt soon,” says Scott, “so we can finally get out there and have some fun.”
—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 53 appeared first on Small Bites.

Captain Lawrence has grown at breakneck pace, so it’s only fitting that the brewery’s logo appears on a race car careening around courses up and down the East Coast these days. While Captain Lawrence also sponsors lacrosse teams (see Notes From the Tasting Room, Vol. 25) and disc golf squads, the brewery’s support of a competitive vintage race car is unique—partially because the hot rod is piloted by Vince Vaccaro, father of brewery founder Scott.

Vince competes in the 8-event Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) series, kicking off last week at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, then bringing together an array of very cool vintage race cars at Virginia International Raceway next month.

Vince—the inspiration behind the brewery’s beloved Belgian-style ale St. Vincent’s Dubbel—is quick to point out that no one is mistaking SVRA for NASCAR. Nobody is trading paint, or banking prize money, or moping after a loss. “While it’s very competitive wheel to wheel racing, it’s a lot of guys having fun,” he says. “It’s good friends and camaraderie.”

The racer bearing the familiar Captain Lawrence Brewing blazing keg is a 1972 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, which hits a top speed of around 130 mph. It’s got a 2L engine and twin Weber 45s (I honestly have no idea what that means), cranks out around 200 horsepower and has a five-speed transmission. Like former Jet Mark Gastineau, The Great Wayne Gretzky and secret agent Maxwell Smart’s sexy counterpart before it, the Alfa Romeo sports #99.

While NASCAR races take place on oval tracks—one unending left turn, to those who don’t exactly embrace the sport—SVRA vintage races are on twisting, turning, elevating and descending road courses that range from 1.5 to around 3.7 miles. Other events this season include races at Watkins Glen, NY, New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

While NASCAR’s bumping and scraping is legendary, contact is intensely frowned upon in Vintage Racing Association derbies. Overly aggressive driving that results in a crash sees the offender booted off the track for the weekend. Vince likens it to a non-contact amateur sports league—intense competition, a few beers and stories afterwards.

Vince is a familiar face around the brewery, handling the books and providing unofficial quality control on the Freshchester Pale Ale and other beers. It’s a quiet Thursday afternoon in the tasting room, Led Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” on the house system, the CL boys cranking out more and more beer in the back. Vince sips a smoked porter; his face lights up when discussing his hobby. “I grew up around race cars,” he says. “It’s something I always wanted to do.”

Vince took second place in his class at Sebring, but is quick to make light of his accomplishment. Perhaps his greater contribution to the circuit is the beer he brings for post-race camaraderie building. While most of his colleagues pine for the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, he says the water weight lost during racing—it can be five pounds—makes the Pale Ale his bev of choice.

“Quite a few of guys know about the brewery,” he says. “They wait for me to come along with beer—I’m a very popular guy.”

The CLB Racing branding appears in the car’s front fender and on the side of the trailer hauling the Alfa Romeo to the next race. One truck driver on I-95 in North Carolina offered an emphatic thumbs-up that signaled a familiarity with Captain Lawrence. When the rig pulled ahead, his New York plate was visible. “I had a laugh at that,” Vince says.

Across the room, Scott tastes a new batch of the Rosso E Marrone sour ale, and appears pleased with the concoction. He’s amused with Dad’s weekend pursuits as well.

“Whatever makes him happy,” Scott says with a smile.

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

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You never really need a reason to pop into Captain Lawrence Brewing, other than the tasty craft beer flowing freely, but Sunday did offer a few bonus ones. For starters, the 50 degree temps were making that surprise snowstorm a distant memory. And it was the first day of that unofficial holiday known as Daylight Savings Time—the sun still shining bold and bright close to closing time.

Amidst a pervasive feeling that Winter 2013 was…knock on wood…all but kicked, people looked longingly out the tasting room window at the beer patio, and thought of spring. “I look forward to the snow melting on the bocce court,” says Katie Jones of Norwalk as she samples a Liquid Gold. “I want this snow to clear out.”

Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” warms the tasting room. It’s a low-key afternoon at the brewery, much of the region not quite hip to the fact that Captain Lawrence is now open on Sundays. That suits Katie’s elbow-bending mate, Jill Duckro of Port Chester, just fine. “Saturday’s a little too crazy,” she says. “Sunday is nice and mellow.”

Jill, sipping a Ginger Man Ale, has been visiting the tasting room since the brewery’s Pleasantville days. Whenever family would trek in from Chicago and Ohio, she took them to the brewery. Eventually, her visitors would simply call from the Tappan Zee and plan to meet her at Captain Lawrence before making it to Port Chester. “Whenever company is in town, I bring ‘em here,” Jill says. “I love to show the place off.”

Jill just got off the phone with her sister, who broke the news that she’ll be a grandmother. Family appears to be a recurring theme in the tasting room; Laura and Eric Jacobson of Ossining are there with their daughter Melissa after seeing “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“Real good,” says Eric of the film.

“Not as good as the beer here,” adds Melissa as she enjoys the Liquid Gold.

Across the room, Victoria Martin and David Michael Garr of Greenwich aren’t quite family yet, but they will be following their nuptials July 5^th. Preparations are going swimmingly, they say, and the pair has made the bold call of avoiding the typical Van Morrison/“Have I Told You Lately?” first-dance song for Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You.” “Just a few things to tie up,” says David coolly.

They’re tipping a few glasses with Victoria’s pal Meghan Dancho from Queens; Victoria has the Imperial IPA, Meghan the Ginger Man, and both dug the recently devoured Deep Blue Sea salmon hot dogs from Village Dog (“Amazing,” says Victoria).

“Meghan was coming out, so I figured the brewery would be a fun spot to meet,” Victoria says. “It’s something different to do on a weekend afternoon.”

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Stony Point, NY mates Darrell Lowe, Claudia Omelanczuk and Andrew DeBellis are visiting for the first time. “My dad’s been here before,” says Andrew, “so we decided to check it out.”

Andrew sips the Smoked Porter, featuring coffee, licorice and dark fruit flavors, and the trio discusses some other flavor-rich options for dinner. Darrell is lobbying for the “Table Buster” pork/chicken/brisket/sausage/ribs cornucopia at Bailey’s Smokehouse across the Hudson. He too digs the brewery’s new Sunday hours. “It’s better than going to church,” Darrell says with a smile.

At a nearby table, Carlos Carrea of Hackensack is also contemplating a trip across the river. After his car died earlier in the day, his friend Marc Kersh of Yonkers was kind enough to try to fix it, albeit unsuccessfully. Determined not to let a balky alternator ruin a perfectly good Sunday, the two are unwinding with a pair of Brown Bird Brown Ales.

“After the car trouble,” says Marc, “we said, ya know what? Let’s go to the brewery.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 51 appeared first on Small Bites.

It was a historic day in the Captain Lawrence tasting room—the first Sunday in brewery history in which the tasting room is open for business. In other words, whatever your Sunday routine involves—be it sleeping in, brunch, worship, cleaning, lamenting the pending work week, or all of the above—you can now add sampling craft brew at Captain Lawrence to the list.

One could tell it was a special day by some of the names in the tasting room, including Jeremy and Becky Beers of Milford, Connecticut. (The “Who’s On First?” opportunities announce themselves immediately upon meeting the Beers’s: Up for a couple Beers tonight? Sure! Are those Beck’s beers? No, she’s drinking Captain Lawrence!)

Jeremy is feeling on top of the world, and Becky is simply happy to have her husband back on terra firma. See, he’s fresh off his first-ever helicopter pilot mission—a Groupon offer he took advantage of that allowed him to fly a helicopter out of Westchester Airport…with a seasoned co-pilot with overruling privileges seated next to him, like you had in driver’s ed.

“I figured, it was an experience I may never get to do again,” Jeremy says.

Trekking in from Connecticut, Becky and Jeremy scoped out some other things to do in the area after the chopper excursion, and saw the brewery was open. Becky is enjoying the Chocoholic Stout (“Not to chocolatey, a nice balance,” she says), while Jeremy, a home brewer, enjoys the Winter Ale. “It’s a real nice malty beer with a small hint of spice,” he says. “How it should be.”

Across the room, Mike Rubino of Washington, DC and Joanna Berry of Nyack will have to wait to practice their landings for another day. The two were to ski in the Poconos, until Nyack pals Amy Cymore and Allie Greenberg coerced them into spending Sunday at the brewery. “We’ll leave late,” says Joanna with a smile as she sips the mysteriously titled Vienna lager known as The Implication. “We’ll ski tomorrow.”

The group is enjoying lamb merguez hot dogs and mac & cheese from Village Dog with their brews. “This was on our agenda for Saturday,” says Amy as she tastes a Brown Ale. “I mean Sunday.”

Hanging around another barrel, the Ossining trio of Adam Lawrence (no relation to the Captain), Stephanie Noll and Jose Cano are enjoying a “lazy Sunday,” as Stephanie puts it. The crew has been meeting up at the brewery on Saturdays dating back to its Pleasantville days, and appreciates having an extra weekend day to choose from. “It’s a good development,” says Adam.

Jose’s sipping the India Pale Ale, brewed with classic Northwestern U.S. hops. Stephanie opts for the Liquid Gold, and Adam’s celebrating Sunday with a Chocoholic Stout. Today, Adam’s grad school homework is a victim of the new Sunday hours. Jose says he blew off a nap. Stephanie was simply enjoying a lazy day anyway.

“It’s always good to enjoy a couple beers, and fill up the growlers,” Adam says.

Elsewhere in the brewery, Suzi and Jason Tipa of Millwood needed to get out of the house after a stressful day of booking a vacation to London, which will include a side trip to Dublin—including the Guinness brewery, the Jameson distillery and Trinity College to check out a very old book. Photographed for Notes From the Tasting Room Vol. 6 (“Barley and the Chocolate Factory”) at Captain Lawrence in a Guinness t-shirt, Jason promises to redeem himself by rocking a Captain Lawrence T in the Guinness tasting room. Suzi, a dance instructor, usually works Saturdays, but saw a curious development on the Captain Lawrence website earlier in the week: Starting Feb. 24, her favorite brewery was open on Sundays.

After a quick trip to Home Depot in Hawthorne, Suzi and Jason were faced with a Choose Your Own Adventure-worthy dilemma.

“It was left to go home, or right to Captain Lawrence,” she says with a smile. “We figured, we might as well make sure the website was right.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 50 appeared first on Small Bites.

What happens when extreme weather meets extreme beer? Sadly, the weather wins. At least it did this time.

Captain Lawrence had planned to make the schlep up I-95 to be represented at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston this past weekend, but 2 1/2 feet of snow gave the Big Dig a whole new meaning in Massachusetts. So the good people of Massachusetts will have to wait a bit to try the Captain’s extreme entries, including pilot batch No. 27, Chocoholic Stout, along with Smoke From the Oak aged in rum barrels, and the fearsome Frost Monster imperial stout. It would’ve been the first venture outside the brewery for the Frost Monster, which is likely to weigh in at a frightful 15% ABV.

The Extreme Beer Fest will be rescheduled, though no date has been set. Frost Monster will continue to ferment until then.

Amidst this brutal winter weather, is it too early to start thinking about St. Patrick’s Day? Not at Captain Lawrence. The brewery has a handful of special brews in the works that offer a tip of the tam o’shanter to the patron saint of beer, including a dry Irish stout and a red IPA. Producers of world-class craft brew right here in Westchester, Captain Lawrence wouldn’t go near that seasonal cliché known as green beer, right?

Not so fast.

“Scott Tobin, our resident Irish guy, told me he wanted to make green beer,” says Scott Vaccaro, Captain Lawrence founder. “I said, I’m not adding food coloring to beer.”

They found a compromise by adding the green nutritional supplement known as spirulina to the mix. (For what it’s worth, the Aztecs swore by spirulina back in the 16^th Century. But you probably knew that.) The end result, in a knowing nod to the bubbly green potable that rankles the beer purists in mid-March every year, is a beer called Gimmicky Green Ale. Look for it in the tasting room as St. Pat’s approaches. And remember—spirulina is a lot healthier than food coloring.

New stuff aside, a few old favorites are back in the tasting room after a hiatus. The Ginger Man Ale, a Belgian-styled amber brewed with ginger in conjunction with the beloved Manhattan craft brew cathedral The Ginger Man, is back. So is the Xtra Gold American Tripel Ale, which has not been seen around the tasting room in several months. Offering a distinctive mix of Belgian yeast strain and Amarillo hops, it’s in bottles and on draft in the tasting room.

And on the heels of producing its first ever India Pale Ale, brewed with aromatic Yakima hops, Captain Lawrence is taking on another first in the brewery’s seven year history: A lager. Justin Sturges is piloting that project; made with German yeast, there’s no name yet for his lager creation.

In closing, if you’ve ever experienced the challenge of fitting in a weekend visit to the brewery amidst the usual domestic duties—or, more likely, you’ve experienced the challenge of fitting in the domestic duties amidst the usual visit to the brewery—you will have more weekend time to do both. As of February 20, Captain Lawrence will be open Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy your day of rest with a really good local craft beer.

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 49 appeared first on Small Bites.

A little over 24 hours before kickoff in New Orleans, the Captain Lawrence tasting room was as jammed as Bourbon Street—the lines for growlers more typically seen on the eve of Thanksgiving and holiday weekends. Interest in filling jugs with Lombardi Trophy-worthy brews such as Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, Freshchester Pale Ale and the Captain’s Kolsch was sky high. Interest in the Super Bowl—which ended up being a thriller that went down to the wire—seemed flatter than Joe Flacco’s personality.

Joanne Wilson, a bartender at the Lazy Boy Saloon, wasn’t quite sure which teams were in the big game. But she clearly had absorbed at least a whiff of the pre-game hype. “I know it’s the two brothers coaching against each other,” she said while sampling the smoked porter with her sister, Julia, of Pleasantville, and friends.

Joanne nonetheless offered a ringing endorsement for her White Plains employer. “Fifty beers on tap, including Captain Lawrence!” she said. “And I’m a hard worker!”

Across the room, Naomi Crawley—we changed her last name upon her request to prevent shoulder-pads-and-helmets-wearing protestors in front of her Chappaqua home—wasn’t exactly indifferent toward the Super Bowl. She’s downright anti-football…American football, that is. “Don’t get me started,” said the Londoner. “It’s 30 seconds of play and five minutes of [mucking] around! In rugby, they don’t wear all that ridiculous gear. Give me rugby or English soccer any day!”

One is reminded of the pundit George Will’s take on football, which he described as combining the two worst aspects of America: “Violence punctuated by committee meetings.” (You might add power outages to that list.)

Naomi and her husband were stocking up on Captain Lawrence beer to have a few friends over for the Bowl—and other diversions. “The men will do the manly thing and watch the game,” she said. “The ladies will watch the commercials, and wait for Downton Abbey.”

Indeed, it was tough to find much enthusiasm for the big game, especially with the Giants finished in December, and the Jets done in, oh, September. Tom Beaulieu, of Ringwood, New Jersey, hails from Massachusetts and was sorry not to see the Brady bunch in action. “The Patriots aren’t in it,” he said, “so I don’t care.”

Friend Trace Baker, a Portlander based in Bronxville, planned to spend Super Bowl Sunday with a growler in one arm and a baby in the other. “Other than taking this home, not much,” he said, hoisting a 64-ounce jug from Rogue Ales of Oregon that he planned to fill with the Imperial IPA. “I have a one-year-old at home and her mother is away.”

Trace had some “change” on the Niners, he added, and would root accordingly.

Hanging out in the much quieter pen inside the brewery, Greg Giampia of White Plains and Michael Conte of Fairfield, old pals from the University of Rhode Island, were digging the new Chocoholic Stout. “Delicious,” said Greg. “As light as a stout can be.”

Greg was planning to watch the game at the Lazy Boy Saloon, where, hopefully, he would not ask bartender Joanne to explain the nuances of the nickel defense. Michael was rooting for the Ravens.

“I’m going Niners, then,” countered Greg. “Whatever he says is s**t.”

While Ravens running back/Westchester product Ray Rice had some 914 locals rooting for Baltimore, many in the tasting room were rooting not for the Niners or Ravens, but for themselves in the office pool. Frank Pansuti of Poughquag, in Dutchess County, planned to hit a few parties, and said he was hoping for Ray Lewis to get arrested. Larry DeCamillo of Hawthorne was going to swing by “VTB’s” place, VTB short for the colorfully-monikered Vinnie the Butcher. Friend Carmine Oliva of Scarsdale would be at Leewood Country Club in Eastchester and would watch the game “out of the corner of my eye” while playing cards.

“No one cares who wins,” said Frank. “We just want our numbers to come through.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale.

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 48 appeared first on Small Bites.

For Paul Feiner, longtime town supervisor of Greenburgh, home of Captain Lawrence, it is hardly beer-drinking weather. Paul prefers a beer in the heat of summer, preferably after a long bike ride or run.

“On a hot day, there’s nothing like a good beer to quench your thirst,” he says.

Instead, it’s 20 degrees out. But when Captain Lawrence produces a beer called the Pride of Elmsford (the village of Elmsford is part of the town of Greenburgh), Paul is happy to come by the tasting room and give the hearty ale a taste.

The Pride of Elmsford is an American pale ale brewed with English yeast and five malts, and dry hopped with U.S. hops. If you missed it, the Greenburgh Daily Voice gave the brew some love.

Paul does as well.

“Very good,” he says with a satisfied smile.

Paul, the supervisor since 1991, has a special guest in tow: his 91 year old father Phil, who has volunteered at town hall for the past 20 years, keeping an eye on town finances. Phil clearly has a nose for numbers, inquiring about Captain Lawrence’s yearly barrel output, and the alcohol level on the various brews. All pack more punch than what Phil used to quaff in the Air Force. “They gave us 3.2% beer,” he says while sipping the Captain’s Kolsch (ABV 5.5%, if you’re scoring at home). “You had to have a lot of them to get happy.”

Paul admits he’s not a beer connoisseur; he’s perfectly fine with a Bud or Coors. But he credits beer with helping get his blood pumping again after running the New York Marathon six years ago (“I couldn’t feel my feet,” he says), and he’s positively pumped to have a world-class craft brewer in Elmsford after spending its first six years in Pleasantville. “In a year, Captain Lawrence has definitely become the most popular business in town,” says Paul. “It’s definitely put Greenburgh on the map.”

Paul will be back at the brewery February 14. Every month, the Westchester Municipal Officials Association, a collection of town supervisors, mayors and councilmen, gets together, and Greenburgh hosts the February wingding—at Captain Lawrence, naturally. “It will probably be the most successful Municipal Officials Association dinner we’ve had,” says Paul.

When he’s not running the largest town in Westchester, home to over 88,000, Paul unwinds by running or cycling around the county. He mentions a Special Olympics bike ride he took with John and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. years ago, from Westchester to Vermont. He’s cycled from here to Washington several times as well. “I may be the slowest cyclist, but I always finish,” he says.

Paul continues to lure new businesses to Greenburgh. He says he can go the extra mile for them by talking them up on his WVOX/1460 AM radio show (he’s also the rare town supervisor with a blog, at pfeiner.blogspot.com), and offering a degree of service other town chiefs may not match. Recently, he sent Captain Lawrence Brewing owner Scott Vaccaro a Wall Street Journal article about a bicycle built for 16, called the PedalPub, that he thought might be a great marketing opportunity, cruising down the Bronx River Parkway on Bicycle Sundays, adorned in CL logos.

“If a business has a problem, they can reach out to me and I’ll call back in a few hours,” he says. “We want the town to be partners and help them be successful.”

Captain Lawrence’s arrival, Paul adds, has sparked interest from other businesses. “Any time a company like Captain Lawrence comes to town, it creates positive momentum,” he says. “It makes it easier to attract other businesses.”

Paul laments that budget cuts have made Westchester “less fun.” But with an ice rink, golf driving range, mini-golf, the Sportime USA amusement center and various kiddie gyms all a 9-iron from the brewery, Elmsford has emerged as Westchester’s playground. Paul, who’s currently pushing for a new sports complex on Dobbs Ferry Road, credits Captain Lawrence for adding a little zip to the region.

“A place like Captain Lawrence is a little different,” Supervisor Feiner says. “It makes the county a more fun place to be located in.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 47 appeared first on Small Bites.

With the expansive Captain Lawrence tasting room in Elmsford reaching its one-year anniversary, a bit of reflecting on the original digs in Pleasantville may be in order. While most everyone enjoys the 1,500 square feet of beer-sampling nirvana, the food selections and the patio for the fair-weather seasons—none of which was available in Pleasantville—many will always harbor fond memories of the brewery’s early days six miles north. What the grungy 300-square-foot tasting room on Castleton Street lacked in amenities, it made up for in character.

Word spread like a virus when the new tasting room opened, and people came to 444 Saw Mill River Road in flocks. The once intimate Captain Lawrence family multiplied almost overnight; what was likely one or two degrees of separation between founder Scott Vaccaro and the typical Saturday sipper was suddenly a few degrees more.

“The first two weeks, my thought was, they’ve ruined a good thing,” admits Steven DeRosa, an author, with his ubiquitous dog Bogie. “With all the hype, there was a line out the door for samples.”

DeRosa notes one key attribute of the new space: the experimental brewhouse that serves up eclectic, big-flavor beers such as the Pride of Elmsford ale in his hand. (The story of how the Pride of Elmsford, an American pale ale made of English yeast, came to be is here.)

Joanne Flynn was bummed to find Captain Lawrence was out of her beloved Smoked Porter in Notes From the Tasting Room, Vol. 42, but found it flowing freely on Saturday. “Now I’m happy,” she says.

She and husband John, of White Plains, recall the very early days of the brewery. She lived in Pleasantville, and they would see Captain Lawrence taps around town. “We’d see it in bars, and we’d wonder, where the hell in Pleasantville is it?” John says.

They eventually found it on a dead-end street, across from a graveyard. John sampled the Liquid Gold, and it was love at first sip. “That was it for me,” he says.

They recall everyone appearing to know each other at the old place, the pig roasts, a schnauzer who constantly tried to drink his owner’s beer, and a wee bit of traffic before holidays. “The line went from inside the brewery, out the door, and out to the street,” John says.

Brendan Randall of the Bronx and fiancée Emily Main of Hellerton, Pennsylvania knew the Castleton Street locale well. She’s sipping the Winter Ale, while Brendan enjoys the Pride of Elmsford.

“It looked like the kind of place where some college guy decided to brew beer,” says Emily. “It felt like a startup, a small business.”

Indeed, it was.

The new tasting room is a more “sophisticated” place to hang, she adds. “People seek it out now,” says Emily. “It used to be more something you would stumble on.”

Captain Lawrence fans mention missing the ample parking in Pleasantville, the train station nearby and, as Nate Rankin of Tarrytown puts it, the unique feeling of drinking amidst giant sacks of beer ingredients.

But most are happy to trade that for lots of elbow room, a bocce court, a far wider selection of craft beers, and tasty morsels, such as the Brown Ale Hot Dog, from Village Dog and the various food trucks that set up shop outside. Just like at the old place, you can bring your baby or your dog, sip world-class beer and chat about beer and life with the scruffy gents behind the bar.

The expanded space, and expanded word of mouth, now attract people like Marisa Gianfortune and Christie Morse, who trekked up from Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan after reading the new site’s “phenomenal” reviews, says Marisa, on Yelp.com. They never visited the P-ville space, but are making new memories in Elmsford. They’re tossing dice on a barrel, a game they call “Golf,” and reflecting on the brewery tour they just concluded, which included a surprise tasting of the Frost Monster Imperial Stout that’s set to debut soon. “Most delicious beer I’ve ever had,” says Marisa with a satisfied smile.

It took some time, but Steven DeRosa eventually came around to the new Captain Lawrence home. “There were a few hiccups, but they grew into the place,” he says. “It’s the same vibe Pleasantville had—but on a grander scale.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 46 appeared first on Small Bites.

While the sun failed to make its rumored cameo over the weekend, the warm temps were enough to make one’s thoughts wander to spring. Springtime is definitely on the brain at Captain Lawrence these days, where Scott Vaccaro and the boys are brewing up a batch of the beloved spring-summer seasonal beer Sun Block for the first time in three years. The mix is markedly different from the previous iteration, says Scott. What was a Belgian wit beer will be a hoppier fair-weather brew.

“We reformulated it—it’s a souped up version of an American wheat beer,” says Scott. “It’s a nice, crisp, refreshing, citrusy beer, with a backbone of American hops.”

Look for Sun Block in six packs and on tap in the tasting room come March.

The tasting room has been open in Elmsford for just about a year, so the brewery figured it would do something nice for the village in which it brews. “The Pride of Elmsford” is the latest creation in the experimental brewhouse. The mastermind of Ryan Kipp, Pride of Elmsford is a dry-hopped, English style ale. The small-batch beer should be available for consumption this week.

Elsewhere in the brewery, the fearsome Frost Monster, an imperial stout that aspires to be the strongest beer in Captain Lawrence history, continues to bubble ominously. “It’s mellowing out…It’s quietly resting,” says Scott.

And when might the Frost Monster be available to the public?

“One of these days,” says Scott. “It will tell us when it’s ready.”

Here’s what is ready: A truckload of Re-Intro IPA, along with Captain Lawrence standbys Freshchester Pale Ale, Liquid Gold and Captain’s Kolsch, shipped out of Elmsford, headed across the Hudson, late last week. As the Re-Intro name suggests, Captain Lawrence is again available in New Jersey after a years-long hiatus.

The Empire State’s own Captain Lawrence India Pale Ale, meanwhile, is slated to be bottled and kegged the week of January 21. And a fresh batch of the crazy-popular Captain’s Reserve Imperial India Pale Ale, the bold and hoppy double IPA, never seems to last long enough in the tasting room, should be available shortly thereafter. “We had to ramp up production on it,” Scott says. “We can’t make enough of it.”

The increased production—with the new year, Captain Lawrence beer became available across New York State—has come despite some assembly line glitches. Late last week, a gear on the bottle rinser went kaput, throwing the bottling system out of whack. The life of a brewery owner may seem glamorous, but Scott could be found making multiple trips to the supply shop in the Bronx last week for parts. “I’ve got to go back there,” he says, nodding toward the brewing facility, “and get my hands dirty.”

Hopefully his trip upstate goes smoother. Scott is hitting all corners of the state this week, spreading the word about the newest beer available in New York State bars, delis and supermarkets. Monday is Buffalo, Tuesday is Rochester, Wednesday is Syracuse, Thursday is Utica, and Friday finds Scott in Albany. Each stop has a special Captain Lawrence event planned.

“We’re gonna have some fun, meet a lot of people, and hang out with our new distributors,” he says. “We’re spreading the word about Captain Lawrence beer all over the state.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 45 appeared first on Small Bites.

It was, simply put, the greatest assembly of exquisite hops since the NBA’s Slam-Dunk contest. New to the Captain Lawrence lineup was the Re-Intro NJ IPA, a classic American-style concoction dry hopped with cascade and palisade hops, made special for the Garden State. There was the small-batch Belgian IPA, made of Belgian yeast and American dry hops; the Six N’ Change Black IPA, an alchemic mix of malts and hops; and of course the flagship, Freshchester Pale Ale.

All that was missing on this blue-sky Saturday at the brewery is the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, again a victim of supply not quite matching exuberant demand.

First, a quick note about IPAs. The British invented the India Pale Ale a few hundred years ago, when they hopped the heck out of their beers to preserve the flavor when shipping them all the way to India.

A gaggle of SUNY Purchase alumni is gathered around a table for this Hopapalooza. Casandra Maniotis of Dobbs Ferry works at the Pleasantville Farmer’s Market, selling Tierra Farm nuts, and brought some organic delicacies for the boys behind the bar—in exchange for a Black IPA. “It’s very hoppy, with very fresh hops,” Casandra says. “I really like it.”

Friend Sam Feinberg of Chappaqua has one of the more intriguing day jobs in the room—he runs the children’s center at a women’s prison in Northern Westchester. He’s passed on the various IPAs for the Winter Ale—no slouch in the body and flavor department either. “We’re catching up,” he says of his college mates. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. We’re old friends, getting old together.”

[Editor’s Note: They are Class of 2010. They are, by no one’s measure, old.]

Another Purchase pal, Mike Villata, enjoys the Liquid Gold and proffers a sticker that says, simply, SMILE. I try not to, but do.

“When you come out of Purchase,” explains Casandra, “you go around spreading positive energy.”

The good vibes abound. It’s a gorgeous day, the temps defying the weather dudes on TV and creeping into the mid 40s. I’m looking out the back door, thinking about how you could almost play bocce in this weather, just as Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Looking Out My Back Door” fittingly comes on the house system.

Clear water is about the best Penny Yellen of Mamaroneck can stomach. She and husband Anthony spent the previous night celebrating a friend’s birthday at Molly Spillane’s. The wine, laments Penny, flowed freely.

Anthony wears a Harley-Davidson hat and Penny sports a Porsche jacket, but both are in low gear today. Anthony sits atop a keg while sipping a Pale Ale; Penny stands and sips her water. The arrival of her County Fair hot dog—chili, provolone sauce, onions—from the Village Dog guys lifts Penny’s spirits.

They’d toured the Yuengling brewery over the summer, and were keen for such an adventure closer to home. “We’d been looking for another brewery tour,” says Penny.

Across the tasting room, Megan and Meagan are skipping the tour. Besides claiming the award for Most Similar Names, Megan McCue and Meagan Prescott win for Furthest Distance Traveled; Megan is from Allentown, PA, while Meagan is from Stamford. “They don’t have anything like this in Allentown,” says Meagan, “so I thought it would be fun for Megan.”

Stamford Meagan is digging the Belgian IPA. “It’s not your typical IPA,” she says. “It resonates in the mouth…the taste is lasting.”

Allentown Megan is quaffing the Smoked Porter. “It’s a mouthful,” she says, adding that the Belgian ale Liquid Gold is more her speed.

The two have an eventful eve ahead: filling up a pair of growlers (the Pale Ale and the Belgian IPA, most likely) on the way out, watching football, eating pizza, then downing Sake Bombs at Kona Grill in Stamford.

The Me(a)gans describe the cult of Sake Bombs for the uninitiated. They involve chopsticks, shot glasses, and, if done right, disapproving stares from others in the restaurant. “The family next to you looks at you funny,” says Meagan. “But it’s festive.”

Talk about hopping mad: The Re-Intro IPA supply expires a few hours before closing time. But worry not—the brewery debuts its first-ever “Captain Lawrence India Pale Ale” in a matter of weeks.

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 44 appeared first on Small Bites.

We are on the cusp of the new year, when the media guilts us into embarking on resolutions designed to make us healthier, wealthier and maybe even happier–at least until we shamefully give them up a few weeks, or perhaps months, later.

Fittingly, Anne and Ralph Defino of Briarcliff, along with their Manhattan-based daughter Lauren, have popped into the brewery fresh off a viewing of Guilt Trip. The film gets three resounding sets of downward thumbs from the Defino clan. “The commercials were funny,” is about the kindest thing Anne can say about the Streisand-Rogen would-be comedy.

Their feedback on Captain Lawrence beer is considerably brighter. Ralph is enjoying the Six N’ Change Black IPA, Anne the Freshchester Pale Ale, and Lauren the Liquid Gold. Anne and Ralph have filled up a growler of the Black IPA, a small-batch beer brewed by Scott Vaccaro, to liven up a New Year’s Eve party up in Danbury. Lauren will be stocking up on Liquid Gold later on in the city, for a party out in Brooklyn.

“They sell Captain Lawrence at my [local Harlem] Fine Fare,” Lauren says. “That makes me so happy.”

Asked about their New Year’s resolutions, Anne’s eyes shoot a dagger toward hubby Ralph. “I’m hoping someone loses some weight,” she says.

Ralph has retired from coaching every sport under the sun at Croton-Harmon High, and concedes he’s got to spend a little more time at the gym—and a little less time in the sauna when he does go.

Right on cue, a fat batch of Village Dog French fries is set on the table. Awkwardness shares the air with the smell of grease. Ralph shrugs, smiles, and helps himself. It’s not yet 2013, he says without saying.

A few tables away is the so-called Brew Crew—a gang of old neighborhood pals who meet at Captain Lawrence each year between Christmas and New Year’s. All went to high school together, and most of them date back to kindergarten at Warburg Elementary in Hartsdale—Class of ’68.

“We enjoy the diversity of beers, and the community atmosphere here,” says Roberto LeBron, who made the trip from Berkeley Heights, NJ.

Crew member Aaron Norris of White Plains is sipping a Black IPA. Jimmy Danyko of Pleasantville likes the experimental brew BK Lounge—Scott Tobin’s Alt-style beer brewed with English chocolate malt. “Pleasantville…the birthplace of Captain Lawrence,” says Jimmy, a firefighter, raising his glass. “In a few years, you’ll be saying, ‘Sam Adams who?’”

The barbs fly freely across the table as if the Brew Crew guys are schoolboys once again. The resolutions flow as well, ranging from the familiar (“Exercise again”, “Get back onto the [Captain Lawrence-sponsored] Fairview FD hockey team”) to the jokey (“Go back to women”), the business-oriented (“Get Captain Lawrence as an insurance client”), and the wince-inducing (“Get a colonoscopy”).

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Frederick Walker of Greenburgh is sipping the Black IPA—a very popular choice on the day—with James Royster of White Plains. James vows to spend a little more time at the brewery in 2013. “It’s very calm, a good environment,” he says. “Everyone’s friendly—I’ve met a lot of people just from tasting beer.”

Frederick’s resolution is a bit more complicated. “I’m going to give up…not women,” he says, choosing his words carefully, “but…some women.”

Here’s hoping Frederick knows which to avoid in ‘13.

Meanwhile, Joe Pepe of Elmsford, and his exceedingly cute Yorkie called Maximus, is enjoying a little time off from the stress of police and EMT work, and looking forward to partying with some old Westlake High buddies on New Year’s. The resolution thing? Joe’s not having it.

“Why try to do something,” Joe says, “when you know you’re just gonna break it?”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 43 appeared first on Small Bites.

Twas a few nights before Christmas

And the brewery was rocking.

People sampling craft brews and wondering

If growlers would fit in a stocking.

The Pale Ale! The Brown Bird!

The Captain’s Reserve!

Fine beers from Westchester

We all richly deserve.

Jim Hundzynski was picking up Kolsch for the Eve

The Pleasantville man had a few culinary tricks up his sleeve.

For Jim was hosting the Feast of the Seven Fishes.

And thus ensuring he would not have to wash dishes.

Michelle Crepeau came from Sleepy Hollow

On break from her job as a teacher.

Her friends found the tasting room preferable

To that dopey film called “Jack Reacher.”

Teaching kids French, Michelle actually prefers Merlot

But when the gang was Lawrence-bound,

She said, “Oui, I’ll go.”

They’re celebrating the fact that life has gone on

Even after the Mayans believed we were done.

Her pal Melissa Voviero says she’s enjoying a “Grolsch.”

An honest mistake when you’re sipping a Kolsch.

The Village Dog guys are baking Mac & Cheese with Orecchiette

They bring you your grub when your order is ready.

Or they can make you a Brown Ale Dog in cranberry relish.

Paired with a fresh brew, it sounds mighty delish.

Bill and Kathy Brown made Black IPA their selection

The beer was rebrewed after winning the Captain’s election.

They’re sipping their beers while sharing wistful talk

As the old place in Pleasantville was a four minute walk.

They used to go there after reffing, still wearing their stripes.

The Imperial IPA washed away those soccer moms’ gripes.

And back where they’re brewing

The guys are tossing the Nerf.

Randy would fare better than Mark Sanchez

On the Jets’ MetLife turf.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” cranks

From a big set of speakers.

Freddie Mercury meshes with the sounds

Of the football guys’ sneakers.

At one cozy table is a clan that’s called Flynn.

Joanne, John and Krystal of White Plains just walked in.

What’s better than sipping some ale with your daughter?

Well, Joanne wishes they had her favorite—Smoked Porter.

The only Porter that’s on tap is Imperial.

Joanne’s refined palate finds that less than ethereal.

Her nails are painted with snowflakes

Or maybe they’re stars.

John says the Liquid Gold tastes better

Here than in bars.

A few brews with your family toward the end of December

Make for some moments that you’ll always remember.

The merriest of Christmases from your friends at CL

And may your 2013 end up ridiculously well!

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 42 appeared first on Small Bites.

Not unlike those elfin fellows up in the North Pole, the Captain Lawrence crew has been working like dervishes to satisfy wish lists all over the region. (The Captain Lawrence elves are much larger than their North Pole counterparts, but sport similar beards.) CL’s distribution grows exponentially in the coming weeks—covering Northern New Jersey and the whole of New York State—and someone’s got to make all that Freshchester Pale Ale, Captain’s Kolsch and Liquid Gold.

The two rookie fermentation tanks featured in Volume 37 have been coming in handy.

“It’s crazy right now,” says owner Scott Vaccaro. “It’s the busiest we’ve ever been.”

Look for Captain Lawrence beer in these new markets by the end of the year, or early into 2013.

To promote Captain Lawrence to the uninitiated, Scott and CL sales manager Keith Fekete are hitting the road January 14 for a five-day tour across the state, starting in Buffalo. They’re meeting with reps, retailers and bar managers, and each night will tip a few with consumers at Captain Lawrence promotional events statewide. “We’ll say hello to as many people as we can and drink as many beers as we can,” says Scott. “I’m looking forward to it. I hope I make it through the week in one piece.”

Increased production of the standbys has not hampered innovation down at the brewery. Captain Lawrence’s India Pale Ale—a first in the brewery’s history—will be brewed this week, and on tap in the tasting room in early January. New Jersey gets its own Re-Intro IPA, while New York State gets the Captain Lawrence IPA.

“Seven years without an IPA” says Scott. “Everyone here loves to drink them, so it’s time to do it.”

After taking small batch Election Day honors last month, the black IPA known as Six ‘N Change, created to mark Captain Lawrence’s sixth (and change) anniversary earlier this year, is being reprised, with a slight tweak to its profile. “It’s not quite as strong, but all the flavors are still there,” says Scott.

The experimental brewhouse continues to crank out new and intriguing creations. There is Will o’ the Wisp—a Belgian IPA from Chris Rome that is dry hopped and features the same Belgian yeast as the Liquid Gold. That should be ready in two weeks.

“Will o’ the Wisp” calls to mind something light, something ephemeral, something gossamer. “Frost Monster” calls to mind the opposite. That’s the name for Justin Perrone’s imperial stout, named for his dog. “It’s been bubbling away for two weeks—a nice, slow ferment,” says Scott. “This one will definitely be a monster beer.”

Uncaged in January, Frost Monster will be the strongest beer in Captain Lawrence history.

Also packing a punch is the Winter Ale—a malty, toasty and spicy concoction that’s for sale in six packs.

December 29 marks a year of brewing in the Elmsford facility, but the Captain and his crew have been too busy of late to plan anything special for the anniversary. “It’s been a little stressful, but it’s been fun,” Scott says. “At the end of the day, we get to have a beer.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 41 appeared first on Small Bites.

It is, in modern technology parlance, Trivia 2.0—a flashy upgrade on Captain Lawrence Brewing Trivia Night, featuring a little Name That Tune, a speed round, and winners of the various 5-question rounds receiving tickets redeemable for a gift card, keg, and other Captain Lawrence-related swag. For the first time, the trivia derby is in the brewery itself, as opposed to the tasting room, the fermentation tank skyline serving as a dramatic backdrop to the proceedings.

If there’s a favorite going in, it is The Angry Seamen—frequent visitors to the CL winners circle. So revered/reviled is the Seamen crew that another team assembled with the sole purpose of taking them down: Angry Seamen’s Worst Nightmare is the name of that upstart outfit, with a risqué word tacked on for good measure.

“They win so many weeks, we decided to name our team after them,” says Jean Barrow of Tarrytown as she enjoys a Kolsch with teammate Lindsay Santoro of Hawthorne.

The Seamen take it as a compliment. “It means we’re doing something right,” says Rich Zerbo of Valhalla.

After a few rounds of straight-up question and answer, the format switches to Name That Tune. The first song is a lively R&B number that gets people moving. The second is a riffy rock track that prompts some spastic air guitar from one player. Following that is a tune from Duran Duran; CL bartender Rob C. is comfortable enough in his masculinity to sing along with the foppish New Wavers.

The team No Second Place came up with a moniker that was all about not finishing anywhere other than first, but halfway through the competition, they’d be pleased to be runners-up. The foursome came straight from work and is enjoying the Freshchester Pale Ales and Village Dog grub as much as, if not more than, the trivia. “If any ladies ask what we do, tell them ‘astronauts,’” quips Greg Gilliam of Bronxville.

In fact, they work at a law firm in White Plains, and their very presence at Captain Lawrence is a testament to their knack for sniffing out legal loopholes. “My wife won’t let me out unless it’s a work event,” says Bill Kelly of Dobbs Ferry. “This is a work event.”

No prizes are awarded for Best Dressed, but if they were, the hardware would go to Han Yolo—a play on the phrase “You Only Live Once,” which apparently young people say a lot. The ladies of Han Yolo, friends from their time at Maria Regina High School in Hartsdale, are sporting Burger King crowns.

I ask how the crowns came to be. “We, uh, went to Burger King,” deadpans Monica Olive.

Carol Murray, half of the Murray twins in Han Yolo, adds that the crowns are an homage to the BK Lounge brown ale on the brew menu.

Talk about your crowning achievements—there’s a system in place at Han Yolo, where those answering questions correctly get a crown, and those botching the answers abdicate their headwear.

Carol eyes the gold-painted barrel, past winners’ names scrawled on it like “a Stanley Cup for a sport that’s actually being played,” as she puts it. “We might not get the golden keg,” Carol says longingly. “But someday…we will.”

As the competition winds down, it is Green Monkeys and Human Santapede who are tied for the top spot. (“We tried to think of something funny, tried to tie it into the holiday season,” says Santapede skipper Chris Stiglin of Ossining.) A guy from each squad comes to the front for a tiebreaker 5-ounce chug-off. Chris makes short work of his Kolsch (“Relax the jaw, open the throat,” Stiglin says), and “Human Santapede” is Sharpied onto the golden keg.

The favored Angry Seamen take the upset in stride. “We may not have won,” rhymes John Ruvo of Thornwood, “but we had fun.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 40 appeared first on Small Bites.

It was a day that featured no distinction. Thanksgiving was behind us, but it wasn’t quite Christmas season. The calendar said it was another few weeks before winter, but it sure didn’t feel like fall. Cold, gray and damp—it was like London in a foul mood.

If Saturday offered any claim to fame whatsoever, it was that it was the first day of December. A new picture on that calendar.

It was actually a decent day to swing by the brewery, and many did.

The guys in charge of the house music did their best to give December 1 a boost of bravado; Queen’s “We are the Champions” pumped through the tasting room speakers.

John Burns and Angelo Piccirillo of Briarcliff Manor were tied up in a heady discussion about the difference in gender roles in various cultures. With an Italian father and a Brazilian mother, Angelo has some perspective on the topic. Men used to do the hard labor and women would tackle the domestic duties, he said. But that was then.

“Now, males do everything,” Angelo said with a smile.

John’s eyes got wide, and he moved quickly to clarify the record.

“Please do not write that I said I do everything,” John noted carefully.

The two laughed, enjoyed some Pale Ales and lamented the absence, for the day, of the Imperial IPA. During the week, Angelo runs the nationally renowned—look it up, it is best in class—Science Research program at Ossining High School. But it’s a weekend, and he had a fresh growler for Giants-Redskins on Monday night.

Back to those gender roles. Where was the Missus when Angelo was bending elbows in Elmsford?

“She’s home sick,” he said. “I’m making her feel better by not being there.”

Across the room, John Mordoh, also of Briarcliff, was on his second Captain Lawrence visit of the day. Earlier, he helped his wife, an event planner, scope out the space for future parties. Planning to hang out with Briarcliff-based pal David Konrad, John told his friend, “You gotta check it out.”

And so they did. John enjoyed the Kolsch, while David sipped the Pale Ale. They made note of the multiple four-footed fuzzy friends padding about the place, such as the pug Bogey belonging to the brewery’s resident author Steven DeRosa (“Writing With Hitchcock”).

“We were just saying, what’s with all the dogs?” said David.

For her part, Debbie from Mamaroneck didn’t realize Captain Lawrence was dog-friendly. Friends Kelly and Katie, down from Saratoga, and Lauren, up from Manhattan, were in for a visit, but was missing another mate named Dolly. “Had I known it was pet-friendly, I would’ve brought my bulldog,” Debbie said.

The foursome, enjoying an assortment of Kolsches and Pale Ales and the pilot batch brown ale Dr. Brownski, was part of a larger group that planned to stock up on craft brew and head back to Debbie’s for what she called a “holiday-housewarming party.”

The Queen soundtrack continued with “Radio Ga Ga”–no relation to a certain pianist/performance artist from Jersey with a taste for high-protein dresses. Working the door, Dennis Vaccaro raved about Freddie Mercury. Benn Lewis of Pound Ridge raved about the beer. He’d just dropped off two empty kegs from Thanksgiving (now there’s a Turkey Day bash I’d like to check out next year), and stopped to sample a beer—and reflect on the history of microbrewing in Westchester, and his small role in it.

See, Benn and two pals from his White Plains Rugby Club opened up Westchester Brewing Company in 1995, in the space on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains that is currently home to the Brazen Fox. Benn said it was the first brewpub to open in the county since Prohibition.

Alas, the timing was wrong. White Plains was still a blue collar town, not yet enamored of hoppy, locally brewed beer. And restaurants were just starting to put the good stuff on tap—leaving Benn’s brewpub without enough of a point of differentiation.

But Benn harbored no regrets. “I like to have people like Scott Vaccaro, who are good at it, brew it for me now,” he says, looking around the tasting room with a smile. “We tried to get it kicked—but these guys did it.”

So we’ve got a history of Westchester brewing, and a holiday-housewarming pre-party, and a lively little cultural debate, along with countless other dramas and discussions—and a long lineup of freshly brewed ales to go with them. Not bad, for an otherwise indistinct first of December.

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 39 appeared first on Small Bites.

Today is, of course, Cyber Monday, on the heels of Small Business Saturday, the infamous Black Friday, and a less heralded day known around these parts as Growler Wednesday. See, the day before Thanksgiving each year is the day when half of Westchester County and surrounding regions venture to Captain Lawrence Brewing to fill up growlers, as the likes of Pumpkin Ale, Winter Ale and Freshchester Pale Ale have become, for many, as much a part of the holiday as turkey, football and a massive tryptophan-induced nap.

It was the first Growler Wednesday in Captain Lawrence’s spacious Elmsford quarters, and the brewery staff, like toll collectors on the Turnpike, was geared up for the most highly trafficked day of the year.

Charles Britz of Armonk and Gina Dedvukaj of Mohegan Lake are annual Growler Wednesday attendees. On Thanksgiving Eve, they were enjoying a few samples of Winter Ale, a malty concoction seasoned with winter spices, while contemplating what to fill their jugs with. “I told him, we need to go to Captain Lawrence and get beer,” said Gina, who admits to giant pangs of thirst whenever she sees a Captain Lawrence post on Facebook.

Charles was heading down to Grandma’s in South Jersey in the morning, 64-plus ounces of Pumpkin Ale in tow. “It’s always a rough ride,” he lamented.

Gina was hosting for the first time, and copped to some jangled nerves. “We’ll see how it goes,” she said, admitting the growler might get cracked open a little before the guests arrive.

The folks from Village Dog were preparing the poultry trifecta known as Turducken for hungry samplers. By 5 p.m., the growler line started to snake through the tasting room. Jesse Bender and his wife Amanda, of Somers, escaped the buzz of the tasting room for the quietude of the brewery space. Stars of “Notes Vol. 34,” the Benders had brought along friend Doug Finn, of Boston, for a few samples of Westchester’s finest. Doug didn’t share Jesse’s taste for heartier ales—preferring the Belgian wit brewed Basil Haze Wit instead.

“Jesse tends to like used motor oil,” Doug quipped.

“I like dark beer,” Jesse countered with a shrug.

The Benders were attending a Thanksgiving dinner party in White Plains, and were in charge of the “provisions,” said Amanda, served up by the likes of Captain Lawrence. Amanda swears by the Imperial IPA, while Jesse thought the Winter Ale would be a worthy entry on the Thanksgiving menu. “People have table wine,” he said. “You have table beer too.”

Across the room, John Benford of Larchmont braved the growler line to bring home Imperial IPA and Liquid Gold, though he was unsure if the beer would actually make it to Thanksgiving. “It’ll probably get drunk tonight,” he said.

Pal Tim Williamson, also of Larchmont, avoided the Turducken, but was devouring a hot dog “infused” with Brown Bird Ale that he described as “impeccable.”

Tim too planned to walk out with a jug of the Imperial IPA on his hip. “It’s my favorite beer in the world,” he said. “It’s Old Faithful.”

Despite the lines, the mood in the tasting room was festive. Owner Scott Vaccaro was enjoying some post-work Chico De Leche milk stout, while his baby Drew stuck with plain ol’ milk. A lively game of cornhole was going on. Some staffers had a long day of filling growlers ahead of them, while others had some food—and beer—to prepare.

Evan Watson in fact brewed up four beers to pair with the four courses he was preparing at home in Dobbs Ferry—a cantaloupe pale ale, a juniper stout, a “turkey beer” and “Midnight Oil”—a cherry wood smoked porter that shares a name with Evan’s upcoming album.

Uh, turkey beer? It didn’t actually have turkey in it, but the strong golden ale did have a cornucopia of seasonal flavors—including rosemary, cranberries, lemongrass, maple syrup and black pepper—and apparently would go well with turkey. “It’s intensely flavorful,” said Evan.

Turkey beer may not suit everyone’s tastes, but judging by the Growler Wednesday crowd at the brewery, plenty of other stuff did.

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 38 appeared first on Small Bites.

Captain Lawrence Brewing welcomed two new members to the brew crew last week, as a mammoth pair of fermentation tanks made their way from Oregon to Elmsford, then proudly took their place in the brewery’s skyline of gleaming brew vessels. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a few grand easy; check out the vid here if you care to see how a giant fermentation tank is installed.

“We needed more tanks to make more beer,” says Scott Vaccaro, Captain Lawrence owner.

More beer, indeed. The tanks will help Captain Lawrence crank out 23,000 barrels in 2013—up from 15,000 this year, and 600 in the brewery’s inaugural year, 2006, if you’re scoring at home.

People well beyond downstate New York will get to enjoy these special craft brews in a matter of weeks. Just in time for Christmas, the people of North Jersey will get a memorable holiday gift—Captain Lawrence’s first-ever India Pale Ale, named Re-Intro IPA, will be for sale in the Garden State. The name is a nod to the recent past—Captain Lawrence had ventured into the land of Bruce and Bon Jovi and the Bada Bing three years ago, before deciding to focus solely on its home state.

Just as notably, when January rolls around, Captain Lawrence brews including the Freshchester Pale Ale, Captain’s Kolsch and Brown Bird Ale will be available across New York State—from Buffalo to Albany to Rochester, and the various hamlets and burgs in between.

“We hope people in New York State are thirsty for our beer, and find a place for it,” says Scott.

Closer to home, Captain Lawrence’s new digs turn one in December, at which point we will stop calling the Elmsford HQ “new.” The brewery’s got a dark and rich new Smoked Porter, available in 16.9 ounce bottles in the tasting room for the first time in Elmsford, along with the tasty, and timely, Winter Ale, which Scott describes as a “malty amber-to-brown ale,” made with German yeast and an intriguing, and super-secret, blend of winter spices. It is on tap in the tasting room.

Captain Lawrence is also seeking to make a little history in the experimental brewhouse. Scott and his team will “max out the system,” as he puts it, in producing its first-ever imperial stout. “It’ll be big and malty and rich,” he says.

This one will, as your grandfather used to say, put hair on your chest—expect an ABV up into the mid-teens. “We’ll shoot for the moon,” says Scott.

Randy Shull’s Chico Loco wit beer didn’t take the Pilot Batch Election honors (the Six N’ Change black IPA won), but Randy is back in the tap lineup with his smooth and sweet Chico De Leche milk stout—the 19^th brew to come out of the experimental setup this year.

“That’s the beauty of the pilot system,” says Scott. “We can do whatever we want, and just have fun.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 37 appeared first on Small Bites.

The polls were open, and the voters took their civic responsibility seriously—thinking long and hard about who deserved their hard-won vote. It was Captain Lawrence’s first-ever Pilot Batch Election, with a dozen small-batch creations from the brewery’s experimental brewhouse vying for top honors.

Political correspondent John King and his Magic Wall were not in Elmsford November 6, announcing the latest Election Day developments, but he probably wishes he was.

Which brew was favored? Randy Shull’s Chico Loco, a lemongrass wheat ale, was a huge hit in the summer, but the ballots would reveal if it held the same allure amidst an unseasonable November chill. Aaron Pozit’s Ball Bustin’ Brown, an imperial spiced brown ale, went over real big at both his wedding and the tasting room, and was sure to garner a solid batch of votes. The High & Dry Rye Saison and the El Scorcho earned tasting room raves too, while the Captain himself, Scott Vaccaro, had two brews on the ballot—bringing both a boldface name and big-league brewing chops to the contest.

Indeed, Scott’s Six N Change, an inventive black IPA, dry hopped with citra hops to mark Captain Lawrence’s sixth (and then some) anniversary, had momentum early in the voting. “The flavor, the smell, it’s very good,” says Sharon Rodriguez of Valhalla, escaping a dark home with her husband and son in the tasting room. “I was never a beer drinker—until Captain Lawrence,” she added, knocking on the table for emphasis.

Husband Bill and son Bill Jr., who brew beer together at home, agreed on the Six N Change. “It’s the pick of the litter,” said Bill Sr. “Make sure the boss gets his due.”

Yet a wide range of beers were ringing up votes. Gabriel Freiberg of Ardsley was partial to the High & Dry, which got a vital endorsement from Westchester Magazine’s celebrated food critic, Julia Sexton, who put Matt Levy’s brew on her list of Five Most Delicious things consumed in October.

Gabriel is a fan of “Belgianish” beers. Tablemate Eddie Fang was at a loss for words as to why he loved Evan Watson’s BeeZerker honey-peated heather ale. “On the light side…not as heavy…it’s hard to describe,” he said.

Their friend Mike Coulehan, who works at the brewery, liked the Dr. Brownski…and the El Scorcho…and the BeeZerker, High & Dry and Chico Loco. “It’s a tossup,” he conceded.

Max Hunter, also of Ardsley, loved the Last Minute Alt’eration, but was not enjoying the democratic process all that much. “I don’t like being forced to make a decision,” he said.

Todd and Muffy Smith of Stamford too had a tough time deciding. Muffy described herself as a “seasonal” beer drinker—a fan of the Chico Loco…and the Summer Sipper…and the Autumn Ambush, BeeZerker and Spam Ale. As long as it is during a season, presumably, Muffy enjoys beer.

Todd was leaning toward the Six N Change, but felt bad leaving the other 11 off the ballot. He casted a vote for Madness: “They should do it NCAA basketball-style,” he said. “A bracket of 64 beers.”

As the night progressed, the paper ballots filled an old beer bucket behind the bar—a system only slightly less sophisticated than what voters were using around the county. The Beastie Boys rocked the PA system. The in-house brewers looked around the room, and listened in at the bar, to see what people were ordering—and voting for.

Not long after closing, the votes were counted, and the verdict was rendered. It was historic—America had elected its first black IPA. The Six N Change had prevailed, its 36 votes ahead of the High & Dry’s 26. A fresh batch will be brewed, and ready for all to enjoy by the end of 2012 or early 2013.

“Four more beers!” people could be heard chanting from Vaccaro campaign headquarters. “Four more beers!”

“I had to show them all how it’s really supposed to be done,” said Scott with a grin. “The old guy’s still got it.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 36 appeared first on Small Bites.

At a time when people’s homes lacked light, when the temperature was creeping toward uncomfortably cold, and food and drink were held hostage inside fridges losing their cool faster than folks in a post-Sandy gas station line, there were worse places—far worse places—to be than Captain Lawrence Brewing in the wake of the storm.

The brewery lost power for a day, but by Wednesday was fully functional again. Alas, a tree had fallen smack through the middle of the bocce court, a crushing blow for the beer-and-bocce crowd in Westchester. But the taps, including recently hatched brews such as the Dr. Brownski and classics such as the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA and Pumpkin Ale, were flowing freely—and a lively game of cornhole broke out next to the stricken bocce arena.

Conversation around the tasting room featured more discussions about who has power than several days at Davos. People compared distressing restoration dates from Con Ed, and commiserated about the frustration of flipping on a useless light switch again, and again, and again. Yet they were relieved to get out of their gloomy homes, and tip a few brews with friends while reflecting on how lucky they were to escape Sandy with their health and their home—especially as the tragic stories from North Salem, Breezy Point and elsewhere around the region surfaced.

Justin Ryder of Brewster said the unplugged version of his life was refreshing—at first. “It was fun for the first 12 hours,” he says. “Then it started to suck.”

Justin avoided his dark home by staying late at work and spending long hours at The Cliffs at Valhalla climbing gym—until staff begged him to leave. When he was home, he sparked up the wood-burning stove, whipped up chili—and lamented his lack of beer. Lessons learned from Sandy? “It’d be nice to have a generator,” he says. “And buy beer beforehand.”

His table mate, Chance Smith of North White Plains, likened the conditions to a little suburban camping. “Life goes on,” he says. “It’s just power.”

Across the tasting room, Eric and Janessa Wilson of Millwood, easily the fittest couple in the room (he played defensive tackle at U. Michigan, where she was a gymnast), moved in with friends in Ossining so that daughter Kayliana, 2 ½, would have a warm place to sleep. They’re enjoying some of the experimental brews that will vie for Best in Show honors during Captain Lawrence’s Pilot Batch Election Nov. 6, such as the Autumn Ambush (“Awesome,” says Eric) and the Basil Haze Wit (“The aroma on that one is tremendous,” he says).

Happy with their temporary crash pad, Eric, Janessa and Kayliana went down to Village Dog in Tarrytown for some nosh, then decided the remainder of the afternoon was best spent unwinding at the brewery. Growing up, Eric learned three golden rules for hurricane prep: Have enough to drink, a supply of propane, and at least a half tank of gas, to ensure you can get more propane (and, presumably, more to drink). Having lived in Florida, he says, “I never thought the most expensive hurricane in history would happen in the Northeast.”

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Frank Forman of Hastings used the day off to reconnect with childhood friend Peter Neidell of Sleepy Hollow. He didn’t have enough gas to get to work on Long Island, so he instead aimed the car toward the brewery.

Frank is enjoying the classics: Freshchester Pale Ale and the Liquid Gold. Peter is buddying up to the El Scorcho, brewed with mesquite-smoked hot peppers. “It’s not that hot,” he says. “I can taste the spiciness, but it’s really mild.”

The prospect of gas station scrums, continued darkness and storm cleanup may be daunting, but Peter and Frank share the same perspective as most in the tasting room: Things could have been much, much worse, and warm thoughts to those who continue to suffer.

“We’re fine,” says Frank. “The generator is on order…It’s something to look forward to.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 35 appeared first on Small Bites.

With an apocalyptic storm on its way, the music pumping out of the Captain Lawrence tasting room stereo could not have been more fitting:

“I got some groceries, some peanut butter, to last a couple of days,” went Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.” “But I ain’t got no speakers, ain’t got no headphones, ain’t got no Imperial IPA.”

OK, maybe I misheard some of the words—it was boisterous in there. But the tune nonetheless struck just the right tone in the tasting room with Hurricane Sandy lurking just off the coast.

Mike Heinzinger of Yonkers, enjoying a few samples with wife Shayla and sister Gina, speaks of a “hurricane survival kit” he mastered during Irene, and deployed when talk of Sandy came about. With the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA’s tendency to run out in the tasting room—it’s many people’s favorite Captain Lawrence creation—Mike moved the brewery visit up on his to-do list. “Today I got up early to stock up on the Imperial IPA,” he says, gesturing at the perspiring growler in front of him.

Not everyone had such foresight. Jesse Bender is a pretty organized guy; after all, he’s a doctor at a prestigious hospital up in Providence. Unfortunately, the dozen or so growlers he and his wife Amanda, of Somers, collected over the years are still up in Rhody.

Jesse ticks off his survival kit list: Charge up the electronics, stock up on water, fill the gas tank, fill the growlers. He’s kicking himself for botching the latter.  The next best solution is to enjoy a few while on site; Amanda is quaffing the Imperial IPA (“My old standby…tons of hops—I’m a fan,” says Amanda), while Dr. Jesse is sipping an oddly named rookie amber ale.

“For my palate, it’s the Spam,” he says.

The concern level in the tasting room appears moderate, most predicting a wet and windy nuisance more than a calamity. Much of the non Sandy conversation centers on Halloween, which Mother Nature has made an effort to wipe out these past few years.

With hubby Jesse’s medical scrubs and a friend who owns a jello mold shaped like a brain, Amanda Bender has a relatively easy costume in the works: Brain surgeon.

Sticking with the theme, Jesse quips that he’ll dress up as Abby Normal—the name given to the abnormal brain in Young Frankenstein.

People discussed their favorite Halloween memories; for Mike Heinzinger, it was 2001—hanging at a party, dressed as The Dude from The Big Lebowski, when Tino Martinez hit that unforgettable World Series homer against the D-backs in the bottom of the 9th. He grows wistful as he recalls the days when the Yankees actually hit in October.

For Sheena Moran of Riverdale, who livened up Notes From the Tasting Room, Vol. 32 with boyfriend Danny McCarron, it was going to see Friday the 13^th before trick or treating out in Mahopac in a witch costume. “It terrified the beejeezus out of me,” says Sheena, whose ax-wielding brother also contributed to the fear factor that day.

Going back a bit further, Jim Hoffman of Hartsdale offers fond memories of dressing up as a red fox—the animal, not the star of Sanford & Son.

With both a massive storm and a holiday on tap, it seems as though nobody is, for a blessed few hours, discussing politics. But it’s worth mentioning that Captain Lawrence is marking Election Day in its own fitting way: By putting a long lineup of experimental brews on the ballot, and the tap system, Nov. 6—and letting guests decide who wins.

Staffer/troubadour Evan Watson heartily endorses his own Beezerker Heather Ale. “It’s the Ron Paul of beers,” he says. “It’s gonna tell the truth, though I don’t know if a lot of people will vote for it.”

Despite the Talking Heads’ ominous lyrics, the tasting room mood is festive—people anticipating a long weekend, compliments of an All Hallows Eve visitor known as Frankenstorm. “I’ll be destroyed if I don’t have to go to work on Monday,” says Mike Heinzinger, with all the truthfulness of a political ad, as he sips his beloved Imperial IPA.

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 34 appeared first on Small Bites.

It was a pretty idyllic setting that got even better.

Scott Vaccaro, owner of Captain Lawrence Brewing, was at the Biergarten at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan, for a CL-sponsored event called Oyster Bash, the sun shining and a view of the High Line and the Hudson off in the distance.

Scott was enjoying a few oysters and, naturally, glasses of Freshchester Pale Ale, family in tow, when this postcard of a Saturday got even sunnier. His phone buzzed with a text message. And another, and another—friends congratulating him for Captain Lawrence winning three medals—gold, silver, bronze—at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

For makers of fine beer, the GABF is, in Scott’s words, “the granddaddy of them all.”

“As I was slurping oysters and drinking beer, it was the last thing on my mind,” Scott says. “The gold, silver and bronze, all in one year. It’s a trip…it’s awesome to win.”

The three medals—awarded to the Barrel Select – FO/BB, the Barrel Select – Gold, and the Golden Delicious apple brandy-barrel aged tripel ale—give Captain Lawrence seven in its history, an outsize performance for a small brewery. (Put another way, four medals went to New York-based brewers this year, three of them to Captain Lawrence.)

The heavy medal performance was a far cry from last year, when Captain Lawrence was shut out with Scott out in Denver. Historically, Captain Lawrence seems to win when Scott stays home, and lose when he’s present at the event—though catching up with old friends and sampling the best of the beer world at GABF is hardly a lost weekend.

Closer to home, Captain Lawrence has some seasonal brews at various stages of readiness. The Golden Delicious, aged in apple brandy barrels, is being bottled, and will be available in the tasting room and in stores in the coming weeks.

Captain Lawrence has also gotten label approval for a couple noteworthy brews. The Smoked Porter, to be sold in 16.9 oz bottles, will be available in mid November, while a Winter Ale is in the hopper too.

The brewery also purchased a dozen rum barrels from Rogue Ales Distillery in Oregon, trucking them across the U.S. to hold some 250 cases of Smoke From the Oak imperial porter. Past editions in the Smoke From the Oak series were aged in wine, bourbon and apple brandy barrels.

Captain Lawrence is also hosting Cooktoberfest, along with the Cookery in Dobbs Ferry, at 7:30 Oct 22 (that would be tonight!). Chef David DiBari whips up creations from his beloved Doughnation Pizza Oven, along with a Carnage Station, Sloppy Joes Station, Confit Baby Back Ribs—and a beer brewed special for the occasion.

The unnamed brew is a “strong Belgian-ish brown ale,” says Scott, “with a unique blend of spices Chef DiBari uses in his cooking.”

And as long as the weather holds up, the patio is open for sampling, and other beer-friendly pastimes. “It’ll stay open,” says Scott, “until it’s too cold to throw a bocce ball.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 33 appeared first on Small Bites.

Just as Martha Raddatz was grilling the vice presidential dudes in Kentucky, a moderator was firing picayune questions at some other hopefuls with their eyes on a different prize at the Captain Lawrence tasting room in Elmsford. Indeed, it was the brewery’s fortnightly Trivia Night, and the players had come to play.

One staple of Captain Lawrence trivia—other than drafts of really good craft beer, such as the season Katchkie Harvest Ale and newcomer Spam Spelt Amber Ale, flowing freely a few feet away—is truly bizarre team names. Some feature double and even triple entendres, and a few are even printable in mainstream publications.

Gruesome Twosome (There are 4!) is one of the more modest monikers. Danielle Trosa came up from the Bronx with boyfriend John Sutton, of New Rochelle, met a pair of guys near their table, and joined forces to make a team. Gruesome Twosome (There are 4!) are proudly displaying the spiffy Captain Lawrence trucker caps they won in an earlier round.

“We usually go to the city for trivia night, but it’s nice to come here for a change,” Danielle says, sipping her Pumpkin Ale happily. “It’s a nice relaxed vibe—you’re not here to impress anyone.”

To emphasize the point, Danielle displays her casual t-shirt and jeans outfit with a flamboyant flourish, an ensemble topped off by the crisp new hat.

Their two new teammates and friends are Peter of Highland Falls and Todd of Minneapolis, the latter in town to build a water tower down the street. “I came from long and far to play,” says Todd, displaying a Minnesota driver’s license for proof.

After another round of questions, whose answers ranged from Crimestoppers to the Smurfs to Mission to Mars, the prize is awarded for best team name. Five bottles of the Belgian-style ale St. Vincent’s Dubbel are bestowed upon the fine fellows of **** Your Honda Civic, I Have a Horse Outside. The team members explain the name—a reference to a song by a Scottish, or perhaps Irish; punk, or perhaps it’s hip-hop; band called the Rubberbandits. (For the record, I noticed a few Honda Civics outside the brewery, though no horses.)

Next to the Honda Civic/Horse Outsides are the ladies of Quiztina Aguilera, friends from Ossining whose energy level resembles that of a bachelorette party. “We’re so bad,” laments Toro Adeyemi as she sips an Imperial IPA (“The biggest bank for your buck,” she explains). Yet the Quiztinas’ subpar performance has, to their credit, not subdued their mood.

It is on to the final round. Moderators Nick Schwartz and Austin Ashley, doing a much better job than Jim Lehrer did in Round I of Obama-Romney, ask the name of the movie, directed by Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings fame, that featured a Sumatran rat monkey who causes a zombie outbreak.

The pensive poses commence—fingers running through heads of hair, or covering noses, with eyes closed. There are slow, pained exhales and hushed debates like frazzled Family Feud contestants. Someone purposely shouts out wrong answers—a brazen attempt at misinformation.

More questions, more stressful silences, and finally the answers. When the dust settles, it is a team called Sheeeeeeets—that’s seven e’s, if you’re scoring at home—that has grabbed the grand prize. They’d tried Trivia Night one other time, but didn’t have it together like they did today. “I wasn’t here,” explains Chris Terry of Mamaroneck as he sips a Pumpkin Ale. “I am the missing link.”

Andy Dillenbeck of Eastchester spent the day studying current events to prepare. Sheeeeeeet-mate Kyle Bensen of Pleasantville said they saw the prizes at stake—a Captain Lawrence gift basket, which includes a t-shirt, specialty bottle, pint glass, hat and growler refill, among other goodies, for each member—and simply would not settle for second.

“We opened up our brains tonight,” says Bensen.

Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what happened in that Peter Jackson zombie movie, Braindead, as well.

The Quiztinas take their loss in stride, boogeying together to Toto’s “Africa” as the tasting room starts to clear out. “We won t-shirts before, so we keep coming back to try and win,” says Toro. Only problem is, she adds, “we suck.”

Regardless, Quiztina Aguilera will be back for the next installment, a Halloween-themed one, October 26. Toro says she would like to see more “feminine” trivia questions, and fewer about video games, zombie films, and other bro-friendly fare.

“We’re coming back to win some mo’,” she adds, “and that’s mo’ with an apostrophe.”

—Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 32 appeared first on Small Bites.

It is Friday, the temperature hovers around 80, and everyone on the Captain Lawrence patio is simultaneously celebrating the end of the work week, and one of those rare, glorious days when the weather defies the calendar. Looking around the jammed tasting room yard—people partaking in bocce, grub from a pair of first-rate food trucks, and, of course, craft beer brewed fresh a few dozen yards away—and it looks like a perfect June day. (Yes, we know we wrote about the joys of drinking hearty beer in the crisp fall weather a week ago. Mother Nature is fickle, and so are we.)

Sheena Moran and Danny McCarron have made the trip up from Riverdale in the Bronx. They’re enjoying what’s left of the popular brew Ball Bustin’ Brown Ale, and getting to know their new pal Danny Strauss. Danny, of Ossining, was supposed to meet a friend at the brewery. The friend bailed. But he’s sharing a table, and a discussion about the best places to see music in New Orleans, with Moran-McCarron.

“We love to come here and meet different people, interesting people,” says Sheena.

Danny Strauss sips his Pumpkin Ale happily. “I can make friends anyplace,” he says with a smile.

The topic of live music continues. Danny McCarron mentions seeing My Pet Dragon at Captain Lawrence, part of the All Things Next monthly concert series, running into a friend from the Bronx he’d not seen in decades, and happily tipping a few glasses while talking about the days of yore.

Just then Evan Watson, Captain Lawrence’s resident guitar slinger, ambles by their table.

“You are gorgeous,” Sheena tells him, the Ball Bustin’ Brown clearly busting any hint of inhibition.

“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me,” Evan says, a blush creeping up beneath his bushy beard.

Danny McCarron shakes his head and smiles. Nothing can go wrong when the weather is perfect, and the beer darn near is too. “It’s a day to be outside,” he says. “It’s a day to be social.”

That’s what Frances Clow and Morgan Wallace, a couple based in Valhalla, are doing as well. What a difference a year makes; last October, they filled their growlers at the old Captain Lawrence site in Pleasantville as 10 inches of snow fell. When they got home, the power went out. “We plowed through the growlers after that,” says Morgan.

Frances is unwinding after an interview for UCLA’s medical school. Morgan is decompressing after a dual schedule of NYU business school and work at a video game company. She enjoys the Pumpkin Ale—it was the first Captain Lawrence beer she’d ever had, a few years back, notes Morgan—while Morgan is working through the Ball Bustin’, the Knickerhopper, the new Katchkie Harvest Ale. They’re digging the pizzas for sale as well, from the Cookery restaurant’s “Dough Nation” truck. “This is amazing,” says Morgan, scanning the setting around him. “We haven’t played bocce yet, but we love the outdoor space. There’s always something extra going on.”

Inside the tasting room, Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” bounces off the walls, and tattooed bartender Rob hits the tip bell like he’s working the speed bag. But it’s a day to fill up the sample glass quickly, and get the heck back outside.

Steve Crocco invented the growler bag on sale in the tasting room, qualifying him for the Real Men of Genius short list. He’s sipping a Ball Bustin’ Brown while, fittingly, busting the balls of the man who created the beer—newly wedded tasting room manager Aaron Pozit. “Captain Lawrence is the best customer I have,” he says. “I come here, sell them stuff, and drink beer at the same time. Who does that?”

Work is a million miles away for Paul Marino, a medical student from Scarsdale, and Rich Cassidy, a structural engineer from Cortlandt Manor. They’re enjoying the Pumpkin Ale and the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, and hot dogs from Village Dog of Tarrytown. “Spicy,” says Rich as he quenches the fire with a sip of beer.

“We come here almost every Friday to hang out, relax, unwind from the work week,” says Paul.

As long as Mother Nature is willing to serve up summer, Paul, Rich and everyone else on the patio are all too happy to bask in it. Paul mentions the earliest days of the patio last spring, when it was slowly transforming from a big pile of dirt to the most unique beer sampling site in Westchester. “I said, we should hang out here every day this summer,” says Paul. “And we kind of did.”

—Michael Malone

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in pale ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 31 appeared first on Small Bites.

Some signs of fall are obvious: the leaves bursting with color along the Taconic, friends who stop by with extra apples after a fruitful excursion to the orchard, Rex Ryan’s teary press conferences after a horrific Jets loss.
Other autumnal tells are more subtle: The way one’s taste in beer shifts to heartier, more flavorful brews.
Indeed, the lineup at Captain Lawrence these days features more full-bodied entries than a busload of sumo wrestlers. Out of sight, like your favorite cargo shorts, are seasonal players such as the Chico Loco wit bier and Summer Sipper cream ale, and in their place are the Pumpkin Ale, the hotshot spiced brown ale known as Ball Bustin’ Brown, and the newest rookie, Katchkie Harvest Ale, brewed with roasted squash and pumpkin, with the likes of cardamom and cinnamon in the mix. (If you haven’t seen the video on how Katchkie Farms and Captain Lawrence came together to hatch the Harvest Ale, it’s worth checking out at http://vimeo.com/50115798).
What exactly compels us to put away the wheat beers and light lagers, like your missus’s white Capri pants, after Labor Day?

Seasonal flavors, for starters. “I came specifically for the Pumpkin Ale,” says Paul Lisi, who schlepped around 45 minutes from upstate Carmel.
“He always wants Pumpkin Ale,” notes Deanna Abadia, also of Carmel.
Paul says summer is for quaffing Corona or a Sam Adams summer brew, while fall ushers in the pumpkin ale.
“It’s a mental thing,” says Deanna, who opts for the Ball Bustin’ Brown, which tasting room manager Aaron Pozit brewed especially for his wedding on Saturday. “You look forward to the seasons changing, and enjoying what the new season brings.”
Chris Reeve—cue up the Superman jokes, if that’s your thing—is enjoying samples with bud Dave Roberts. The two were roommates at George Washington U., and now are neighbors in Astoria. Chris says the summer brews—he likes wheat biers and pale ales in the sultry season—go down fast and easy. His choice for fall, such as pumpkin ale and Imperial IPA—are made to be ingested at a leisurely pace.
They’re leisurely working their way down the Limited Release menu, and Chris is partial to the Pumpkin. “Pumpkin Ale can be hit or miss,” he says. “I really like this one.”
Dave enjoys a little Ball Bustin’. The two had planned to visit the brewery for months, and finally found a day that worked for both. “We came from the parking lot, headed around the corner, and Whoa!” says Chris of their reaction upon arriving. “Right away, it looked like a good decision.”

With Aaron out of town for matrimonial matters, a jazzy score fills the tasting room. Alyssa DePasquale and Claire Racine are roommates in White Plains. They met on Craigs List, and it’s actually working out. A reporter at the Port Chester paper Westmore News, Claire saw a press release about Captain Lawrence moving to Elmsford, and decided to check it out. (Mind you, that happened in January, but she’s been busy.)
Pal Emily Berrue has joined them from central New Jersey. Emily, like Paul Lisi and Chris Reeve, is a pumpkin ale aficionado. She says the Captain Lawrence version isn’t quite pumpkin-y enough for her tastes, though her friends say she’s a harsh critic of all things pumpkin ale. The three are warming up before seeing Lenny Kravitz at White Plains High School, of all places. (Are they gonna go Lenny’s way? Very definitely.)
Claire is digging the Harvest Ale, which offers a malty base and spicy finish. “I like beers like this when fall comes around,” she says. “I try to get in as many as I can during the season.”
Tarrytown’s Village Dog provides the nosh on the patio. The sky is gray, but dry. Erica Chahade and Paolo Mori (top photo), Brazilians based in White Plains, are sipping full-bodied brews while watching friends play bocce. “In the cooler weather, you look for something stronger,” says Erica. “Something to keep you warm.”
But Paolo, who delivers kegs for Manhattan Distributors and therefore knows his brew, says a good beer, such as the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA by his side, should be enjoyed regardless of what the calendar or thermometer shows. “If you know how to really taste a beer,” Paolo says as his friend pelts him with bocce balls, “it tastes good year round.”

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7 p.m., samples 4-7 p.m.); and Saturday, with retail and samples 12-6 p.m., and brewery tours on the hour, starting at 1. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in Freshchester Pale Ale, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”

The post Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 30 appeared first on Small Bites.