FIELD TRIP!!!

Beertender Takes a Trip
to the Captain Lawrence Brewery
in Pleasantville, NY.

Rosso e Marrone, My Valentine

click mage to be re-directed to the photo galery then, click slideshow!

Rosso e Marrone, was the object of our desire. It was alluring enough to bring a few hundred beer geeks from all over the place to the Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville, NY on Valentine’s Day. When we showed up at about noon most of the lot was already gone and there was a line stretching out the door. We were informed by several fellow seekers that our chances of scoring a few bottles of the brew were slim to none given the crowd, the amount produced and our spot at the end of the long line… Oh well.

The news wasn’t all bad, I was handed a few bottles of Piraat Golden Ale and a couple of glasses to pour it in and I was offered a chance to buy a bottle by several who had already scored. Mike Burmil, from S.K.I. Distributors, and my buddy Chris Perry extended their generosity. Luckily for me, I had an inside connection and was soon presented with two bottles at cost right about the time we were informed that the beer was sold out, Score.

I made my way into the brewery and was handed a taste of the Rosso, sour ale fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels, chatted for a while with brewery founder Scott Vaccaro and Blind Tiger man Dave Broderick, then headed back outside. Many of the seekers were heading out to Long Island’s Southampton Brewery to score the other release of the day, the Russian imperial Stout, and I had to fight the temptation to get caught up in the caravan. For the next few hours we stood there in the parking lot of Captain Lawrence and with a few dozen remaining fanatics sampled an amazing array of brews that folks had brought along with them. We contributed a bottle each of Founder’s “Devil Dancer” Triple IPA and Founder’s “Old Curmudgeon” Olde Ale. We sipped on the new Bell’s Hop Slam and Deschutte’s “the Abyss”, Russian River “Beatification” and the Lost Abbey’s “Red Poppy Ale” to name a few. This impromptu tasting was the best surprise of the trip; we were exposed to several brews that you don’t see in NY all that often and this was completely unexpected and quite awesome.

When the time came to split, we had a few guests back to my place in Port Chester which is about 20 minutes from the brewery and we continued the sampling. Brooklyn “Dark Matter” the brown ale aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels, Heavyweight’s “Old Salty” vintage 2003 and Sixpoint Brewery’s Grand Cru were the standouts although there were many more.

All in all, it was a great day.

-Beertender

- Look for the Captain Lawrence Brewery Event at the Gate sometime in mid-April. -ed.