Xtra Gold American Tripel

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.
Pleasantville, NY

Available: NY, NJ, CT

Founder Scott Vaccaro discovered brewing during his senior year of high school and studied brewing at UC Davis, despite his family’s skepticism. Today, three family members work at his brewery.

ABV: 10
ABW: 8
Color: light golden
Bitterness: 35
Original gravity: 1084
Final gravity: 1012
Malts used: Belgian pilsner malt
Hops used: Simcoe, Sterling, Cascade, dry-hopped with Amarillo

If beer is the new wine, Captain Lawrence is vin santo, ideal to dip chocolate covered biscotti in or to accompany seasonal fruit like persimmons, pears and heirloom apples served with honeycomb. Sparkling turbid gold is topped with a vigorous ecru head. A superb fruity bouquet of honeysuckle and peach leads to a rich, luscious wine-like taste that is not too sweet, with a lingering clean and uplifting aftertaste.
- Charles Finkel

Were there orange or mango groves in the flatlands east of Antwerp, you sense this is the beer Hendrik Verlinden and the monks of Westmalle might have come up with. Appropriately sub-titled an “American Tripel.” Citrus aromas and flavors from Northwest hops blend seamlessly with juicy orchard fruits and a bit of candy sweetness. Bready and yeasty on the palate, standing nicely against substantial alcohol. Hop flavor throughout, though in no sense bitter: tart and dry at the finish.
- Stan Hieronymus

Charles Finkel
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.

Stan Hieronymus
Editor at Realbeer.com, a professional journalist for 40 years and amateur brewer for 15, Hieronymus is the author of four beer books, including Brew Like a Monk.

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