Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room: Band Bacchanalia Both Pleasant and Festive

It was a glorious day, sunny and hot, with bands occupying three stages at the Pleasantville Music Festival, and several varieties of Captain Lawrence flowing. There was a little more star power on stage at this year’s affair, the 11th, and the masses turned up to see some rock icons. The award for most determined went to Eric Kristensen, who “hobbled” from his Pleasantville home, he says, on a broken ankle covered in a thick cast. “I slipped on the grass,” he explained. “Scratch that. I hurt it in a Division 3 cage match.”

Eric smiled, then revealed that he was demonstrating a soccer drill for his team of 7-year-old girls when he took a spill. But he was well enough to party with old SUNY Purchase pals Scott Pitulik and Terry Deal, who were up from Manhattan for the day. “We’ve been here before,” said Terry, mentioning seeing headliner the English Beat a few years ago. “It sounded fun and doable. It’s nice to get out of the city and be with a bunch of friends who live here, and their kids.”

As Fastball played, Terry recalled cranking the Austin band’s ubiquitous late ‘90s radio staple “The Way” while driving around in her car. Eric sipped the Captain Lawrence IPA and Terry the peppery O’de To P’Ville saison, which Captain Lawrence made just for the day. (The brewery was, of course, born two blocks from the festival on Castleton Street.) She described it as a “put-orange-in-it beer”.

Scott called himself a “philistine” in terms of beer. “I’m only having the Kolsch because there’s no Budweiser,” he admitted.

Hey, everyone was welcome on this day, whether it was the main stage, the acoustic “chill tent” or the Captain Lawrence beer garden stage. The biggest buzz of the first half of the day went to Lions on the Moon, a gang of exceptionally talented teens, except for one—the 12-year-old Hendrix-esque guitarist, Brandon Niederauer. The kid can outright shred, and the band drew a massive crowd to the beer tent to watch their soulful take on classic rock staples. Aaron Barbour of Thornwood sipped his saison, which he called “a good beer for a hot summer day.” Lions on the Moon, from Long Island, were his early favorite. “It’s only 5:30,” said Aaron, “but that may hold to the end of the night.”

Darien’s Luke Condolora, sporting a Ramones t-shirt, buys radio air time for a living, knows the sponsor Peak 107.1 FM well, and checks the upcoming lineup at the music fest every year. “This was the first year where I said, I gotta go,” said Luke, with the Gin Blossoms the band that tipped the scales in his favor.

He and wife Laura (Luke and Laura have heard their share of “General Hospital” jokes, but have at it) sampled several beers that sat atop a barrel, and could barely contain their excitement. “Our daughter is at camp and our son is at work,” said Laura. “We are out!”

“We’re on the express,” added Luke. “And it just rolled in.”

Both were enjoying the Belgian-style Liquid Gold. “It’s the first time I’ve had it,” said Luke. “It won’t be the last.”

Their pal Gina Goichman of Fairfield laughed along with the mirthful Luke and Laura. “I’m babysitting them,” she said.

Fastball gave way to G. Love and Special Sauce, who attracted a large and lively crowd in front of the stage. Even some f-bombs from G. Love didn’t dampen the boisterous vibe. (Hey G.—there are kids in attendance!) Marshall Crenshaw played a sensitive solo set under the tent, a nice break from the sun, while the Captain Lawrence beer garden continued to go strong.

“The sun has dipped down, it’s a little cooler and no one is rushing the beer line,” said Dan Townsend of Pleasantville. “It’s become chill.”

Dan enjoyed the IPA along with pals Jen Filerdi of Chappaqua and Valerie Jacobs of Pleasantville; it was the stage of the evening where they were comparing “Karate Kid” kicks. Valerie mentioned attending all 11 Pleasantville Music Festivals. Dan actually hosted the event’s after-party at his home a few years back. There was a DJ, some archery, a band from the festival and an unhappy neighbor or two.

Aaron Barbour took it all in with a happy sip of his saison. “Local beer, local music, local food, and it’s good for kids,” he said. “This is the whole package.”The headliner, the Gin Blossoms, finally took the stage near sunset, living proof that an exceptional hit song will stick in people’s consciousness a few decades after it dominates the radio. (There. Now “Hey Jealousy” is stuck in your head for the next few hours.)

—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 India Pale Ale. 

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room: Almost Famous

Tom Brady stretches out his 6’ 4” frame, scans the field in front of him, and fends off the attacker waving his arms in Brady’s face. He considers his options, and chooses the Hop Commander.

Alas, this Tom Brady lives in Armonk, and his baby Sean, tucked into the front pack, is the one in his grill. The other Tom Brady, well, who knows where that jet-setting Patriot might be.

“I get it once a day,” says Westchester Tom Brady of the quips about his namesake. “I’m used to it.”

It’s a sunny spring day on the Captain Lawrence patio. The band Gridline is serving up a heady mix of blues and rock. Tom is there with his wife Michelle (at least it rhymes with Giselle) and wee Sean (pictured above), while daughter Alex dances in front of the band. They have extended family visiting. “When we have guests in town, lots of times we take them here,” says Michelle, sipping the Sun Block wheat ale.

Michelle admits she’s not a major beer drinker, but enjoys the Sun Block’s crisp, citrusy bite. Having an almost famous husband, she says, has been full of surprises. “Marrying a Brady, I thought it would be mostly Brady Bunch jokes,” says Michelle.

Inside the tasting room, AC/DC’s “Back in Black” cranks out of the speakers. Jack and Mary Leclair of Waterloo, New York, up in the Finger Lakes, would not mind having Tom Brady on their football team. Instead they got Rex Ryan. “We’re Buffalo Bills fans,” says Mary. “That’s why we drink beer.”

The couple is visiting their daughter in White Plains, and is meeting another couple from Danbury. “It’s really not halfway between us,” Mary says of Captain Lawrence. “But don’t tell them that.”

Don’t worry, Mary—your secret is safe with us.

She is sampling the German style Kolsch, while Jack has the small-batch brew Beam Me Up. “I don’t usually drink scotch ales,” he says of the smoky, malty beer. “But this is good.”

They rave about the craft beer scene up in the Finger Lakes, including Naked Dove in Canandaigua and Climbing Bines in Seneca Lake. “The Finger Lakes are really known for wineries,” says Mary. “The Beer Trail is just starting up.”

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Kit Mancuso and Dawn Waylonis of Valhalla have made their own beer trail. The women shopped at Sam’s Club on Rte. 9A, then decided to pop into Captain Lawrence for a few sunny Saturday samples. “I dragged her to Sam’s, and she dragged me here…kicking and screaming,” Dawn says with a smile.

They liked the Kolsch and loved the Brown Bird Ale, but found the pilot system brew Angler’s Son, a zesty wheat IPA, a little funky. “We love the smell, but not the taste,” says Kit.

Back on the patio, the bocce balls and cornhole bags are flying; Tom Brady, naturally, is adept at both. He’s not the only fake famous person on site. Rob Walpole of Hawthorne mentions he shares a name, if not a “Sir” honorific, with the first prime minister of Great Britain. Sir Robert may or may not have absconded to Ireland, Rob says, with a helping of Exchequer cash. Still, he’s no Tom Brady. “No one knows who he is,” Hawthorne Rob says with a hint of regret as he sips an IPA.

Around a nearby barrel, Brian and Carrie Schwartz of Washington Township, New Jersey are sampling a few brews. She’s got the Freshchester—“I’m an IPA girl, but I’m driving,” she says—while Brian has the Seeking Alpha triple IPA. Carrie searched for a nearby brewery on her Untappd app, and found that Captain Lawrence was just across the Hudson—not near the St. Lawrence Seaway up where the U.S. meets Canada, as she had thought. “When I found out,” she says, “I said, we are going—now.”

For his part, Brian has been told he resembles Jon Stewart before Brian grew a bushy beard. Carrie nods in agreement. “You’re Jewish,” she says. “And you’re funny.”There may not be a celebrity Carrie Schwartz out there, but Carrie has been told at different times she looks like Jessica Biel, or Elizabeth Shue, or Anne Hathaway. Brian grimaces. “I don’t see any of it,” he says.

 —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 India Pale Ale. 

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room Resolution in the Air

It is the time of year when our new year’s resolutions, not quite a week old, are—for the most part—very much intact. Yet we all might learn something from the denizens of Captain Lawrence’s tasting room, where the most popular resolution is, on a lazy and gray Sunday, drink more beer—and make it dark, rich, delicious, and locally brewed.

Adam B of White Plains and Christina F of Manhattan are in training mode—training for a strong performance at Oktoberfest in Munich next fall. Marking their first time at Captain Lawrence, Adam is having the Schwarzer Hund, the clean and crisp German black lager on tap in the tasting room. “We got into German beers—we’re on kind of a kick,” explains Adam.

Christina enjoys the Kolsch, but finds a flaw in their preparation for Bavaria. “This is the wrong size glass,” she says, her sample vessel a drop in the bucket compared to those massive steins served under the bier tents.

Next up for their training routine is Adam’s birthday, which they’ll celebrate at either the Hofbrau Bierhaus or Reichenbach Hall in midtown Manhattan.

Resolutions? “Make sure we’re ready for Oktoberfest,” says Adam.

“Travel, experience new things,” says Christina.

Across the room, Kim O’Brien is experiencing new things, such as the Frost Monster imperial stout. She and Michael Norelli, both of Pleasantville, are bellying up to the bar for a few samples. Kim describes the Monster as “comfort food” amidst these unforgiving winter days. “I like dark stuff, especially in the winter months,” she says.

Michael, drinking the citra-hopped Rose Bud pale ale, recalls visiting Captain Lawrence in the early days, camping out for the special releases, and scoring a few #1 tickets over the years as a reward for being first on line. “To me, those were the days,” he says. “It’s been a love affair ever since.”

A schoolteacher, Michael has a special connection to owner Scott Vaccaro—he taught Scott’s siblings at John Jay High School in Cross River. His resolution? More fresh, novel, open-minded approaches to teaching, and coaching, his students. “I try to remember that children are children,” he sagely notes.

Kim’s resolutions? “No,” she says, sipping her Frost Monster happily.

Elsewhere in the room are John and Joanne Flynn of White Plains. John’s resolution is, simply put, drink more beer. “It’s easier to try to do more of something than say you’ll do less of something,” he reasons. Like many in the tasting room, he’s digging the Frost Monster. “It’s like raisins,” says John. “I don’t normally like sweet beers, but I love this.”

As was noted in our Christmas 2012 poem, Joanne adores the Smoked Porter, but has opted for a sample of the Pale Ale today. Yet the porter is well represented in their party—a five-gallon keg of the dark stuff rests at her feet. She insists it’s mostly for cooking purposes: “Stew, pork, meatballs--we marinate everything,” Joanne says. “A lot of people cook with wine, but I think beer has better flavor.”

Her resolution is similar to her husband’s: Drink more beer. No wonder they’re still pals after nearly 30 years of marriage. “I just agree on everything,” says John. “It’s easier to just join the Honey Do club.”

In the fenced-in pen alongside the brewing operation, band members from Westchester Broadway Theatre, a few doors down on Clearbrook Road, are unwinding in between productions of “White Christmas”, which runs through January 12. Trombonist Jason Ingram of Weehawken enjoys the--you guessed it--Frost Monster. “I like dark beers,” he says. “I like this better than Guinness.”

Musical director/conductor Andrew Smithson and pal Franca Vercelloni, both of Astoria, sip the Rose Bud pale ale. Violinist Mioi Takeda likes the Frost Monster so much she bought the four-pack. “The bitterness, the darkness, the very strong alcohol level,” she explains, insisting she’s up for the evening show after a few samples.

Trumpeter John Trombetta of Brooklyn teases bassist Jordan Jancz of Bridgeport about his next gig at the theater after January 12: “Titanic.” “You’re going down with the ship,” he says.

They laugh. They sip. Franca, an actress and musician who gives “White Christmas” an enthusiastic thumbs-up, changes her resolutions on the fly. “I always say, lose weight,” she says. “But…be happy. Just be happy. Drink beer, stay 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 India Pale Ale.

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Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 60 Hit the Links While Enjoying Your Drinks

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.

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 37 The Captain’s Log

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 video here if you care to see how a giant fermentation tank is installed.

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“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

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.”