Notes From the Tasting Room, Vol. 87 The Gift That Keeps on Reliving

With a fresh blanket of snow across Westchester, it finally felt like the holidays. For many over at Captain Lawrence, it meant an opportunity to reflect on the merriest of Christmas memories—specifically, the greatest gift they ever received.

Whit Whitaker of Brooklyn may just be living his greatest-ever gift right now. Technically, it’s a birthday gift, but when you’re born within 10 days of Christmas, it all blends into one. Gal pal Sydney Tencer has taken Whit on an overnight tour of the Hudson Valley’s finest tap rooms—starting at Captain Lawrence, then on to Peekskill Brewery, with subsequent stops in Kingston (Keegan Ales) and Cooperstown (Ommegang). [Editor’s Note: Hey Whit—she’s a keeper!]

“I love tap rooms,” he says with a blissful shrug.

He does indeed. Whit, digging the Captain’s Kolsch, recently returned from a tap-room jaunt to the finest breweries in Colorado, including New Belgium and Great Divide.

“I didn’t hear from him for four days,” says Sydney.

“I kind of went dark,” admits Whit.

Sydney is enjoying the Ginger Man, a seasonal amber ale brewed with ginger. “Holiday-ish, but not overpowering,” she says. “The finish is clean.”

Whit’s tap-room tour is payback, in a sense, for the greatest gift Sydney ever got: Whit had a pair of hi top Converse All-Stars adorned with a miniature movie poster from her favorite film—the French art flick “Breathless.” She beams when she speaks of the custom-built kicks. “It helps when you have friends who are designers,” says Whit.

It’s a mellow Sunday. The football teams are losing again. Radiohead’s moody “Kid A” fills the tasting room.

At another table, Sarah Colacurcio of Oxford, Connecticut imbibes with a pair of Larry Pignatellos—senior and junior—of Danbury. They sampled the fearsome Frost Monster and give the ferociously malty imperial stout a thumbs-up. “Deep” is how Larry Jr. describes it—not something you feel on the tongue or even throat, he says, but further down in the chest.

They discovered Captain Lawrence at The Bayou in Mount Vernon recently, and decided to check out the brewery. Sarah prefers the Ginger Man. Her greatest gift? A puppy! A miniature pinscher, sporting a bow, under the tree when she was in fourth grade. “I couldn’t even pay attention to anything else after that,” she says.

Dennis Vaccaro, Captain Lawrence doorman/beer chip man, too mentions a canine as his most memorable Christmas gift—a cocker spaniel named Bianca he got as a kid. For Doug Roberts behind the bar, it was an army tank that shot plastic bullets—until it broke a week later.

“Either that, or a home brewing kit,” says Doug, creator of the small batch beer #69.

Elsewhere in the tasting room, Susan and Chris DiGregorio of Somers are also tackling Justin Perrone’s infamous Frost Monster. “Delicious, but I didn’t realize it’s 12% alcohol!” says Susan, a self-proclaimed Guinness girl. “Real nice aftertaste…Easy drinking, which is a bit dangerous.”

They are frequent visitors to the tasting room, and gift cards figure heavily into the current visit. [SPOILER ALERT! If you are Chris’s brother, skip the rest of this paragraph!] Susan and Chris are picking up a gift card for Chris’s brother for Christmas—and they are making good use of a card they were given. “He’s a big fan of the brewery,” says Chris of his bro. “I figured, he’ll be here anyway.”

Chris’s greatest gift was a Nintendo when he was 6. “The ultimate,” he says. “The big box, hiding behind the tree.”

For Susan, it was a Teddy Ruxpin teddy bear. Teddy, you may recall, moved his mouth as a cassette inserted in his back told a bedtime story. “Hey, that was the technology back then,” Susan says with a smile.

While everyone’s looking forward to collecting a few choice gifts in a few weeks, Susan cops to missing those childhood Christmases a bit. “You’re just not as passionate about gifts now,” she says. “Something like an iPad is a great gift, but when you were little, the gifts just meant so much more.”

True. But being a grown-up has its perks too, such as enjoying a holiday Frost Monster with your mate. 

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.


The “Notes From the Tasting Room” book is available at the brewery and on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Notes-Captain-Lawrence-Tasting-Room/dp/0985632844/

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 20 The Captain’s Log

Summer is the season for road trips, and Captain Lawrence is indeed hitting the highway. Owner Scott Vaccaro is trekking to Burlington for the Vermont Brewers Fest July 20-21, giving the good people from the land of Ben & Jerry’s, maple syrup and Phish a chance to sample Westchester’s finest brews.

“We hope to be available in Vermont some day,” says Scott. “We’ll say hello to the people of Burlington.”

The first weekend of August is “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown,” hosted by the Ommegang Brewery. Scott will be filling his truck with Captain Lawrence, and hooking up a trailer holding a 200 pound pig that will feed the masses in Cooperstown. He’ll hope for better luck than last year; while backing out of a driveway in central New York, the trailer jack-knifed and fell on its side in the middle of some dark and lonely road. Only the kindness of some local passers-by enabled Scott to get the trailer upright—and get the pig roasted the next day.

Summer is also the time for special projects, and Captain Lawrence’s experimental brewing facility is positively hopping. The first three creations from the pilot system—the wheat ale Cold Cousin Brewski, hoppy session ale Pallino Ale and Scott’s own Palisades Ale—have come and, sadly, gone. Worry not—more brews are ready for their moment to shine. The pilot system is an opportunity for Captain Lawrence staffers to flex their creative muscles, and they’ve been making the most of it.

Batch # 4 is Brown Out Summer Porter. Justin Sturgess’ brown porter, with notes of chocolate and grassy hops and a smooth malt finish, is available in the tasting room. So is Ryan Kipp’s Breakfast Stout, which features tasty hints of oatmeal and coffee--but is not a recommended substitute for actual breakfast. “I couldn’t believe Scott let us do this,” says Ryan.

Scott says the pilot brews give the guys a break from cranking out barrel after barrel of mainstays like Freshchester Pale Ale, Captain’s Kolsch and the Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA. “Everybody who works here loves beer,” says Scott. “They want to express themselves creatively.”

Also in the works are Batches # 6 and #7—Randy Shull’s dry hopped wit beer, Chico Loco (named for his Chihuahua), flavored with lemongrass; and Matt Levy’s Rye Saison, which the former Captain Lawrence intern whipped up out of some yeast from France, and offers hints of light spice and summery fruit.

The guys cop to some nerves as their brews move to the tasting room, but that has transformed quickly to satisfaction and pride upon seeing the faces of happy samplers. When the room shuts down at the end of the weekend, they check their numbers like day traders to see how the brew sold. Scott’s Palisades Ale went fastest of the first three, which the staffers chalk up to the boss’s established name in the brewing world.

The crew members say the experimental brewhouse has reignited their passion for home brewing. “If you’re going to home brew, why not make 250 gallons, and have people give you feedback?” says Matt.

The feedback has been unfailingly positive…so far.

“If their beer doesn’t sell,” quips Scott, “they have to drink it all.”

—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 at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in beer, for “Notes From the Tasting Room.”