Captain Lawrence Brewing Company is an award-winning craft brewery located in Elmsford, New York. The brewery is owned and run by head brewer Scott Vaccaro. Vaccaro, a homebrewer since 1995, trained in brewing science at UC Davis. Many of Captain Lawrence's beers are strongly influenced by traditional Belgian ale styles, although often with an American twist. Barrel-aging and ales with sourness or flavors contributed by bacteria and wild yeasts such as Brettanomyces, are also part of their repertoire. Like many small breweries, Captain Lawrence seeks to be environmentally sensitive, including donating its spent grain to a local farmer for use as cattle feed. Their beers are fermented in stainless steelcylindro-conical vessels. The brewery takes its name from Captain Lawrence Drive in South Salem, New York, the road on which Vaccaro's childhood home is located. The street is named after Samuel Lawrence, a captain in the Westchester County Militia, 3rd Regiment, during the American Revolution.
History
Vaccaro brewed his first beer before he was legally allowed to drink. As a teenager in high school he saw a friend's father brewing beer at home, asked if he could participate, and was told it would be allowed with parental permission. After enrolling at Villanova University to study accounting, Vaccaro realized his real desire was to become a professional brewer. He transferred to UC Davis and studied fermentation science. He interned at Adnams Brewery in the UK. Following graduation he worked at Sierra Nevada and the short-lived Colorado Brewery in Danbury, Connecticut. Captain Lawrence Brewing Company was founded in 2006. Its first brewery was located on Castleton Street in Pleasantville, New York and had a 20-barrel system. After five years, needing more space to operate a bottling line and a larger system to increase capacity, the brewery was relocated to Elmsford, New York, approximately five miles from the original brewery. The new facility has a 40-barrel brewing system and more fermentation capacity. There is also a small seven-barrel system for experimental and specialty batches. The new brewery began operation in 2011.
Beers
Year 'round brews
Citra Dreams IPA New England with Citra hops, this smooth drinking hazy IPA bursts with orange, grapefruit and resin
St. Vincent's Dubbel - richly flavored malty brown ale in the Belgian Abbey Dubbel style
Cuvée De Castleton - American "wild ale", fermented with Muscat grapes and Brettanomyces
Rosso e Marrone - American sour ale, fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels; "Rosso e Marrone" is Italian for "Red and Brown"; BeerAdvocate lists this beer as a Flanders Oud Bruin
Birra DeCicco - described on the label as a "malt beverage brewed with chestnut honey and jam"; this limited release was a collaboration with DeCicco Food Market, a grocery in Ardsley, New York that has an extensive selection of craft and microbrew beers
Five Years Later - brewed to celebrate the brewery's fifth anniversary, a strong almost-black ale brewed with five varieties of malt and five different hops
Winter Rye - a one-time beer brewed using organic rye and crystal malt from Valley Malting Co in Massachusetts; brewed with a German yeast strain and lightly dry hopped with US Goldings
Katchkie Harvest Ale - collaboration between Captain Lawrence Brewery, Executive Chef Robb Garceau of Great Performances and Katchkie Farm; Captain Lawrence Brewery's first farm-to-table beer offering
