Newport Storm 08

Formerly brewed at Coastal Extreme Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Middletown, Rhode Island USA

Courtesy Beerlando. Deep dark mahogany color, thin broken white head. Caramel aroma, an almost smoky quality also, molasses detectable. Very sweet taste, caramel forward, but not real complex. Alcohol well-hidden. Not too thrilling.

750 ml bottle courtesy of my brother, who brought down a couple of bottles for Thanksgiving. Pours a deep brown with some reddish brown glints when held against light. Moderate off-white head that lasted through the first quarter of the glass and left a few splashes of lace. Strong, sweet aroma of malt, molasses, oranges, and cheap rum. The flavor is malt, molasses, overripe orange, and vanilla. My wife says she picked up a little cinnamon in the flavor too, but I did not. I enjoy sweet beers, but this one was a little too much, even for me. I will probably look to trade the other bottle, along with the 06 bottle I have.

A lightly hazy, crimson colored body is topped with a tiny, beige colored film. A soapy wash leaves minimal spotting behind on the glass. The aroma is all over the map, everything from bittersweet cocoa, tart raspberry, and smoked dark fruits to cinnamon, raisins, and vanilla liquor all throwing their two cents into the mix. The result isn’t something incredibly complex, but rather something muddled and misguided. Flavors are equally unimpressive, overly sweet caramel and smoky molasses accompanied by raisins, figs, tart berries, and searing, boozy, alcoholic notes. Thick and syrupy on the palate, the cloyingness is just too much to bear, and the alcoholic burn certainly doesn’t help. What on earth were they trying to do here?

Special thanks to Beerlando for the Newport Storm and paying for the Arby Melts. Smell is a strong brown sugar, red apple and vanilla scent. Taste is of prune juice. Smooth and full-bodied. This beer tastes much better with an Arby Melt. The robustness of the beer goes well with the liquid cheddar cheese product and salty roast beef. A pairing made in heaven.

Bottle... Lightly hazed crimson ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Decent retention. The ultra-vinous and spicy nose provides notations of cinnamon, tawny port, molasses and all sorts of other tropical and fuzzy fruits. Medium to full-bodied with modest carbonation. Flavorwise, we’re talking medicinal and very, very sweet. No semblance of balance... cloying. Bitter-sweet (more sweet than bitter) finish with only a whisper of tartness. <b>Thanks go out to Beerlando for popping the top on this baby!</b>

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Pours a deep, ruby-edged mahogany with almost no head to speak of, though what remains is a beige ring that clings to the sides of the glass. There are also some medium sized suspended particulates that don’t settle. The nose is an odd concoction of prune-like sweet malt, raisins, cocoa, cherry, sweat, booze and toasted grain. The flavour is certainly funky, but not in a wild yeast kind of way. There are suggestions of cherry juice, prunes, mild cocoa, acetic acid, earthy hops, and some sour fruits on the front of the tongue. It is slightly puckering and warming in the finish. The mouthfeel is slick and extremely full. The alcohol provides some warming and peppery spice. This beer seems to lack direction and cohesion. A total mess, though actually tasty and enjoyable.

Frankenstein. A kitchen sink, by their own admission of many malts lying ebout plus some mild hops. There is some chocolate malts but that gives it only background flavour. It starts with a bit of bubbles on dark brown that disappear to no head. This, remember, is absolutely freshly delivered to my friend Vaino at the store from the plant on request. The smell is barnyard, must, sweat. Hours later, it is chocolate and cleaning fluid, but I still could not drink more than a few ounces.Sorry, its too many ideas none which take leadership or give it taste worth drinking.There is enough malt to give the mouthfeel substance. ANybody want the second bomber to make a second opinion? Maybe in 3 years?