Newport Storm Cyclone Series Derek

Formerly brewed at Coastal Extreme Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Middletown, Rhode Island USA

Date: 01/10/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear brown, wispy head with frothy edges, streaks of lace, smokey dry caramel malt aroma, rich malt flavor, dry caramel and chocolate, touch of dark fruit,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

(12oz bottle) Small but significant beige head atop solid black body. Aroma is moderately sweet, milk chocolate, some roast, molasses. Taste is moderately sweet, chocolate, coffee, some roast, grapefruit/earthy. Light alcohol burn. Medium-full body, some creaminess.

12oz bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a large sized tan head. Aromas of roasted malts, cocoa, vanilla, and a light earthiness. Tastes of cocoa, light vanilla, roast, and a light coffee bitter finish. Boday a tad on the thin side with a light alcohol finish. Althought there’s nothing really wrong with this beer, it was quite drinkable, I personally prefer my Imperial Stouts to be a little more complex (in aromas and tastes).

Bottle courtesy of OldGrowth sampled on 1/10/07: Pours an almost opaque dark blackish brown with a nicely-lacing tan head. Aroma of sweet, lightly toasty caramel malts, a touch of cardboard and earthy hops. Body starts sweet and caramely with nice dark chocolate notes toward a more bittersweet finish. A pretty decent imperial stout.

Pours brown with a tannish head. Smells of coffee, nuts and chocolate with some caramel hints. Taste is of cocoa, lots of spices and some strange perfumy elements. Finish is on the malty side with some peppery splashes.

12 oz bottle served around cellar temperature in a Corsendonk glass and accompanied by Grafton smoked cheddar and corn chips....reddish translucence showing through near-black darkness with a smallish creamy dark head that coats the glass thinly but smoothly as it recedes...nose at first chocolaty, quickly ebbing into grapy-sherry-like character, slightly oxidized it seems despite its newness, some caramel and as it warms, dog shit....body is tarry, bitter chocolate with low-to-moderate sweetness, hints of sulphury molasses, sweetness fades almost completely to the dry, bitter, espresso-tinged finish...thick and rather gritty mouthfeel, low carbonation....pretty so-so.

Poured a clear dark mahogany color with a beige head. Sweet malt aroma of chocolate, cola, and roasted malt. the flavor was sweet with a mix of fruit and roasted malt. Milk chocolate in the back. Semi-dry finish with a mild bitterness.

Bottle drunk on 7/8/07, at about 1 year of age.
Dark chocolate body is medium-clear, with a medium-tan head atop that is one finger high and slowly fading to cover, leaving moderate lacing.
All sorts of chocolate notes in the nose hold back much of the roast, while juicy, green hops add a pleasant complexity, despite being your average C-hop and aged 1 year. Some peanut brittle-like oxidation is noted on the end, but remains the only real sign of age, while some very dark coffee notes slowly give way to a more abundant fruitiness, as it warms. Low alcohol warmth and though it is a lighter, more manageable version, I dont think it suffers from this fact and dosent seem thin or washed out in the nose. No flaws that I could find, that’s certainly something new for this brewery and probably points to more aging for their beers being needed.
Chocolate and biscuits collide with a very sweet, marshmallow-vanilla creaminess, while bitter hops and bitter roast are soaked up well by this maltiness and downplayed by the low carbonaion (though it isnt too low). German chocolate cake, splashed with some old coffee about sums up the flavor, but hops continuously evolve and work with some of the fruitiness that emerges with warming to create a modest complexity. Alcohol is not perceived, no flaws. Pretty impressive for a 12 oz, filtered, non-bottle conditioned bottle of its age from this brewery. As with the aroma, there’s only a small amount of flabby, peanut-brittle-like oxidation. Alot like 2 Bros. Northwind Impy in its mellow presentation, though I think this one adds a bit more bitterness.