Newport Storm Summer Ale (Maelstrom IPA)

Brewed by Coastal Extreme Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Middletown, Rhode Island USA

Bottle acquired in trade with SpringsLicker (thanks!). Poured a medium and cloudy amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aroma had an earthy skunkiness to it with some flowers. Tastes of light oranges and some grapefruit with light malts. Medium bitter with a somewhat watery body. I found this to be a below average and forgettable IPA. 4 4 5 3 9

Rerate. Bottle labeled best before Oct. I thoght this one was much better the 2nd time around!. Citrus with a light malt balance in the tastes. Increased the numbers a bunch.

Pour light brown with an average white head. Decent lacing. Aroma of grassy hops, not overwhelming. Taste is grassy, caramel and some citrus notes. Bitter caramel aftertaste.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with jjpm74, thanks John!) Ew, my first whiff of this beer is not pleasant. Well, not unpleasant per se, but it smells sour, which would be okay for some styles, but not an IPA, so I guess I’m more taken aback than anything else. As I keep smelling and smelling the beer to kill my "sour" receptors, a vague maltiness timidly emerges. But ack, the flavor is equally disappointing, and is just the kind of IPA I do not like. It’s bitter. Not a pleasant hoppy bitter, not a pleasant roasty bitter, just nasty bitter to me. The minimally sweet, and lightly roasty maltiness is thrown to the mat by the bitterness, which by the finish, obnoxiously pumps its fist high overhead in victory to a chorus of boos from this audience. Sour grapefruit is in the flavor too, but it doesn’t seem to match up with the sourness I’m getting in the nose, and for some bizarre reason is triggering flashbacks to a Flemish Sour I once drank. Medium bodied, and fairly crisp on the palate, given the general lack of sweetness, but the bitter hang is atrocious. Light amber color. Small, whitish head settles quickly to a wide ring, and a few slashes of lace remain behind on the glass. This beer is just a mess, throwing me in all directions. Not the most pleasant drinking experience.

12 oz bottle via trade with IMtheOptimator - Thanks Andrew! - Pours amber a bit cloudy with a fair sized white head. Aroma is of floral hops and some citrus fruit (apricot) - Flavor is a nice blend of sweet malts upfront and nice bitter c-hops on the back. Unfortunately neither come through enough to make it memorable. It seems this is too light on the palate to be a solid IPA to me. Not that it was bad to drink it was actually pretty easy to drink just kind of tasteless for an IPA in my opinion.

On tap in RI.....poured out a decent amber color with a very small head. The aroma told of floral hops. Pretty nice balance leaning slightly towards the hop side. A pretty good beer, very drinkable. I liked it

Looks: a clear apricot, nice cap of dotted suds above. Smells: fresh and fruity, but a little too mellow for me. Tastes: hoppy, ...a bit. Brisk, highly carbonated, coppery. Average in all respects, I’m stretching about a bit to give it the benefit of doubt, but I have to put an end to the deliberations and say I’m disappointed. This is a dud of an IPA. Just falls flat on the palate, and dies there. Overall: Bluh. No fun.

Verre de dégustation (provenant d’un fût) au Vermont Brewers Festival 2005 (Burlington, VT). Arôme: Odeur de fleurs et d’agrumes. Apparence: Couleur blonde dorée. Mince col mousseux. Faible densité des bulles. Fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes et d’houblons avec un petite touche poivrée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture minérale. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût d’houblons. (Rating #221)

Poured a clear amber with a fizzy off-white head. Aroma is some floral hops and a touch of skunk. Taste is bitter dry hops with little much else to back it up. One-dimensional and boring, and also a tad skunky.