Last year, around this time, I was trying bigger beers and beers that were just crazy. Each year, Newport Storm, RI’s only brewery, releases a limited edition beer in November. The beers are bottle conditioned in blue 750 ml corked bottles. I wish they had more than just the cork as the cork they use feels kind of cheap and I think it lets too much of the carbonation leak through.
The first one of these I’ve had was the Newport Storm ’06. The ’06 was a strong ale aged in Jack Daniels barrels, giving the beer a nice whiskey/oak flavor. Last year, either the beer or I was not ready. It had a huge burn of alcohol (at 11.9% ABV, that’s no surprise). I bought one for Christmas Eve this year and it had mellowed out nicely. It had a nice oak/vanilla flavor and a bit of the whiskey flavor. It was very smooth and easy to drink, and that alcohol burn was gone. This was one tasty beer and definitely worth checking out if you can find one (Nikki’s in North Providence still has some).
On Christmas, I decided to split the bottle of Newport Storm ’07 with Susan. This one is an American Stout. The beer has a nice roasted malt and chocolate character to it with just the right amount of hops to balance it out. It’s strong at 10.8% ABV, but the alcohol is hardly noticeable. The beer is dark with little to no carbonation. Because of the lack of carbonation, it had no head. That was a bit disappointing. I plan on picking up another bottle and aging it for a year and see how it ends up. I think the flavors will round out a bit and the lack of carbonation won’t be as bothersome.
As promised, here’s a post on a few of the beers I’ve had recently.
I’ll start with Dupont’s Foret, their organic saison. The beer is very similar to Saison Dupont, though it has a much cleaner and crisper taste and feel to it. Maybe that’s just what I wanted to taste/feel because it’s organic, but I really got that feeling from the beer. It was good, though there were no overwhelming flavors to it. The beer had a huge thick creamy white head that diminished fairly quickly. The taste was somewhat earthy and crisp. This would make a great summer brew (no surprise here as saisons are generally brewed to be consumed in the summer).
I’ll move onto this year’s Storm King Stout from Victory, one of my favorite breweries. The beer is dark with a dark tan head. Smells of roasted malts and some hops. Flavor is similar. Victory like their hops and this beer is no different. It’s a bit hoppy for an imperial stout. I bought a 6 pack and I’m planning on keeping 2 of them until next year (maybe even more than that). It’s a bitter beer, not like an IPA, but still bitter.
Sierra Nevada‘s Celebration Ale is next. It’s just a regular old IPA, though I think it’s made with different hops than their regular IPA or Pale Ale, both of which are excellent. This one, however, doesn’t leave that hoppy aftertaste and has a different flavor to it. I really can’t put my finger on what it is, but it’s different, yet still very good. This is an IPA that seems better suited for the winter (go figure, as it’s one of their winter seasonals). The best thing about this year’s Celebration Ale is that it comes with a real cap, not a twist-off, the one issue I’ve had with their bottles (twist-off’s can lead to oxidation more quickly than regular caps).
The Newport Storm beers I mentioned deserve their own post. I’ll write about them tomorrow (or later today, considering it’s well after midnight). Happy 2008 and good night!
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