Newport Storm '01
Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling Co.

 

Really old bottle, thanks to Steve.

Brown auburn color, no head

Syrupy oxidation, sweet candy toffee caramel booze,

Taste sweet syrupy thick, booze, oxidation, little toffee and nutty, reddish malts

 

I am pouring a cellar temp bottle into a snifter. Cork still pops after all this time. Good sign. The beer pours a rich dark brown hue with garnet highlights when I hold my glass to the light. A fizzy beige head of 1 cm fades to a surface layer and then to a very thin edge layer almost immediately after the pour. Aroma is prunes and raisins with some molasses and booze. I dont get any hops or any vanilla hanging out on the nose.
First sip reveals an average body with very fine gentle rolling carbonation, almost like a cask. Flavor is molasses and prunes like the nose advertised with a little tobacco and slight oxidation mixed in the background.
There is a warming booze on the finish and again hops are nowhere to be found. Glad I did this now, probably wont get any better and may actually be deteriorating.
A decent barleywine, I wonder if the vanilla beans made an appearance when this beer was fresh?

Thanks to BA ClockworkOrange for sharing this. Poured from the cobolt blue bomber into a tulip the brew appears a clear burnt amber to mahogany color. Some large bubbles collect atop the solution.

The aroma consists of raisins, toffee and hints of fruity alcohol notes. Overall a fairly pleasing smelling brew for being ~12 years old. It does not show its age at all.

The flavor is caramel to deeper coffee with a hint of raisins. Some bready grain almost like chocolate that has a slight hint of butter. Whereas the aroma did not show this brew's age, the taste does. A hint of oxidized character is present with a flavor of wet cardboard in the aftertaste.

This is a medium bodied brew with a light level of carbonation. Overall not bad. Thanks for sharing Jason.

 

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a snifter glass.

A: The beer is a deep dark reddish brown color, with a thin off-white head, that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains brown sugar, dark fruit, caramelized malts, some alcohol and a good amount of hops considering the age.

T: The taste starts out very sweet flavors of caramel, brown sugar and dark fruit. The malt character is very hearty. The alcohol sting is very subdued from the age and there’s also a decent hops presence for the age creating a good balance. The after-taste is sweet.

M: Smooth and a little crisp, medium-to-heavy body, light-to-medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: Flavorful, goes down dangerously easy, slightly filling, very strong and very well-disguised kick, nicely aged representation of style, this is a good vintage beer to sip on for a long time.

purchased 8/3/11, pulled out of a dusty crate in the back room of my local liquor store. 750ml into chalice. This bottle is 10 years old at this point.

A- Ruby red and brown on the pour, head like creamed coffee. 1cm and fades to surface bubbles and a thick outer ring.

S- Sweet fruit, toffee. Black licorice. Malty aromas for days.. Rye bread and brandy.

T- Chocolate covered espresso beans, brandy-soaked figs. A bit ashy/smoky in the finish, with more sweet caramel following through.

M- Thick, chewy. Lots of heat but it's not abrasive. Really smooth and mellow, this has no doubt changed a lot for 10 years, at this point it's resting nicely. Great body and ample carbonation.

O- Simply delicious. Aged so well. One of the best aged beers I've had- shame I can't get more of this.

Appearance: Pours a murky brown body. No amount of shaking or swirling can cause a head to appear. Oh well.

Smell: Aroma rich in dark fruitiness with a vein of tartness running through it. A splash of sherry. Plenty of rich dark caramel.

Taste: Heavily sweet, earthy caramel maltiness with an extra hearty scoop of dark brown sugar. Dried dark fruits. Light oxidation. Touch of alcohol along the way. Especially candylike on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Mild carbonation. Decidedly chewy mouthfeel.

Drinkability: I could use a bit more carbonation in here, but otherwise it's a rather fine barleywine.

appearance - The pour is a cloudy amber brown color. nice head.

smell - sweet chocolate, roasted smell, alcohol, and malt.

taste - chocolate, malt, strong alcohol, like a wine.

mouthfeel - you can feel the alcohol in this one.

drinkability - been a tradition to drink this on christmas. Cheated this year and had one on New Years too. I need to back stock this. Real good, hope to try them all. I need to catch up.

Pours a hazy brown and with some mahogany twists in it and a large foamy ecru.
Aromas of semi-sweet chocolate, doughy fresh baked bread, some roasted nuts and a large medicial alcohol note cascade from the glass.
Flavor of chocolate covered raisins and caramel with some dark grains is predominant.
Mouthfeel is enormous with the malt built to a crescendo by a very alcoholic punch.
Drinkability is tremendous, well cared for a excellently aged brew. can't wait to try the '02 I have as well.

Pours a dark mahagony color with crimson highlights and a thin tan head that dissapates quickly, frankly im impressed it could manage a head at all after 4 years. Smell is driven by malts, with aromas of toffee, caramel, brown sugar, plums, raisins, and a light citrusy hops aroma as well as a nice dose of alcohol and a big dash of vanilla. Taste begins with a caramel and brown sugar malt flavor followed by a fruity yeast/hops flavor with hints of orange, plum, raisin, vanilla and currant, the alcohol is noticeable but does not interfere with the flavor, and the finish is drying and lightly bitter. This is definately not a very hoppy barleywine, but the malts are complex and rewarding. The mouthfeel is smooth and the light carbonation adds to the drinkability, which is good despite the high abv. This barleywine has a very scotch-like character, and is quite a nice sipping brew, tasty and complex.

brownish red in a snifter.. oud bruinish in color. thick with unexpected carbonation all throughout. light lacing, very super sticky. smell is pure barleywine with hoppy fermentation and a sickly sweet tinge. taste is the ultimate in caramel, and smooth. abv is rather hidden, drinkable for dessert. burnt sugar is the phrase to best describe the taste. malty bitterness and butterscotch end the experience for you. some say 2005 is too late for this one, i think its perfect. i like em sweet.

thx unionmade & ms. unionmade

Had this in the closet and thought that I was gonna have a long day so I set it aside to chill for the night. I'm moving in a couple of weeks and need to shrink down the beer closet. Any takers? I've had this bottle since early 2002. I only hope the '04 ages as well. The beer poured a nice deep, mahogany red. Very pretty color and a nice sparkle when held up to the light. The aroma was sugars and caramels. Also molasses and as I drank more it reminded me of Christmas cookies. The flavor is very rich. All malts with a nice backdrops of hops and sugars. Also get tones of prunes, raspberries and caramel. Very sweet, almost a "desert" beer. Makes me think of port wine. Unfortunately, the only downside is that it poured absolutely flat. I think as a result of the straight cork in a champagne bottle. I have heard you can tape it up, but never did so with this beer and kind of regret it. Otherwise, the mouthfeel is very full-bodied and chewy. This beer goes down real smooth and was a nice complement to the fruit tart the SO picked up for desert tonite.

Pours a gorgeous dark fire-ish glow. Absolutly beautiful, with a nice head. The colors swirl around so intricately when held up to the light. Smalls very malty and caramelish, with a nice sweet back. No hops anywhere though. Tastes smooth and creamy with a suprising scoth-type feel. Oak and vanilla come to mind, mixing amost a strong caramel flavor. No hops to round it off though. Overall this is a very nice brew, with a nice kick in the pants feeling. Although, I'm afraid by now it may be past it's prime.

Thanks to Dave for giving me (yet another) Newport Storm.

Newport Storm ’01 (750 ml):

Wow, the cork comes out with a surprising fresh-from-the-brewery pop. Deep garnet colored with a thick nose of caramel and vanilla. First sip is OMFG…big vanilla and viscous caramel in an easy vinous body that makes no attempt to hide the 12.5% ABV. Damn I love this stuff…a true cool evening sipper that the other barleywines can learn from. As it warms further, a nice hop bite decides to show up…she hits the party at it’s peak to give the illusion that she is the party. Over-ripe plum arrives on the scene for some balance...niiiice.

Cheers...

Cobalt blue 750 ml corked bottle.

Deep burgandy colour, thin beige head forms and quickly recedes into a halo.

Tons of caramel, along with apples & plums. Did I mention caramel.

Apple and hints a vanilla peek out from behind a boatload of sweet caramel driven malt. A very slight warming, but the high alcohol level is masked incredibly well. Thick, syrupy with very subtle carbonation. Gets better as it warms (started at cellar temp.), but certainly not very complex at this point.

Pours out murky/muddy color with a thin tan head. Aroma was grassy, earthy, caramel malt, more malt and alcohol. Taste was just about the same caramel and chocolate malt, alcohol that warms you up, earthy and grassy flavors. I figured this would be as mellow and smooth as the '00 but it wasn't, this had a little more of a bite. The alcohol wasn't overwhelming but it was noticeable. Full bodied mouthfeel and a bit of carbonation was felt as you sip this. It would probably mellow out a little more if you hold on to this for at least another six months to 1 year.

It's an odd thing to rule on an appearance that changes over the course of the bottle's pour: the first four ounces were clear ruby, the last six, a muddy mahogany.

A couple of years' age has brought out a brandy bread or whiskey cake nature in this incredibly complex brew; dried fruit is the major note, with chocolate, caramel and even a touch of mace or ginger present. It has a majorly round, chewy, carbo-loaded mouthfeel. It does not have the muddy, musty taste I encountered in the '00, but still has a number of oily and vegetable esters, making for a truly unusual experience.

In the last six months, I have not tasted something so interesting and challenging. My three compatriots in the tasting did not like Newport Storm '01. I did, and would still be inclined to recommend it.

The pour a deep sanguineous color with a planetary sized head that is spumescent in texture and a winsome light tan color, lace is a thick and glutinous sheet. Nose is nutty sweet and a bit vinous, crisp and fresh with a rich malt start, top is middling. Finish is perfectly carbonated, the hops are masterful in their spicy bite, quite dry and the big ABV does warm the tummy.