Beer in Newport, RI

Beer isn't solid in grocery stores in RI, but Sandy's Liquors on Aquidneck is a good place to stop - tiny place, but great selection. Beer bar recommendations:

Pour Judgement - great burger and beer deal
Norey's Restaurant - Great taplist and good food (more upscale than PJ's)
Malt - great whiskey selection as well (note - PJ's, Norey's & Malt are all on Broadway)
Coddington's in Middletown - only brewpub on the island and is up the road from Coastal Extreme

Generally speaking, there aren't all that many beers places on Thames Street (at least that I have come across), which is where the tourists tend to congregate.

Enjoy your stay.

 

There is a large Oktoberfest October 12 and 13th in Newport.

You could also take the bus to Providence from Newport, if you wanted to expand your choices.

 

The places that Jwale reccomended are exactly what I was about to say. How long are you in town for and will you have transportation? There a lot of things to check out within 40ish minutes of newport if you have a car, if not those places will do you just fine.

 

The way I put it, Norey's is the Ferrari dealership of beers. Everything they offer is ultra-high-end, rare and expensive, but if you're really into great beer, it's where you want to spend your money and the time. The average ABV on their 14 taps is probably something like 8.5%. The bottle selection is insane with ~140 beers. Norey's only has a beer & wine license so there's no liquor.

Malt, next door to Norey's, is like the BMW dealership of beers. The selection is good, they've got more taps than Norey's, but they're not quite as crazy. Their high-end stuff is usually Firestone Walker Double Jack or a He'Brew IPA. The owners are Irish so there are a lot of English & Irish Ales (like Hobgoblin). Like has be mentioned elsewhere, the whiskey selection here is huge.

Bistro 162, on the other next door to Norey's, doesn't have the largest selection of beers, but what they have is halfway decent (Lagunitas Little Sumpin', Founders Dirty Bastard, etc.) They're better for their cocktails.

Pour Judgement helped start me on my craft-beer journey and I love the staff there. The craft beer selection is good, just not quite as good as the previous two. There's always 2-3 beers on draft I want...but that's it. The rest are all craft, except for the Guinness, but they're just okay. The staff is hot and fun, but it can get really busy from ~5-9pm.

Yesterdays has been getting a bit better with their selection (they have I think 30 taps), but it's like they haven't quite figured out the whole "craft beer" thing. The last couple times I've been there, they've had Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe and Merry Monks on draft, but I got the feeling the bartenders aren't that enthusiastic about the beer.

You can also hit up The Tavern on Broadway and The Fastnet. They're more traditional pubs with large selections of traditional Irish beers, but there are usually some decent IPAs thrown it. They get decent crowds and have good music.

Heading onto Thames, the Gas Lamp Grille tends to have interesting beers from breweries I'm not too fond of personally, but ones that have their followings (Rogue, Harpoon).

The Mudville has a bunch of drafts (I think 25) with the occasional gem.

The Wharf Tavern has a lot of local and regional beers on draft(I want to say 25-30)...and the best tater tots EVER.

I'm not sure of the overall beer selection at the Midtown Oyster Bar (the drafts hadn't gone in their opening weekend when I was there) but they have a bunch of oyster stouts from around the world.

Located behind the Midtown, Christie's was doing craft beer dinners on Thursday nights.

And it kind of gets boring after that. Most places that I didn't mention have some okay beers. It's not a sea of Bud and Coors Light...but I just don't consider Sam Adams seasonals, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Newport Storm Hurricane Amber that interesting.

For liquor stores, check out Bridge Liquors for a great selection at great prices. They've been expanding their selection of Belgian bombers(La Fin Du Monde, Chimay, La Trappe, etc.) and barrel-aged beer(Founders Doom, Bolt Cutter, Weyerbacher Insanity, Blasphemy, Stone Firkin Wheaton, etc.) this year. If you want an insane deal however, Sandy's had Goose Island Bourbon County in stock for $19.99 a 4-pack last I checked.

 

^Close the thread, this guy nailed it

 

The places anyway.

 

Are any of these less-touristy? Or any other suggestions for a low key place to have some beers. Really don't care about the craft selection, more so about the atmosphere.

 

Noreys,Malt, and tavern on broadway are pretty laid back places, noreys is often pretty slow unless you go on a tap takeover or special day (Today they are doing one for Hitachino which will be pretty awesome) and malt is sometimes busier but really most of the places on broadway arent very touristy, which is why I almost exclusively stay on that street. If you go down a little bit more away from downtown theres the parlor which is a pretty neat place, the time i went there it was kinda busy but still a pretty neat atmosphere. When are you headed down?

 

What he said. Stay away from Thames Street and you should be okay.

 

Thanks! Let me be a little more specific, I'm looking for a quite cool old-man bar. A blue collar place in Newport seems hard to find.

 

There's Cappy's (on Memorial). The Irish American down on Lower Thames. Jimmy's on Memorial. Mudville (down by the baseball field on Marlborough)

 

http://www.noreys.com/

 

^been suggested a bunch in this thread. far from a laid back blue collar place though if you were responding to HRamz

 

Just finding someplace to put this, but if you are in the Newport area in the near future I would HIGHLY recommend going to Malt on Broadway (first of 12 logs that exist) for InfRIngement by Newport Storm. Stout barrel aged in Thomas Tew rum barrels. Coconut and cocoa bomb, so delicious. Best offering from Newport Storm I have had by far...

 

Any updates to this thread? Headed down for a couple days with the wife; we have dinner reservations all lined up, but always on the hunt for good breakfast/lunch/snacks/beers places. I'm planning to check out Norey's; anything on this list that isn't open any longer or anything that's opened up in the last 8+ months? Thanks in advance.

 

Two new breweries I hear are making great beers. Both are west of NPT. Proclamation and Tilted Barn.

 

I was just there last weekend. The Wharf Pub for lunch. They had a solid tap list and good food.

Proclamation is making exceptionally good beer. Really been liking Derivative since they started bottling.

 

Pour Judgement baby.