Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale
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This might just be the only positive review of Hurricane Amber you’ll be able to find online. At least, I haven’t been able to find any others.
Newport, RI is home of boating, music festivals, and lots of drinking. The city is also home of the Coastal Extreme Brewing Co., “RI’s only Microbrewery and exclusive brewers of Newport Storm Hand Crafted Beers”.
Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale is getting trashed on the big beer rating sites, but I wanted to try the beer for myself. I grabbed a bottle, strapped on my life vest, and dove into the eye of the Storm.
There’s nothing “extreme” about this Coastal Extreme brew; in fact the hops are present but pretty mild, and they’re matched by a toasty malt that dominates the finish. It has a nice color, fairly clear body, and a soft but carbonated mouthfeel. The aroma floats from malt to nondescript beer, but the flavor and the balance between hop and malt is really pretty good.
Hurricane Amber would be a great beach or boat beer — a fact not lost on the brewers, who go out of their way to offer this craft beer in cans (beach and boat friendly) as well as bottles.
Maybe some of the poor reviews are simply old? It’s entirely possible that Newport Storm has refined its brew to address some of the criticism. But I suspect this beer has just been panned as being too simple. The toasty malt and smooth finish are uncharacteristic of many ambers, but relegating the bitterness to a supporting role adds to the drinkability and made me want another.
So you can imagine my pleasure at finding this introduction and reference to the Hurricane Amber Ale on Coastal Extreme Brewing Co. website:
The first thing anyone should know about our beers is that they are brewed to be drank. That means that the products we brew are designed with the person who is going to sit down and enjoy more than one of them in mind. Yes, we use some of the best malts in the world, we balance it out with great hopping and we never cut corners or overpower you with too many of these ingredients. The English have often referred to this kind of beer as “Session” beer (i.e. the beer you drink when you are going to the pub for a session) and although our styles may differ from those they brew for this purpose over there, the spirit is the same – make something people can enjoy pint after pint.
Our flagship, Hurricane Amber Ale, is the epitome of this concept. It’s a mild amber ale with sweet malty flavor balanced by ample but delicate hopping. It’s the perfect beer to enjoy all evening with good friends or even good enemies.
The Hurricane Amber is indeed a mild Storm — just 24 IBUs and 5.2% ABV, but that just means you can drink up a Storm without getting ship wrecked. That is, unless you’ve carried a few cans onto your sailboat — moderation, Captain!
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