Newport Storm Blizzard Porter

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 8

Pours a deep, clear cherry brown. The head forms but lacks staying power, quickly fading to renegade bubbles on the edge of the glass with faint weather map storm clouds wisping across the surface. A rich chocolate and toast aroma wafts up from the beer at pouring. Quite appetizing. The flavor doesn''t dissipoint (especially for a porter as light as this one). The chocolate, dominate in the aroma, falls out a bit to become subordinate to the roasty toasty malt. Neither soft and chewy, nor harsh and hard, it''s rather crisp with a clean firmness making it like a thin, stiff piece of leather (metaphorically speaking). A very faint smokiness softens the flavor without overwhelming it.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Sampled last night at O'Brien's -- courtesy of my fellow Foamies Dan n' Jan, who brought back a bunch of beer from Back East.

This was sampled right after the rather dull Berkshire Extra Pale Ale -- and it was like an alarm clock for the taste buds! While that particular beer kinda dulled the senses, this beer's diehard roasted character and awesome mouthfeel put things right again in a hurry!

Pretty standard appearence and nose for a well-made American Porter -- no surprises there. Immediately reminded me of the under-rated Anchor Porter, IMO.

But where this beer really starts to shine is in the mouthfeel, and it's Pure Roasted Goodness in every sip...! Slight coffee nuances, which is a good thing in my book.

Enough bitterness to count, but at no time did it become distracting, or detract from the malty profile of this beer.

A 12-ozer that was in high-demand with the Foamie crew -- it was killed off almost immediately! Will definately have to look for this beer (and other beers from this brewery) again in the future. Recommended.
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Eclipse black color. Medium to small sized head. Aroma is chocolate and very roasty coffee. A medium bodied porter. Malts are chocolate and roasted coffee. Hops are grapefruity and spicy. Kind of a give and take balance between the roasty coffee and the hop bitterness. Nice drinkable porter. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 6

12 oz brown bottle. Quote inside the cap: "Chicks dig me because I rarely wear beer." It was a dark and stormy night… Clear, gold-tinged brown. Short-lived tan head. Smells like an ash tray, or maybe a spit bucket. Tastes a bit like cardboard or a mix of stale beers. Surprisingly thin and watery with very little life. Aftertaste is decidedly sweet, like dark Karo syrup. Would be a great cigar beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

One of my favorites in my evergrowing winter beer collection, unfortunately being in a college town its impossible to find outside a micro-brew shop. Great aroma and pour with small head that dimishes fast. Maintains its flavors even as it warms allowing you to enjoy it slowly and savor it watching the snow fall. Was great with a spicy soup and hearty bread.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a dark brown with red highlights and a thin tan head. Aroma is powerful, full of coffee, burnt chocolate, and a bit of smoke. Flavor is nicely roasty, with lots of brown sugar, molasses and caramel in the front. Very nice, although it seems a bit thin to me.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Deep brown to black color, minimal head but a decent amount of lace. The black patent malts quite pronoucned in the nose, roasted corn come to mind. Front is sweet, middle thick, creamy, rich and choclatety, reminds me "Choc-o-la Cola" from my childhood. Finish is "quite hoppy", and a is dry, but extremely pleasing to me. As porters and stouts are still my favorite, I have a new top ten porter to add to my master list that now totals 4025 beers.