This year’s Newport Storm Annual Release, which the Rhode Island brewery has made since 2000 finds its place as the sweetest of them all, the company reports.
Brewmaster Derek Luke wanted to make an “adult cold cocoa,” the company says. One of his favorite ingredients, chocolate, comes back again and is joined this time with vanilla and milk sugar which give this beer a marshmallow like taste. This sweet flavor was discovered after a couple of experimental batches by the brewmaster.
“I used real marshmallows in one of our experimental batches, but since they’re filled with preservatives, the beer didn’t ferment,” he recalls. “That wasn’t going to work for our beer or our beer fans.” So, Derek went back to work and looked at homemade marshmallow recipes and learned their base ingredients are sugar, milk, and vanilla.
As for that chocolate, it finds its way into this beer in two different ways. Baird’s Chocolate malts help build the base for this beer. An extraction process from Cacao nibs from Ecuador and Ghana finish off the chocolatey flavor.
Annual Releases are known for their flavors, extreme qualities, and higher 11% ABV, the company says. As with the previous 16 annual brews before it, the ‘16 is a limited release. Roughly 3,000 bottles were produced and will be distributed in RI and PA.
For more information and details on where the ‘16 can be found, visit NewportStorm.com.
