Newport Storm '08, Coastal Extreme Brewing Company, Middletown, RI

I picked up the Newport Storm '08 for one reason only. It was corked. I'd have to say 25% of the reason why I pick certain beers is for the appearance of the bottle or can. This one happened to be horribly corked. I thought something done that horribly that seems to be produced on a grand scale, must be good. I was a little fearful, because as the picture on the right inaccurately depicts, this came in a large bottle. Large bottles usually mean one of 2 things. 40 oz malt liquor guzzlers, or Belgian beers. Now while I am more a fan of the 40 oz than the Belgian, this beer was not standing anywhere near my friends Mickey's, Olde English or Colt 45. It was near the dainty Belgians. The Newport Storm had a tart tasting grape flavor to it. More a barley wine than a typical ale. The beer was smooth, uncarbonated. The 12.1% ABV provided an ass-kicking rabbit punch that kept you in your seat because standing or other normal mundane everyday things were now a lot harder. Now, normally I guess you'd share one of these bad boys, but there was no one around to share it with except the Lord, and He knew better, so I had to take it down myself due to the fact it was a large bottle and it couldn't be recorked. I also hate warm beer which meant I drank quickly. Needless to say the ensuing dizziness could have been avoided with a more moderate approach. Unfortunately I wasn't the biggest fan of this beer, so it added insult to injury. I rate the Newport Storm a 2.0.