Newport Storm’s Annual Release ‘15 Bacon Flavored Brew

By Chilled Magazine

The crew at Newport Storm Brewery loves bacon.

In fact, their 2014 fall company meeting, which was dominated by the smoky meat, is now referred to as “Baconfest”. At each meeting co-founder and President, Brent Ryan, incorporates a team building exercise or game because ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. The team building for this particular meeting was challenging the crew to craft their own Newport Storm beer dinner. The epic feast took place on a brisk November night and consisted of five courses expertly paired with five Storm brews. Each course, as you might have guessed, had bacon as an ingredient- bacon cheese sliders, butternut squash soup with a bacon garnish, rum raisin ice cream with candied bacon you get the picture.

Inspired by this feast, brewers set out on a mission to capture the savory flavors, sans swine, employing vast amounts of specialty malts and barley. In light of the recent discovery that bacon might not be the best thing to eat, it looks like the Annual Release ‘15 came not a moment too soon.

Test batches for the ‘15 spanned nearly 2 years as brewers experimented with hardwood smoked barley to get the “bacon effect”, but a key ingredient was still missing. Brew Master Derek Luke fondly recalls the day he found the malt that would round out this limited brew,

“Much like a wild boar searching for truffles, I stumbled across a dry sample of a certain kilned malt in the brewery forest that smelled just like milk chocolate”.

Newport Storm’s Annual Release ‘15 Bacon Flavored Brew

Newport Storm’s Annual Release ‘15 Bacon Flavored Brew

The discovery of Baird’s chocolate malt made the theme of this beer instantly clear, chocolate covered bacon! Though hops are used to balance, they take a back seat to the wonderful flavors and aromas that only smoked barley can produce. At 11% ABV, this velvety black brew will have you saying,

“I can’t believe it’s not bacon!”.

The Annual Release brews are known by their unique flavors, extreme qualities and higher ABV. As with the previous 14 annual brews before it, the ‘15 is a limited release, or single batch. Roughly 3,000 bottles were produced and distribution across RI, CT, PA and ME is set for the first week of November. Maybe take a pass on the smoked ham this holiday season and grab a bottle of this brew instead to share with family and friends!

For more information and details on where the ‘15 can be found, visit NewportStorm.com and like Newport Storm Beer on Facebook.

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