Brewing Up a Storm in Newport

Brewing Up a Storm in Newport

The Coastal Extreme brewers have steeped themselves in history. To explain his completely modern fermentation process, for example, brewer Adam Truesdale references the 1516 Bavarian Purity Law that has regulated German beer for nearly six centuries. While discussing his local rum, CEO and owner Brent Ryan launches into a well-versed history of the 17th century Rhode Island pirate.

For men so versed in history, it is novelty that has them animated today--their award-winning brewery recently moved into its new digs, and this new, 1.5-acre plant affords Coastal Extreme the ability to brew twice as much beer as it did before. Now, each batch produces 30 barrels (that’s 60 kegs, 930 gallons, or 9,920 bottles). Coastal Extreme Brewery may be a microbrewery at heart, but its production capabilities became a little more macro.

Still, this is a small and scrappy operation of seven people who pride themselves on local craft beverages. In 1999, four Colby College graduates founded Coastal Extreme in Rhode Island, because it was the only state without a commercial microbrewery.

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A year into its first decade, Coastal Extreme is still the only commercial brewery in the state. “It’s a testament to how hard these guys work,” Truesdale says of the founders, “Breweries are like restaurants. A lot of places come in and out because people think it will be fun, but it’s a tough job.” Truesdale explains that CEO Ryan will be offloading bottles one day and adhering labels the next. “We all do unglamorous jobs, we all wear lots of hats.”

Coastal Extreme produces ten Newport Storm craft beers a year: four seasonal beers, two regular ales, and four Cyclone Series beers. The flagship ale, Hurricane Amber, favors malt over hops and tastes creamy and sweet with undertones of spice. The other regular brew is the Rhode Island Blueberry Ale. “Blueberry is our gateway beer, it gets people curious,” says Truesdale. The Blueberry Ale is a lighter color and flavor, he says, and about as local a craft-brew as anyone could hope to sip. (Coastal Extreme pasteurizes the juice themselves, with blueberries from Schartner Farms--16 miles away--and a wine press borrowed from Newport Vineyards--3 miles away.)

Another historic Rhode Island brew inspired Coastal Extreme to create Newport Distillery in 2007 for rum production. “It’s the history that got us into the rum,” said Brent Ryan. "We thought: someone has got to resurrect this. This area is excellent for rum, because of the temperature changes. [The rum] ages more quickly and absorbs the flavors of the wood.”

The spirit is named for Thomas Tew, Rhode Island’s most famous pirate, who sailed from Newport 250 years ago when the city was a rum capital (housing 22 distilleries). Coastal Extreme took out the first state distillery license in more than 135 years. “Rum is really unique to this area, and we are trying to tie a local identity to the product,” Truesdale says.

Newport Storm prides itself on local heritage. One of its taglines, “One Airport, One Area Code, One Beer,” announces its pride in its unique position. And while its new headquarters are glossy and gleaming, the most revealing items are Coastal Extreme’s kegs. “We purchase used kegs, good stainless steel, so we decided that we could spray-paint them to make them our own,” says Truesdale. “It was my initiation into the brewing.” Surrounding the burnished and bright machinery are stacks of graffitied kegs and canisters with pop-neon colors, Andy Warhol designs on the silver background, cheerful doodles and colorful defacement, each one a unique testament to a one-of-a-kind brewery.

Newport Storm craft beers and Thomas Tew rum are available at retail locations throughout Rhode Island. Tours and tastings are $5, daily (except Tues) at 3pm. 293 JT Connell Rd, Newport, 849-5232, www.newportstorm.com