Wormtown Norm

With the recent announcement that Norm Miller is retiring his popular Beer Nut column as part of a plan to cut back on drinking and focus on his health I thought it was about time to finally review Norm, his eponymous beer from Wormtown Brewery. It helped that Wormtown decided to distribute some of this years batch, so I found a bottle at a local shop. The story goes that Norm relentlessly pitched the idea of a coconut stout, and eventually Wormtown caved and brewed the beer, naming the resulting product after him. It is interesting to think that adding coconut to a dark beer was a pretty novel combination not too long ago, there are many coconut stouts and porters on the market now. I am sure every beer writer would love to pitch a beer and have it become a regular part of a breweries rotation, Norm is the only example I know of. Wormtown brews Norm as a base oatmeal stout with added cocoa nibs and coconut. The beer is brewed once a year and sold on draft and in 750 mL bottles.

Wormtown NormWormtown Norm pours pitch black with a solid tan head. The aroma is a mixture of roasted malt and a little coconut. The malts lead the flavor, notes of toffee, cocoa and brown sugar. This is complemented by the chocolate and coconut, you can taste both but neither is overpowering. Some subtle hops add earthy flavor and balance. The oats give the beer a full body but Norm drinks very smooth and isn’t too boozy at 6.8% ABV. The finish is full of malt favor and just a hint of sweetness. This is a stellar stout, definitely the best coconut beer I’ve had. Cheers to Norm on his new path and I hope that Wormtown keeps making this beer in his honor! Hoppy Boston score: 4.75/5.

Previous Wormtown Reviews:

Wormtown Mass Produced Lager: Fresh Hop, Wormtown Bottle RocketWormtown HopulenceWormtown Be Hoppy

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