Shorts Rich’s Rye IPA

3.7/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger dense off white head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thick cap. Some decent lacing on the glass. There was a slow cascade of carbonation as I poured this. Aromas of big pine, rye spiciness, biscuit, herbal, caramel, and citrus. Some nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of big rye spiciness, caramel, biscuit, herbal, grapefruit, pine, and earthiness. Strong bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of rye spiciness, biscuit, caramel, and citrus for a bit. Good balance of flavors. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slightly thick mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Overall this is a nice and very enjoyable rye offering. Apparently this bottle was a bit old, but it held up nicely!

Despite being an older bottle, this held up well for a rye IPA. Very rye forward with a good sized mouthfeel because of all the rye.

Shorts Autumn Ale

3.7/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled 10/12/2011. Pours hazy reddish orange color with a nice 2 finger dense light khaki head with nice retention that reduces to a thick cap that lingers. Some spotty lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big orange, biscuit, lemon, spices, grapefruit, floral, grass, caramel, and yeast. Pretty nice aromas here, but they are a little bit odd and overly yeasty. Taste of big orange, grapefruit, biscuit, caramel, spices, herbal, grass, floral, and yeast. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, floral, herbal, grass, and spices on the finish for a bit. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy and smooth drinking mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with hardly any warming on the finish present. Overall this is a nice ESB offering. Very drinkable with good flavor balance.

Another nice and drinkable Short's offering as expected.

Shorts Sustenance Black Beer

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle date(probably from spring 2011). Pours almost opaque dark brown color with a nice 2 finger dense khaki head with awesome retention that reduces to a thick cap. Some nice soapy lacing on the glass as well. Aromas of roasted malt, chocolate, molasses, caramel, herbal hops, and some smoke. Nice and well balanced aromas with nice strength. Taste of chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, light coffee, herbal spiciness, and a bit of smoke. Fair amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, and herbal hops on the finish for a bit. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming on the finish. Very easy to drink at 6%. Great balance of flavor and bitterness. Overall this is a damn nice lager offering from Short’s, and it has held up very well since last spring. Very easy to drink and well balanced!

Definitely one of the better Short's offerings I have had. Great balance and drinkability; with great flavor.

Shorts The Liberator

3.9/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle into tulip, bottles 12/06/2011, so pretty darn fresh. Pours slightly hazy golden orange color with a nice 1-2 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Some fairly nice lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big orange zest, grapefruit, pine, caramel, lemon, floral, and spiciness. Great aromas with good balance; definitely a citrus bomb. Taste of big pine resin, caramel, orange, grapefruit, lemon zest, bread, and big spiciness. Gigantic amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers forever. Notes of caramel, grapefruit, pine, spices, and orange linger on the finish as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with hardly any warming noticeable after the finish. Overall this is a very nice and interesting double IPA. A bit too over the top on hop bitterness, but this is a nice one to sip on, and is loaded with citrus and pine flavor.

Another tasty Short's offering here. A little too bitter, but very nice to sip on with tons of citrus flavor.

Shorts Nicie Spicie

3.7/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20

12 ounce bottle into weizen glass, bottled 08/20/11. Pours very hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger fairly dense white head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick cap. Some spotty lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big orange zest, lemonade, pepper, coriander, and some wheat spiciness. Some nice aromas here with good strength; a lot of citrus going on here. Taste of big lemon, coriander, clove, pepper, orange zest, spicy wheat and light breadiness. Flavors of citrus, clove, pepper, and big spices linger on the finish for a while. Some wheat tartness is also present on the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a slightly prickly yet smooth mouthfeel that drinks pretty easily. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming on the finish. Some heat from the peppercorn is also present. Over all this is a nice spiced wheat ale. The peppercorn spiciness throws off the balance, but it is still very drinkable and quite enjoyable.

Another enjoyable brew from Shorts. I am really enjoying the fact I live in Michigan now. So much tasty beer brewed up here.

Shorts Bellaire Brown

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle, bottled 10/04/11. Pours crystal clear reddish brown color with a nice fairly dense 2 finger light khaki head with good retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some bits of lacing cling to the side of the glass as well. Aromas of caramel, toasted malts, bread, brown sugar, nuttiness, and a good amount of spicy hops. Fairly nice aromas with good strength. Taste of caramel, toasted malt, light chocolate, bread, nuttiness, light coffee, and spices. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of chocolate, caramel, and spicy hops on the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy mouthfeel that drinks smoothly. No alcohol noticed at all. Nice balance of flavors and bitterness. Overall a very nice and tasty brown ale that is a good representation of the style.

One of the better brown ales I have had. Nice flavor balance and it doesn't feel watered down.

Shorts Ale La Reverend

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

12 ounce bottle, bottled 8/22/11. Pours hazy golden straw color with a nice 2 finger dense white head with great retention that reduces to a thick lacing cap that lasts. Tons of carbonation streaming from the bottom of the glass. Nice lacing clings around the entire glass as well. Aromas of big pineapple, lemon zest, orange, pine, floral hops, and some spiciness. Some surprisingly fantastic aromas here, quite different from any IPA I have had before as well. Taste of big pine, orange, grapefruit, spiciness, bread, and a bit of caramel. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, pine, spiciness, and light caramel. Medium carbonation and body. Incredible balance of flavors and bitterness. No alcohol noticed at all as expected. Overall, Wow. Considering this is 4%, this beer is one of the most balanced and flavorful IPAs I have had.

This is incredible for a 4% session beer. Tons of great hoppy flavor with amazing balance.

Short's Huma-Lupa-Licious

4.4/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

12 ounce bottle into tulip, bottled on 08/08/11, so a little under 2 months old. Pours hazy golden orange color with a gigantic 3 finger creamy off white head with incredible retention. Some thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of huge pine, orange, tropical fruit, bread, spice, and lemon. Some excellent aromas here with nice strength. Taste of tons of pine, orange, tropical fruit, lemon, caramel, bread, and spices. Nice amount of bitterness present on the finish that lingers with citrus, breadiness, pine resin, and spicy hop notes. Medium carbonation and medium bodied with a very nice and creamy mouthfeel. Super drinkable for an IPA, with no alcohol noticed at all. Fantastic balance of bitterness and sweetness as well. Overall an outstanding IPA. I had no idea they dated the bottles until now. I will be on the lookout for a fresh 6 pack and then it will be mine.

A fantastic IPA I will be picking up again. Finally had my first Short's brew since entering Michigan, and I will be grabbing some other random singles to try out soon.