Shorts Abnormal Genius

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Bellaire, Michigan USA

courtesy of the Shorts tasting night group. early ’07 bottle. bottle #375 pours cloudy orange with thin white head. Aroma of strong honey that really does come through with hints of sunflower seeds adding a light sweet pine nose that one get from eating grilled sunflower seeds.. Flavor, thick warming honey goodness. I enjoy sweet honey in beer and this one was just all over the beer, giving it a mead like palate with lingering sunflower pine in the background. Add to the mix some caramel and malts you get a nice honey bomb.

Bottled. Amber coloured. Unclear. Dense beige head. Sweetness, herbs, chocolate and light coffee in the aroma. Flavour is sweet, piney, herbal, nutty, light carmelly and has a touch of honey. Is quite creamy and smooth. Medium to full bodied. Dry. Sweetish and light bitter end. Very nice.

Draft and bottle? An amber body with an off white head. Sweet fructose and berry notes, caramel and fruity chewy body with candy sugar notes. Eh sure is sweet.

Another rarity courtesy of hoppymeal, bottle #394, poured into a tulip. Pours a hazy caramel orange with a big creamy off-white head that settles in as a cap for the duration and leaves spotty lacing. Lots of sweetness in the aroma with the honey definitely showing through, along with some sweet caramel malts and a faint herbal spiciness. The nuts are present in the nose but certainly took a backseat to the sweetness. The taste is slightly more balanced with the nuts coming out up front before giving way to the big sweet malt base and, as in the aroma, the dominant honey sweetness which lingers in the finish and builds up between sips. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty thick with the honey sweetness. Almost cloying, but not quite. This is what I like about Shorts. It’s a very original take on the style with some ingredients that I would never have thought to put together. As a lover of honey in beer, I thought this one would hit the spot...and it did. A great beer that has aged much better than I expected.

Courtesy Beerlando. Poured somewhat thickly into the glass, looks like reduced apple juice, thin ephemeral layer of whitish head. The aroma was sweet and honeyed and didn’t have a heavy grain aroma like many goldens can have. The hop presence is light but complimentary. The taste is sweet and straightforward, nothing really outlandish here - Bit-O-Honey, light yeast, mild alcohol. One-dimensional, but still solid.

From the bottle pours a lightly hazy, dark, golden-amber tinted body. A small, foamy, beige colored head settles quickly to a flat, wide ring around the edge. Scant spots of lace are all that mark the glass. The aroma shows a malt base of sweet, buttery toffee, with a strong honey presence, floral hops, and a hint of nuttiness. Flavors follow suit, mostly sweet and malty, with toffee and honey again running the show. The hop billing has undoubtedly faded at this age, but there’s still a substantial floral and fruity bitterness once you wade through the initial malt veil. There’s an odd nutty, earthy, slightly vegetal note that I can’t quite place, perhaps a result of the sunflower seeds. Big bodied, syrupy, and warm from the alcohol, the palate just confirms that this isn’t really my kind of brew. Not bad, just not my thing.

Thanks to Beerlando. Malty, honey, spicy nutty aromas. Pours a rich golden blonde with a thin white head. Sweet malts, honey, hints of light caramel, there’s a spiciness that i can’t put my finger on. There is a slight nutty dryness in the finish (sunflower seeds?) Another creative and great beer from shorts!

750ml bottle 352/798 Brewed 4/2/07 4/1/09(Purchased Shorts)-Pours a light amber with a small loose white head. Aroma of sweetness, honey, grains, and sunflower.Flavor the same with a bit of alcohol. This medium bodied brew was not bad just a bit hot and bland.