Shorts Anniversary Ale 2008

Formerly brewed at Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Bellaire, Michigan USA

2008 MiBGF: Deep sunset coppery hue with a great head and lace. The aroma has notes of caramel and bready malts, moderate piney and herbal hops, and some pepper but seems a tad weak. The taste is bitter and citric with some catty undertones. Caramel and metallic was well, balanced but seems dull towards the finish. The initial mouth feel is sharp and biting, astringent and muddled upon the finish. Not bad but not living up to the hype either.

MBG summer fest 08. Poured a murky amber color with a small white head. Aroma was piney, a little dough and citrus. Flavor was much the same, huge piney punch in the middle, nice grapefruit, thick mouthfeel. Really nice stuff.

MBG Summer Fest ’08. Poured a slightly hazy medium amber with a nicely contrasting white head. Aroma was biscuity with lots of pine resin and citrus. Flavor was absolutely amazing - tons of grapefruit and piney hoppiness, but perfectly balanced by the bready, sweet malt character. Long bitter finish with a warm reminder of the ABV. Chewy mouthfeel with excellent carbonation. Definitely deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Dreadnaught and Pliny.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a deep, lightly clouded chesnut and sienna, with a fringe of gold and rim in silky off-white. I’m pulling off a faint, lightly musky nose initially. Dank but distant. Wow. Flavor lives up to the hype. This is some dense hoppiness. There’s some really nice, lightly toasted chewy malt that glides in initially and sets up the stage for some real hop dance. Alcohol flames the fire and brings hops higher into the nose and palate. Bright and really concentrated. It’s hard to pull any one, single hop flavor out of this. There’s a lot of pine, resin and citrus that lights up as a real bready grapefruit. A bit of yeast off-product produces some depth. A very nice, well-done IIPA. Sorry, no growlers of this.

Snifter on tap at the brewpub. This is a glorious brew for hopheads. The body was a very cloudy medium copper with an offwhite head. The aroma is massive grapefruit with some almonds. There is also some bread crust. The taste is palate ruining grapefruit with some almonds shells. Well made and an absolute monster.

Many I wish I was sharing this with other raters. Growler. Poured a hazed amber with an off white head. I haven’t had a DIPA like this in quite a while. Strong hop forward aroma of pine, grapefruit and sweaty hop aroma. I am guessing there is malt in there by the sweetness. The flavor is a mix of hops and malt but leans definitively to the hops. Pine flavor in the middle with a moderate amount of bitterness that runs for quite a while on the dry finish. Medium body with no signs of alcohol. That is until I down the growler, then I will be the sign. Another winner for Short’s and my new MI hookup Derek

Thank you Derek for the Growler (I owe you one!). Poured a deep and cloudy amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of pine, citrus, grapefruit peels, floral green hoppiness, and a trace of caramel. Tastes of grapefruit juice, grass, cigrus, and some caramel. Light maltiness with very nice hoppiness!

Growler shared by hopdog. Pours a lightly hazy ruby orange with a medium creamy/bubbly off white head that left some nice sticky lacing. Aroma of grapefruit, pine, orange, a bunch of fresh American hops, caramel, toasted malt really nice hop aroma, no off flavors or grassy notes. Flavor of grapefruit, pine, earthy, tons of hop flavor, caramel and toasted malt.