Shorts Anniversary Ale 2009

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Bellaire, Michigan USA

Growler sample at Muckfest 2009 Day 2. Pours clear amber with a medium tan head. Orange notes with some malt, a good amount of hop and some spice. Spicy and orangy flavor up front with a bitter grapefruit finish.

On tap at the brewery. Dark ruby red with small beige head. Aroma is earthy, grapefruit, alc, pretty fruity with sweet malt forward. Flavor is alc with sweet and tart complexity, big dirty grapefruit, pretty intense, tases like a blood orange with a little alc intensity. Medium bodied and well carbonated. An interesting experiment, it really does taste like a blood orange.

!0th rating of this one, lets make it official. Growler shared on the rooftop of riversideAK’s girlfriends place with some cool dudes on a great afternoon. Pours a cloudy orangish/amber/brown color with a very nice slightly off white head. As others have noted, the nose on this one god damn amazing! Citrusy fruit, resiny hops, and spice all with perfect yeasty malt backing. The orange and hops really jump out in front as, but the malt and spices show up mid palate with a good amount of hops on the end. I would agree that this one isn’t like any other wheat wine, or beer for that matter, that I have had. I can’t wait to try the next Short’s experiment.

Growler gratefully shared by B to the V to the C; pours dark brown with foamy tan/head head; aromas just ooze out of this one; dank fruit, cinnamon, an almost belgian yeasty/IPA kind of note with the hops, lemons, spice and orange; nose is kind of everywhere, but somehow works out; texture is soft and quite full bodied with so much flavor; everything seems so fresh and fruity; tons of spice, caramel, sugar, oranges; with so much going on, it doesn’t seem much like a wheat wine, which is more than fine with me; i’m a total Short’s fanboy and this one was another knockout

Courtesy northernbrews via GoT. Chestnut color, thin broken white head. Great aroma - toasted malt, orange, strong earthy hops, very aromatic and unique. Taste is robust, sweet malts, spices up front. The citrus and peppercorn elements meld nicely and leave a piquant sting on the palate. A beer that occupies all your senses while drinking it.

Handbottle. This smells incredibly insane. Wow. wow. wow. Nothing has ever put off an aroma like this. Incredibly rich, juicy syrupy candied orange and fresh hop resin. Glowing and intense. There’s some pithier, rind-like orange character and some definite hop bitterness. But the combination of the palpable blood orange molasses and the fresh raging orange-like citrus cones is dense and out of this world. Pours a darker, sienna-tinted red-brown. Flavor is just as intense. Right off the bat the oranges come through and then a characteristic, slightly aged but still delightful hop leaf comes through. Shorts has mastered a real unique hop flavor profile and its here again. Actually, tastes much like last year’s in that regard. I’m not getting much wheat density, but the oily texture of the beer is probably that dimensions contribution. Starts with a good punch of orange and then runs long on a constantly morphing and unique hop run. A solid crisp snap of carbonation carries some orange rind spritz into my nostrils. Alcohol and sweetness meld well with the other characteristics of the beer. This is a pretty unique and incredible beer. A fantastic evening sipper. Thanks so much Sean. I can’t believe I got to try this.

Courtesy of northernbrews

Growler: The aroma is loaded with oranges with a hint of grapefruit hops. The flavor starts with lots of oranges with some citrus tanginess in the background long with some caramel. Moderate grapefruit hops in the finish do a nice job of balancing the flavor, but the oranges always stand out. There’s a faint spiciness in the finish as well. The alcohol is well hidden. Medium-full bodied with moderate-lively carbonation.

Fuck yes. Blood oranges so unbelievably fresh and zesty, prickly and citruscy. Huge frothy and full texture, agressively hopped but not overly bitter. Wonderfully fresh and juicy. Just awesome.