Shorts Anniversary Ale 2009

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

Another winner from Short’s. Pours a dark brown with hints of red and purple in the snifter. Nice khaki head with nice lacing. Served w/ a slice of blood orange......Starts with a blast of citrusy hops, mostly orange and grapefruit. There’s a little hint of the spices and faint malt background........Taste follows suit with some citrusy hops up front and some malt and spices near the finish. There’s also a nice tartness from the blood oranges.......Nice blend of unique flavors that goes down too easily for something so hoppy and strong......sure wish they’d bottle this, but I’m sure glad I was able to try it.......Congrats Short’s on a great 5 years and many more!

!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.

5oz sample at brewery 7/2/09-Pours an amber body with no head. Aroma of sweetness. Taste of malt, sweetness, citrus, hops, and alcohol. This is a full bodied brew which is well balanced and has some nice flavors. Great brew.

really glad I got to try this before it kicked. On tap at the brewery. Poured a deep orange brown with a small tan head. Aroma was sharp citrus, sweet malt, and some bitter hop notes. Taste was much the same, big full malt throughout, some spice, sharp citrus zest, bitter grapefruit and some lingering sweetness. This was pretty smooth I thought and hid the alcohol very well. Really nice job here.

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.

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.