Shorts Anniversary Ale Part Deux Original Version

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Bellaire, Michigan USA

12 Oz Bottle. 2007 release. Labeled as "Anniversary Ale, Part Deux, Original Version, Double IPA." Aroma builds as an intense musky soap, swirling with a laughter of hop candies, orange rinds, intricate malts and rich bourbony alcohols. Not hot. Wonderful mature pale fruit tones and a blast of all the high, sweet citrus one could ask for. Glowing. A Barleywine, if I didn’t know better. Pours a crystal clear amber, middled in orange and outwardly in tawny gold. A faint rim of off-white and nip of percolation. Flavor is intense, to say the least. Hops are forward in many flavors. There’s a white pepper and celery, backed with a long sweetgrass dew note, and then a mild pack of pine resins and faint citrus. Malt character obliterated. Volatile and nostril singing. Oxidation slides in for a bit and runs with some aged hop character, maybe nosed by some EKG. Particularly bitter just before the smack. Oh no! Filtration. Doesn’t seem to overly affect the beer, but you can sense it. Strong. Interesting and I think embodying a double IPA, in the sense that it’s really twice an IPA, instead of just a lot of hop character in a pale form. Any aging may have hurt this beer a little, with some old hop coarseness. My first Shorts, yet not my last, thanks to my main man Sean!

12oz bottle. Pours clear orange, with littel head; actually it’s just capped with a few bubbles. Aroma is primarily resinous hops, with pine needles, mild citrus, and backed up with some malt. Palate starts out with aggressive hops and builds from there. Long, oily, metallic hop finish. Very intense, but lacks the balance of some of the more highly rated Double IPA’s.

Bottle from someone, can’t remember. I’m rating number 7? Good stuff! I thought this was really good and it seems that it was just average. It hides the alcohol real well. Pours gold with bubbly white head. Aroma of hops and hops. Good stuff! Taste was much of the same but with some citrus hints throughout. Very well balance with a sweet malty background thats not overpowering the hops. Very smoothe and refreshing.

GABF 2006: Hazy golden amber color with a small white head. The aroma was hop foward but seemed to be on the light side. Citrus and pine notes. The flavor on the other hand was pretty big on the hops. Pine and resin flavors. Malty underneath. Big and long bitter finish. That was the best part.

Alpha King Competition 2006: Nice mix of hops, sweet malt and alcohol. Nice big piney flavor. The finish was pretty bitter and oily. Warming sensation. The finish was a little too unbalanced for the comp.

GABF 2006. Hazy blonde-amber with virtually no head. Aroma is huge - tons of hops, lots of malt, hints of oak...sharp resiny. Flavor - initially sweet, followed by loads of bitterness. Sharp, piney and warming. Overall, there’s no balance whatsoever....way too bitter to stomach, and coming from me, that’s saying something. I couldn’t even finish the sample.

gabf 06. hazy orange. Aroma is big amount of citrus hops and resiny. Taste is big and hoppy, with a good amount of malt backbone. enjoyable double IPA

Draught. Muddy orange with a small head. The aroma is chewy orange resin, candyish, and generally fruity to no end. Very resinous flavour - pineyness is prevalent with faint bread in the backend. Very hoppy but not overwhelmingly bitter. The alcohol is hidden quite well. Tasty and refreshing

Draught at 2006 MBG Summer Festival. Pours a hazy amber with no head. Beautiful, juicy hops and malt aroma -- very well done and smells great. Flavour’s the same, big, juicy hops with a nice bitter finish -- damn tasty! Medium bodied. Very one-dimensional but I don’t care, this is a very enjoyable I2PA.