Shorts Black Cherry Porter

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Bellaire, Michigan USA

2009 MiBGWF (standard version and not the Imperial version): I have had this before but was waiting to rate from a bottle but alas never got one and am waiting no longer. It was close to opaque with a small but lasting frothy head. The aroma has in your face notes of black cherry for sure but you can still smell the porter character, roasty, burnt, and a touch of herbal hop. The taste is initially tart and twangy as the cherries make a show for domination. Nice thing is that the porter flavors can still be found with a nice walnut and toasted tone. What was missing was any sign of hop bitterness on the palate. The mouth feel is just okay, a tad watery and oily. While not bad, hardly a beer I need to acquire in a bottle. Yes, more fruit beer than porter.

Sample at O-town throwdown ’09 Pours black with beige head and thin golden lacing. Aroma was actually weak in cherry. Taste, roasted malts, finish with black cherries on the palate. Malt profile is well present with light notes of hops to balance it out. Was expecting a lot more cherries, but a decent porter overall.

bottle dated Feb 2007 the beer had lost most if not all of the cherry flavor, it was basically a porter. nothing outstanding, but perhaps beyond its time.

Bottle with a bottled on date of 2/19/07. Pours black with barely any head. Aroma is malty and cherry tart, with some chocolate. Flavor is sweet and smoky with a bit of chocolate and lots of cherries.

Sweet mouth watering cherries from start to finish. Medium body with a bit of carbonation. Nice to drink but one draft pour is all I would want at one time.

<i>Draft at the brewpub:</i> Murky, dark brown pour with a thick mocha colored head that likes to stick around. Cherries jumped out at me first as I took a deep whiff. As the beer came to temp, a solid ensemble of chocolate and fudge notes came alive to balance the fruit. The story was the same with the body. Juicy cherries led the charge and were followed by a long list of porter-ish notes. Dark chocolate, vanilla beans, light brownies, etc. Very enjoyable to drink.

Bottle @ Kolding Shorts Tasting, 18.09.08.
Pours a great black with a small, creamy, film beige head. Aroma is soft, lightly roasted, light tarty fruity. Fine, light carbonation, perhaps a bit thin. Good creaminess. Light tart at first, hard roasted malts, chocolate, light raisins. Nice enough.

Draft @ Shorts. Pours a dark, chocolate color; brown, cocoa-colored head with good retention and fine-bubbled lacing. My wife nailed the aroma on this: it smells like olives more than anything; some black cherries and chocolate, certainly, but mostly oily olives. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: slightly relaxed carbonation; chewy, oily olives, chocolate, and dark fruits (cherries, predominantly); seems a touch flabby and oily in the mouth; a decent, generous flavor profile, with vestiges of a well-roasted porter underneath, but I’d have a hard time drinking a whole lot of this. Lengthy finish: lots of roast, toasted malts, and dry chocolate; solidly bitter and dry at the far end.