Shorts Black Licorice Lager

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Bellaire, Michigan USA

0.75 l bottle at Konttori, Tampere. Dark reddish black color. Perfumed spice rack aroma with anise, licorice, vanilla and mint. sweetish, roasty, coffeish and spicy flavor. Full bodied with woody mouthfeel. Too spicy for me, not drinkable.

An unusual beer for #2700. Lots of black licorice in the aroma. Black color. More licorice candy flavor, with malt and some sugar. Just a hint of raisin and some sweet malt with light spice. Surprisingly thick on the palate.

Near black colored with little light brown head. Licorice and anis dominates this aroma, mild sweetness and roastiness also here with thin vanilla. Medium bodied. Flavor is not as licoricy, still it dominates. Grains and anis, even spices also here. Aftertaste dries with mild alcohol still, anis and rye, syrup lasts. Interesting lager, but too much anis here.

Bottled@Konttori, Tampere. Pretty much black colour, beige head. Aroma is salted licorice aong with anise and some wood. Flavour is coffee, vanila, licorice, some hops and also some roasted as well as sourish notes. Interesting and pleasant.

Bottle shared by thickfreakness. Thanks dude! Pours dark brown to black with a short lived light tan head. Smell is licorice, anise seed, cola and mint. Taste is minty, chocolate, vanilla, and licorice. Medium body with normal carbonation. Pretty unique, as expected with a name like this, and I enjoyed it.

750 ml. Brewed 12/19/06. Is it the age on the beer or is it just that all these flavors just weren’t meant for each other? Whatever it is, this beer was not a favorite. Black, but not opaque, body with a fizzy tan head that diminishes. The aroma was mostly cardboard with a hint of licorice. The flavor was moderately sweet and moderately bitter. Medium body with a watery texture. Fizzy carbonation. Tastes of anise, mint, wet cardboard and vanilla, but mostly anise. The flavors, even disregarding the wet cardboard, just didn’t gel.

750ml bottle - 276/745 - brewed 12/19/06: Seems this one may have been in the cellar a little too long. Purchased July 2008. Pours a deep black with a spritzy tan had that settles quick. The nose is uncomfortable, with a mish-mash of sherry, cardboard and light anise. The body is lagerish, drinks well. The mint and vanilla are prominent here, mixed with a healthy dose of licorice. The flavors are quite flabby and don’t meld well for me. Finishes with an artificial licorice note that doesn’t sit well. If they haven’t, Short’s should probably stop selling this one from the brewpub. I appreciate the brewer’s creativity, but this was probably much crisper fresh.

750ml bottle acquired in trade with hoppymeal (thanks Derek!). Bottled on 2.13.07 and #203 or 744. Poured a dark brown color with a large (5 finger) sized off white head. Aromas of licorice, anise, roasty, vanilla beans, and chocolate. Tastes started off very minty with licorice, chocolate, lighter vanilla, herbal, and anise. This one was, as most Short’s are, ’different’ and I appreciate a brewer trying beers like this!