Shorts Imperial Carob Stout

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Bellaire, Michigan USA

Bottle, 75cl. It pours a black body under a minimal tan head. Really nice aroma, but maybe a bit weak, with coffee, chocolate and some alcohol. Dry and fullbodied, with flavors of coffee and dry chocolate. Not much alcohol to detect. Lasting finish with roasted note and chocolate and coffee. The beer doesn’t give a complex impression, it’s just a really lovely one. 090724

Bottle via trade. Black in color with a two-finger tan head and decent lacing. Aroma is roast, coffee, and cocoa - or I guess that’s probably the carob. Flavor is roasted malt, bitter cocoa, coffee, and carob, which really balances it out. More on the drier side for an imperial stout. Palate is slightly astringent, which is not a bad thing, with medium body for the style. This was my first beer from Short’s, and I think I’ll seek these guys out more in the future.

courtesy of the Shorts tasting night group. early ’07 bottle. Bottle#330 Pours black, beige head. Aroma, plenty of chocolate and malts. First exposure to carob pod, and really got a nice substitute to chocolate. Flavor, malty, carob pods adding a good thick chocolate like palate, hints of cacao, light herbal notes with some roasted coffee and a light bitter finish. Another great beer, original and so delicious.

750ml bottle from 2007, aged about 2 years. The pour yields a nearly opaque, dark mahogany body with a solid crown of camel hair colored foam. Steady rings of lacing mark the glass. The aroma shows the requisite choco-caramel malt base, with a good amount of coffee roast and ample earthy-sweet, fruity carob notes. Flavors mirror the nose, showing dried fruit, licorice, and sweet carob amidst more prominent notes of dark chocolate, scorched caramel, and roasted coffee beans. The palate shows substance, and is smooth, but finishes with a hint of astringency and a sharp anise bite. Overall, a very fine brew.

Bottle #334/913. Shared by badnewsbeers. Deep, more or less opaque brown body, thin tan head that dissipates to a ring of carbonation. Sweet, modest aroma with chocolate and coffee. Somewhat astringent chocolate body with subtle plum, licorice, and toast notes, vinous. Carob rules the sip, and this unidimensionality results in a mediocre, boring stout.

From Havnens Vin, Vejle, DK. Bottled, 240709. Black with beige head. Aroma complex of dark chocolate, coffee and dark fruit. Flavor is roasted malt with fruit and spice.

Beerlando you kick ass for sharing this. I have been wanting to try this forever! Pours a black color. Aroma is full of carob. And I am a product of 2 major hippies so we ate a lot of carob in my house. Just smelling it brought me back to a healthfood store we used to shop in. The flavor is full of carob, molasses, roasted malt and some strong coffee. I really, REALLY enjoyed this one!

750mL bottle #296 courtesy of rlcnmeyer poured into a tulip. The last of the Imperial Series for me, and it’s been a tasty trip. Pours dark, dark brown out of the bottle and almost completely opaque black in the glass underneath a creamy tan head that recedes to a creamy ring and leaves decent lacing. The aroma a mix of hugely roasted malts and dark chocolate sweetness. There’s a good bit of coffee in there as well and some dark fruit in the background with the spicy carob character coming through as it warms. The taste has an initial sweetness that has lots of dark and sweet chocolate. But it quickly gives way to a huge roasted, almost burnt, dark malt backbone which dominates through the finish, with coffee joining the mix as well. The subtle spiciness of the carob shows through in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with good carbonation and, as previously mentioned, is very roasted overall on the palate. Another very creative and very tasty beer from Shorts. The carob has an interesting mix of sweetness and spiciness that inherently drives complexity in the brew. Good stuff.