Shorts Imperial Spruce India Pilsner

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: European Strong Lager
Bellaire, Michigan USA

Bottle 750 ml no 516/866
Appearance: thick unfiltered amber look with large , slightly tanned creamy top. Fine lace.
Nose: sweet berry , fruity light , clean , crisp nose , malty bottom. 7+
Flavor/Palate : Bitter , woody , spruce with alcohol warmth. Aromatic spruce resin like with amber malt as base. Not for everyone. If you like character of deep coniferous woods this one is for you.

Bottle from the brewery. Tremendous aroma from the tips of the tree, I enjoyed this forest. Grapefruit body with white lasting head. Carbonation there and helps drinkability, which is easy. Taste is piney, Saaz hops? ABove average mouthfeel.

Bottle thanx to North york sammy. nose is amazing spruce pine and hops, a bit of booze in there but well well hidden. nice poam golden color not filtered. flavor is greatly balanced the spruce goes through on the finish and hops and a little sweetness take care of the rest so so interesting. great beer.

750ml bottle. 2007 # 275 of 886. Yup... it’s a beer brewed with spruce for sure. Obviously, it’s quite resiny on the nose. Because the beer is 2+ years old now, there is very little hop profile. Just juicy spruce and some corn-y lager-ness. Still fairly pleasant though. Pours bright gold with a thick, foamy white head. The beer tastes pretty much exactly how it smells... a beefed up lager with boatloads of spruce. Not too much in the pilsner category, though. The alcohol does assert itself midpalate back. Thick, chewy body with a solvent-y finish. Decent... if you like spruce. Interesting stuff. At least Joe takes some chances with his beers. Thanks Brian!

courtesy of the Shorts tasting night group. early ’07 bottle. Simply wow, I could smell this beer all day and dream of back home. pours golden/orange with white head. Aroma reminded me a lot of the backwoods back home. As if they had thrown a whole forest in a bottle, spruce seeds are just present and of pure goodness. Just could not stop marveling at the aroma. Lots of grassy and earthly hops, pine forest scent. Flavor, very herbal, vegetal, spicy hops, light citrus hops with hints of grapefruit. Not overly bitter but just some nice pine and earthly goodness with spruce seeds. Finish with light pepper spices. Insanely good, a looking glass that projects you in the middle of a spruce/pine forest.

Pours orange or copper with a decent white head. Aroma is all pine...almost like solvent. Flavor is liquid pine and nothing else. This may have been better when new but it is horrible now. Don’t dig this.

Shared from bottle at Short’s. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a short off-white head. The aroma is pretty unique with a floral hoppiness that smells almost minty with the spruce behind it. The taste is nice because the pilsner characteristics aren’t lost behind the hops or the strength. A very unique and enjoyable beer.

Bottled. Golden coloured. Unclear. Dense beige head. Pine, sweetness, herbs and flowers dominate the aroma. Quite complex. Flavour of pine, sweetness and fruits. A somewhat grassy touch. Medium to full bodied. Nicely bitter and dry in the end. Quite refreshing.