Shorts Liberator

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

GABF 2009. Pours clear dark yellow with an average, fizzy white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, hay, straw, cereal, meal), heavy hop (flowers, perfume, grass, pine), average yeast (sweat) with notes of apple and honey. Medium bodied, mineral texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

GABF 2009. Orangish-amber in color with a small but lasting white head. Aroma is sweet malt, earth, and citrusy/piney hops. Flavor is sweet caramel malt and lots of citrusy hops, with grapefruit, lemon, and orange, adding almost a tartness to it. Medium body with lively carbonation and lingering hop bitterness. Overall good, but not really great for the style if you call it a DIPA.

Courtesy GodofThunder. Orange-brown color with a thin white head. Grassy earthy hop aroma, slight malt backbone present, some mild sweetness suggested. Nice aggressive grapefruit hops on the taste, less sweet than aroma, some lingering hops, but not a whole lot. Pretty good overall.

Crushed with Jakebra at BSAF. Nast, infected hops on the nose. A big bitter, spicy hop flavor saves it. Ok, but I was very disappointed.

on tap at EBF. Pours a nice hazy orange with a thin but lasting sticky head. Aroma is surprisingly powerful with all kinds of hops- mostly resinous, piney and NW citrusy hops with a good amount of tropical mango character. Hop juice int he flavor- an ok big malt backbone but it is all hops- tangerine, orange, pine needle, and white pine sap with a nice resinous and tacky bitter finish. I wasn’t really expecting a great DIPA here from Shorts, but this was really nice.

On tap at BSAF. Poured a clear orange-copper color with a half-inch, frothy off-white head that left some spotty lacing. Fresh, resiny, leafy hops in the aroma with some earthy spice, a hint of pine and cannabis, and some faint citrus undertones. Smooth, moderately sweet entry with some soft caramel leads into a leafy, moderately piny hoppiness with some dry resin and a moderately bitter finish. Low carbonation with a decent hoppy bite. The aroma was very promising, but the flavor wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary or exceptional. Solid.

Draft at EBF. Pours an amber body with a white head. Big pine and grapefruit hoppiness. Caramel malt bill i could do without. But overall the pine and citrus were enough of a treat.

Thanks to Northernbrews for getting me this special brew in a growler! Aroma is fantastic. Lots of piney hops in the aroma. Pretty flawless Double IPA aroma. Flavor is bitter, with a little sweetness from the malts. Flavor is good, but nothing out of this world. However, the aroma is perfect.