Shorts Liberator

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

From the Bottle at the Marriott Hotel, Denver 26/09/2009 Floral malt aroma. Amber coloured very strong in alcohol and hoppy with a little dryness in a crisp malt finish.

Growler... GSRARO Throwdown... Hazy, dark orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Fantastic retention. Big toffee and earthy hop aromas provide a big note of damp pine needles along with lesser notes of cat pee and grapefruit. Medium to full-bodied and a touch oily with modest carbonation. The flavor leans a good bit toward the bitter side of balance - tangy, earthy, bitter hops. Low sweetness. Lengthy, crisp, medium to heavily bitter finish. Mucho thanks to GodOfThunder for providing the growler!

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.

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.

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.

Bottle: The aroma has lots of citrus hops, oranges, pineapples, and tropical fruits. It pours a slightly hazy amber with a small soapy off-white head. The flavor starts with a quick dose of tropical fruits that end up completely dominated by a huge fresh grapefruit and light pine hops in the finish along with big grapefruit aftertaste. Light-medium bodied with soft carbonation and mouthfeel.

Growler, courtesy GodOfThunder. Pours a brassy, dark, orange-amber color. A small, foamy, cream colored head leaves minimal, spotty lacing behind. The aroma shows a sweet, lightly buttery toffee and caramel malt base, with ample grapefruit hops and notes of soft orange marmalade. Flavors are considerably more bitter than the nose hints, heaps of grapefruit countering the toasted caramel and toffee sweetness. Medium-full bodied, with balanced carbonation and a bitter, lightly astringent finish. It’s a pretty nice beer, but I’ve come to expect better from this great brewery.

Growler at throwdown, courtesy GodofThunder. Huge fresh hop nose: grapefruit, pine and dank. Resiny flavors with a clean bready background. Very bitter finish. Copper color.