Shorts Soft Parade

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Bellaire, Michigan USA

Orangish-pink liquid, much pinker head. Smells of all berries mentioned on label... not just the fruit parts, either... if you ever picked strawberries and bit a little part of leaf with fruit, or if you know about hard centers of wild raspberries, you know that there’s more to the plant than just sweetness. Taste is very fruity, with the bitterness of other parts of the the plants pronounced. Fruit elements overpower the beer elements, for better or worse. Moderately well carbonated. The sane person in me wants keep this in mind for summer barbecues on the back deck, relaxing with friends. The insane person in me wants to use it as a salad dressing at the same party. Would probably counter balsamic vinegar well.

Draft @ Food Dance. Light red - amber colour, medium off-white head. Aroma of strawberry, malts, fruits. Flavour is malty and fruity, mainly strawberries. Well drinkable.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with jgd0608. Pours a hazy pink/red/purple/gold (a combination of the four) with a massive sudsy pale pink head that made it difficult to pour and lingered through to the last sip leaving large sudsy blotches of foam on the sides of the glass. Pleasant aroma of malt and berries. The flavor is again malt and berries with the berry flavors being a bit restrained and not overwhelming as is often the case. In addition, the berry flavors are more reminiscent of fresh berries and do not taste artificial. No sign of the 9% abv. This is a nice, solid, refreshing fruit beer that I would gladly purchase if it were sold on Long Island.

Damn shorts gives good head! Everything I’ve had from them just about overflows from the glass!! Massive rocky pink head on this dark amber beer. The berry medley comes through nicely on the nose. The body has an almost medicinal tinge and plenty of berry flavor to go around.

12oz bottle courtesy of a generous MI BA. Major gusher alert on this one as this one exploded out of the bottle before I could get it into a bottle. The ensuing pour was 3/4 head. After it settles down a bit, the body is a hazy pinkish brown with a gigantic white head which shows pink hues as well. The head recedes very slowly and leaves clumps of foam on the sides. The aroma is light with lots of sugary sweet with some definite strawberry and raspberry presence. There is a sweet malt aroma in the background as well The initial taste is raspberries but with the lightly bitter blackberry and blueberry coming out much more than the aroma. The light malt backbone is present just to support the fruits and the finish is bitter with blackberries being the most prominent fruit for me. There is distinct medicinal aftertaste on this one though. The mouthfeel is light and extremely effervescent with lots of carbonation. I do think the carbonation is a bit overdone as it’s extremely bubbly and takes away from the taste a bit. It’s a very refreshing beer but the taste doesn’t have the fruit presence that I was expecting from the nose.

( 12oz bottle thanks to BMan1113VR) Pours ruby grapefruit red with faint head. Nose of strawberry and other berries. Taste is artificial sweetener and berry syrup, as well as oranges.

12oz bottle from Cloverleaf. Pours pinkish amber with massive pinkish off-whit head. Aroma is loaded with sweet fruit such as strawberries and raspberry with some sweetness ad malts. Flavor is strawberry, raspberry, malt, and mild tartness. Nice carbonatinand has nice full mouthfeel for fruitbeer. While not the most complex beer, I am surprised by some of the low ratings as I thoght it was a solid offering.

Pours a reddish-purplish-amber color from 12 oz bottle with a fairly fizzy pinkish head. Aroma is sweet and mildly tart raspberry and blackberry and some plastic notes. Flavor is also sweet and fruity with blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry syrup, Mild tartness. Palate is rather light for the ABV with lively carbonation.