Shorts The Magician

tap at shorts....darker apple cider brown with a thin ring of white head....aroma of sweet and toasty caramel malt....similar flavors as well. toasty nutty caramel malt....these tasting notes suck.

Draft at the brewery: Pours an oily brown with a webby tan head. The nose is hardly discernable, offering some light caramel and brown sugar notes, but I have to really pull at the glass to get at them. The body is light and drinkable, I am surprised to see this listed at 6%. What malt profile is there is nice and complex though. A nice mix of raisins, brown sugar, toffee and caramel. Doesn’t ever get really sweet though, finishes moderately dry.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a pretty-looking red-amber with a rim of white. Nice rich malty nose, bits of caramel and sweet tea. A good bit of leafy hops blends in as well. Really fresh, complex nice malt flavor. There’s deep unique earthy caramels, sweet oats, chewy grains and a bit of bright alcohol flavor. Chewy and good body, but not too sweet. Very nice. A bit of honey-like sweetness meets a plant-like, flowery hop backing. Not bad.

Had this on tap a number of times now. Pours a nice deep and dark red color. Aroma is nice and fruity, you could almost swear there was some sort of berries. Taste is much the same, nice big malt profile, nothing overly sweet, just a very balanced and ultra drinkable beer. Berries in the taste as well. Definitely not overly hopped, but a great balance, and tasty malt. well done.

Sample @ WBE: Curious style, described as a "Dark Red London Ale". Sort of smells like Victoria’s Secret "Strawberries and Champagne" lotion, and some caramel. Tastes of raisin and dry cherry and finishes with a honey flavor, but only slightly bitter.