Archive for the 'Short’s' category
Short’s “Soft Parade” Fruit Ale
Here’s another new (to me) beer from the folks at Short’s. Again, I haven’t had *too* many beers from this brewery – each time has been in a pub while passing through Michigan. However, I also can’t claim to have ever tasted a bad Short’s beer. Like many Michigan breweries, they seem to float under the national radar while putting out fantastic beers. I hope this one lives up to my expectations!
The Soft Parade pours a lovely deep rose color – hazy with just a hint of brown in an otherwise pinkish glass of beer. The head on this is more-or-less white, though some caramel tints also present themselves. In the nose, this beer is fruity and acidic with hints of berries galore – it smells super refreshing. The flavor confirms this suspicion. Rather than being syrupy sweet, this beer leans more towards a tart acidity no doubt lent by the combination of blue, straw, rasp, and black berries that went into it. The initial sensation is a light burn on the tongue, followed by some sourness that makes you pucker up a bit. Shortly thereafter, however, the berry sweetness begins to shine through subtly, balancing the flavor of the beer. That sweetness sits on the tongue long into the aftertaste, while the acidic sourness blazes down the tongue and throat, diminishing quite fast after the beer is gone. This beer is just aching for a summer day (not the ‘severe snow conditions’ we’re currently experiencing here) – I’d place it right up there with a good saison ale on the refreshment level. In fact, this reminds me a lot of a homebrew that Matty and I did last summer – a witbier brewed with raspberries. To be honest, it didn’t come out as sweet or delectable as we’d hoped, but the sourness and subtle fruit made it a big hit on a warm day – I feel like the Soft Parade accomplishes much the same.
Did I mention both the label art and the name are swell? I’ll let you figure out the title reference…
