Short's Brewing Company - Holiday Battle Plan

Amy and I went to Bloomington for a three-day weekend recently, and on our way back to the hotel after we went shopping on the west side, we stopped at the big Big Red (if you went to IU, you know what I mean) for drinks for the room, and I came across a 12-pack from Short’s with this Home Alone theme. The four beers inside are named after scenes or lines from the film, and they are all in the good-but-not-great range; but getting the descriptions from the website was a lot of fun, and I genuinely can’t remember if I have ever enjoyed the non-beer aspects of a 12-pack of beer quite this much. I love the film, and I’m sure that’s part of it; but whoever came up with this idea was all in, and I think that’s pretty fucking cool.

608. Short’s Brewing Company (Elk Rapids, MI) - Oh Kay
“Just your average, hazy, piney, ctirusy, fruity, IPA here. Nothing to see. Just driving around in our blue, beat up, panel van, ready to tackle your plumbing and heating needs. Definitely not cat burglars about to rob your house or anything. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”

This is just a few ABV points shy of being spectacular. There’s a respectable balance between West Coast pine and citrus and East Coast stone fruit, but it leans just a bit toward the smoother, sweeter East Coast style and feels like it should clock in somewhere between 6% and 7% rather than the 5.8% where it actually lands.

609. Short’s Brewing Company (Elk Rapids, MI) - Thirsty for More
“You’ve finally got yourself into the house. You’ve kicked your shoes off (or lost them thanks to some tar on the basement steps), set your hat down (or had it burned off by a blow torch), and you’re ready for a tall, cold glass of dry hopped lager, a noseful of citrus and melon with a slightly bready malt aftertaste. Its [sic] almost like someone thwacked you in the head with a paint can of delight. Definitely not giving up. Definitely Thirsty for More.”

Also well balanced, though I was unfamiliar with the New Zealand style of lager until I looked it up. Turns out it’s basically the same as India Pale Lager, like Black Acre’s Natural Liberty; and that means—lagers with flavor. In this case, that would be light fruit flavors and a surprisingly dry finish. At only 5.1%, it’s practically sessionable. Not as nearly great as Oh Kay, but pretty good.

611. Short’s Brewing Company (Elk Rapids, MI) - Junk and Rubbish
“You’ve made your family disappear, time to pop in Angels with Filthy Souls, throw on a napkin bib, and pour yourself a ginormous mug of Junk and Rubbish, our cool, cool cocoa and marshmallow stout. Cocoa, vanilla and marshmallow are paired with sweet, toasted maltiness for a rich, creamy, full mouthfeel—reminiscent of hot cocoas and overflowing sundaes. Topping it with excessive amounts of marshmallows, candy, chocolate syrup is also, um, a choice you could make? (Crunch Gators are the preferred side, BTW.)”

Robust chocolate flavor up front, which works well with the 7.5% ABV. (The can refers to it as a double chocolate stout.) I don’t taste marshmallow or vanilla, but I suspect they are there, because there is a smoothness to the chocolate flavor that almost has to come from the addition of something sweeter. It’s oddly playful, and I think the best of the four beers in this package.

612. Short’s Brewing Company (Elk Rapids, MI) - Silver Tuna
“Of all the beers in the pack, this one is is [sic] THE ONE, Marv. It’s very ‘G.’ It’s got lots of top flight goods. Orange, tart cranberry, subtle hints of mulling spices. A little sour? You bet. Who knows. Its [sic] a gem. Hand me a crowbar. Crowbars up!”

Moderately sour up front, with the orange and cranberry flavors coming together in the middle and then fading into a lingering hint of spice on the back end. Very well done.

610. Moontown Brewing Company (Whitestown, IN) - Tippecanoe River

“Time to celebrate our beautiful state during the changing seasons with our next exploration in our Pints for Parks series! Our 12th journey in our series takes us just a bit north to Winamac to Tippecanoe River State Park. It’s always a great time to get outside, but especially this time of year with the changing of the leaves and when you can have a delicious West Coast IPA as your trail partner. Built with our steadfast Sugar Creek Malt Co pilsner malt, creating a lovely clean malt profile, balanced out on the hot side by Simcoe, and loaded with Citra, Strata, and Nectaron hops throughout whirlpool and the two rounds of dry hopping. The trip down this river is incredibly fragrant boasting intense tropical fruits and citrus blended with some dank. This ride is smooth and clean with a nice bitterness, finishing crisp. Get your paddle and let’s go have some fun. Thank you for continuing to support our state parks, cheers to the great outdoors!”

Sharp and bitter up front, with pine and stone fruit and a nice clean finish when it’s good and cold. Definitely a West Coast IPA, but with just a hint of East Coast in there, too. I’m sort of up and down on their other beers, but their Pints for Parks beers (much like the Craft Brew Doodle Crew IPAs from the late, lamented Indiana City) are spectacular.

607. Kismetic Beer Company (Indianapolis, IN) - Orange Plum Sour with Lavender

“A new take on our sour. Brewed with Montana pilsner, white wheat and flaked wheat. Steeped with a blend of lavender and orange peel, fruited with plum. Lightly herbal on the nose, with notes of citrus and stone fruit. Bright sourness balanced on the palate with rich plum and sweet clementines.”

I’m getting a strong floral aroma on the nose, with light orange and stone fruit flavor up front. The stone fruit lingers on the back end quite pleasantly, and there is just the barest hint of sour. Ryan has a real knack for brewing sours that are sour without also being a kick in the nuts. He is easily the most gifted brewer I have encountered since I discovered Dan Gayle’s beers at Black Circle. Nothing Ryan brews is disappointing, even styles I don’t usually dig very much. I really can’t say enough about this place, nor about Nicole and Ryan. (Go on a weekend sometime, when one of them is pulling handles behind the bar. Listen to them talk. That’s what the proprietor of your local watering hole is supposed to sound like.)

Deep Thoughts #321

You fucked this country and you should be convicted of treason, hanged from a tree, and your children should have to watch you die, inbreed.

Deep Thoughts #320

Republicans should be gang-raped in the asshole in front of their children by huge rabid dogs and then be burned at the stake fucking twice.

Deep Thoughts #319

You are learning impaired and your parents should have aborted you. Go back to school, and then die. Never reproduce. Inbred fucking monkey.

Deep Thoughts #318

Every monkey who voted for lying rapist Donald Trump is a living abortion who should die in a fire in front of their inbred donkey children.

606. Cervecería Centro Americano, S.A. (Guatemala City, Guatemala) - Gallo

“A beer of incomparable quality and flavor, the pride of Guatemalans. Its flavor is accentuated and defined by a special bitterness from the hops, with an alcohol content of 5%. It has a dark golden hue and its foam is clear and stable.”

I first tried this beer 10 years ago, when we went to Guatemala on a mission trip. We had the first evening to ourselves, so two of us, another dude named John, and I, got a tuktuk into town—everybody else was too tired to hit the bricks. We had no real idea what we were doing or where we were going—which is probably why we ended up asking for directions in a brothel—but eventually we made it to Calle Santander and found a place where we could get a beer (and listen to a gringo called Matteo, who played chords on a guitar badly, apparently in exchange for some hot soup). The beer was Gallo, which appears to have been rechristened Famosa at some point on its voyage to the States; but it will always be Gallo to me. It can now be had here, but at $20 for a 12-pack, it’s too pricey—except to have an experimental go at it or to relive memories of looking at three volcanoes across one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, which I have had the good fortune to do—twice.

It’s billed as a lager, and that’s what it tastes like; but it’s deeper and richer than most American lagers, though “dark golden hue” is stretching it. I don’t recall what the ones called Gallo tasted like when I was in Guatemala, but the ones I’m tasting out of cans here at home make me wonder if something has changed in the translation. It ain’t worth $20, but it’s hella better than most of the macrobrewed shit they orchestrate out of the low countries.

605. Kismetic Beer Company (Indianapolis, IN) - Banana Nut Bread Hefeweizen

“A hefeweizen style wheat beer, hot and cold steeped with Nelson’s Tea Banana Nut Bread rooibos tea blead [sic], rich and bready, with notes of ripe bananas and walnuts.”

Very bready up front, with a hint of chalky walnut and a smooth, soft finish. A little bit of banana flavor lingers, and this batch has less baking spice flavor than the previous batches. Still very good, but if I didn’t know this was the banana nut bread version, I might not have guessed.

604. Kismetic Beer Company (Indianapolis, IN) - Amaro Saison

“Our version of an Aperol Spritz. Brewed with 6 row barley, pale ale, Caramunich, white wheat, and rye. Hopped with Magnum and Lotus. Cold and hot steeped with gentian, chinchona, grapefruit peel, lemon peel, orange peel, rose hips, orris, grains of paradise, chamomile, fennel, star anise, black pepper and a few other spices. Aromas of black licorice and spicy phenolic, balanced with flavors of bubblegum, pepper, and Good and Plenty’s [sic]. For the fans of amaro, herbal liqueurs, or even an Underberg.”

Minty aroma and a minty, spicy taste up front that drifts into a pleasantly bitter finish that smooths out as the beer warms. Possibly some grapefruit pith in there contributing to the bitter finish, and then bright orange flavor as the bitterness smooths. Even more complex and spectacular than the Marzen. (And much like with the Cold IPA, I may have to update this post after I have tried a second one.

603. Kismetic Beer Company (Indianapolis, IN) - Cold IPA

“Our take on a new style out of Oregon. Described by the originator as more West Coast than West Coast, this IPA is brewed with America pilsner, Vienna, and flaked rice. Hopped with Azacca, Apollo, and Amarillo. It is fermented with lager yeast at ale temps. It is dry hopped at the tail end of fermentation to achieve some fruit forward bio tranformation [sic]. Crisp and dry, with aromas of pine and citrus, bitter and crisp on the palate.”

Piney aroma and taste up front. Dry finish. Any fruit in there does not assert itself in the first couple of sips, but turns into a slight citrus shine as the beer warms. There’s a fresh, herbal taste that eventually comes up and makes me think of fresh fruit that isn’t quite ripe yet. Also excellent, but I’m too inured to IPAs. I will try this one again and may update the post.

602. Kismetic Beer Company (Indianapolis, IN) - Marzen

“Brewed with Munich, Vienna, Caramunich, rye and chit. Hopped with Magnum and Sazz. We went as traditional as we could and brewed in March and then lagered for 6 months. Bready and rich, with notes of toffee and brioche on the nose. Sweet malty complexity is balanced by a firm, bitter backbone.”

It’s got a light roasty taste up front, with a dry finish that smooths out and begins to feel more like the light spice of rye about halfway through. A little bit of caramel floats around almost playfully, but never quite asserts itself. There might be a hint of dried fruit in there, too—especially on the nose. Full and complex, but not heavy. Spectacular.

Deep Thoughts #317

Have you seen the new exhibit at the Indianapolis Zoo? Donald Trump supporters have a space to run free and throw their feces on each other!

Deep Thoughts #316

Apparently we need to explain to lying rapist Donald Trump that choosing not to run for re-election is different than resigning from office.

601. Moontown Brewing Company (Whitestown, IN) - Starve Hollow

“We raise our glasses again for our next foray in our Pints for Parks series! Our 11th journey in our series takes us just south of Brownstown to Starve Hollow State Recreational Area. Given that it’s summer and this beer is for honoring a wonderful recreational area we made a delightful and very refreshing IPL. Built like a pilsner, to be so clean and crisp, and hopped heavily like an IPA with Nectaron, Mosaic, and Citra, this beer is extremely smooth, floral and fruity, finishing light and dry, it’s perfect for any adventure. Thank you for continuing to support our state parks, cheers to the great outdoors!”

We got back today from a three-day weekend at Turkey Run, and on the way out on Sunday, we stopped at Moontown for lunch. The food was only so-so, as it has been the last couple of times, but the beer is still very much on point. I was pretty stoked to see that they had finally replaced the Lincoln ESB with a new entry in the Pints for Parks series—and especially so when I noted that this new entry is hopped with Nectaron. That particular hop always makes me think of nectarine, which is one of my favorite fruits; and this beer has got all kinds of things going on. I initially thought I would compare it to Natural Liberty, from Black Acre; but after I checked my notes, I saw that Natural Liberty is an American Pale Lager, while Starve Hollow is an India Pale Lager. Is there a huge difference? As my grandmother might have said, "I haven’t the foggiest." (I also think that the line separating India Pale Ales from American Pale Ales has more to do with semantics than with flavor or brewing technique; but please be reminded that I am not within shouting distance of being an expert about anything.)

What I can say for sure is that this beer is more interesting than Natural Liberty. It’s got some bitter, piney things going on, and it also has some vaguely sweet stone fruit things going on. (And if you’ve been stopping by here with any degree of frequency over the last several years, you will not be remotely surprised when I say that the first of those two characteristics decreases in direct proportion to the amount of time the beer has spent out of the refrigerator—and that the second increases.)

Best of the Pints for Parks series? It’s only my 4th, of the 11 they have so far produced; and those have all been excellent. But yes…this might be the best one I have so far tried.

600. West Side Brewing (Cincinnati, OH) - Amarillo Pale Ale

“This pale ale uses a single hop varietal: Amarillo. An American hop, Amarillo lends big aromas of orange citrus to the beer, with backing notes of grapefruit and lightly floral tones.”

Not quite as strong as they seem to want it to be…but I get a sense that all of those things might be there. Not bad, but not especially interesting.