Beer and Comics » 8.5

Short’s Brewing: Good Humans

Brian — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:55:01 +0000

My second beer of the night, likely third, and possibly 4th beer of the night is from Short’s Brewing of Bel Aire, Michigan. Good Humans. I don’t know the story behind it, and why it’s named what it’s named, but I do know I like good people, and according to Hunter S Thompson, good people drink good beer. Or something like that.

Good Humans is billed as a Dry Hopped Double Brown Ale. Generally, I’m not much of a fan of brown ales. I find them bland, and unimpressive in every respect. On Ian’s recommendation, however, I bought a 6-er of this. I also warned him that if I wasn’t into it, I’d punchisize him. In a fierce way.

So, what was I expecting from this? Well, I was expecting lots of malt. Lots of really bland malt. Maybe a teensy bit of hop in the nose, and a decent amount of alcohol; it is a double after all.

What was I given? Well, in the nose, it’s major league hops. Floral hops, citrus hops, grassy hops, dirty hops. It’s hops though. There’s a strange sweetness to it though, almost like strawberry preserves.

As far as mouthfeel, it’s light and fluffy, with some carbonation. It doesn’t stick to the tongue, it just flows over smoothly and lightly.

The taste was the true kicker though. It broke all of my expectations. All of them. It was not like anything I expected. It is really hoppy. Not like an IIPA, but very hop flavored. It’s got a weird sweetness that I wasn’t necessarily prepared for. Very fruity. Very strange. Very delicious. Nothing at all like a brown ale. Very delicious. The genius responsible for this beer is certainly a Good Human of the highest caliber.

8.5/10

brian!

Bell’s Expedition Imperial Stout: better than exploding tires.

Brian — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:37:36 +0000

The low tonight is between -5 and +3 farenheit. Because I like beer, I needed to find a beer that keeps me warm in the cold. Turns out, Imperial Stouts are just the right thing for that. The epitome of a winter beer, if I do say so myself. So, I was interested in finding a reasonably priced Imperial Stout. My choices came down to Founders Breakfast Stout, which is a damn shame we’ve never reviewed; Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, which I’ve stupidly never tried; and Bell’s Expedition Stout, which is a stellar beer and usually over-priced. Today, however, I was able to find a great deal on the Bell’s Expedition, and as such am blogging it for our fine readership.

As you can see, this fine ale exhibits a strange characteristic for imperial stouts: it has head. This is certainly not a bad thing, just different. It’s quite thick, but fades pretty quickly.

The smell is comprised of lots of malt, chocolate, coffee, and alcohol. It’s really sweet, in both senses of the word.

The mouthfeel is full, with minimal carbonation bite. Very thick, coating the tongue and mouth wonderfully.

The taste is multi-faceted. There is a lot of sweetness up front, while there is plenty of bitterness as it moves back on the tongue. There are all sorts of flavors you could associate with this. Coffee, chocolate, and oats are all very prominent. There is a noticeable hint of alcohol in the flavor, which is really enjoyable.

Overall, this is a stellar beer, and I’m glad I finally got to review it for the site. While it’s not the greatest imperial stout ever, it’s a hell of a good one.

8.5/10