What better way to get things rolling again is with a beer from Short’s Brewing. Joe Short is a guy not much older than us who makes incredible beers and seems to love trying new things.

Here we have Short’s Black Cherry Porter. Not sure if I’ve seen this at one of the Michigan Brewer’s Guild Festivals or not, but this is certainly the first time I’ve found it in a bottle.

It pours with a slightly reddish hugh to it, and you see a tint of that red color in the lacing on the glass. Not a lot of head in the pour.

Definitely a chocolate nose here. There is a bit of cherry in the aroma too – like a dark chocolate covered cherry.

It has the nice roasty flavor you expect from a porter to start with, but the cherry provides almost a sourish note up front. It finishes smooth and dark. This is one of those porters where you actually taste the grain of the chocolate malt. Its a nice rich barley flavor.

As you settle into it, the cherry presents itself a bit more, but not in the way you expect. Its not as if there is a sweet cherry flavor, but there is definitely a presence of it. A bit of tartness.

All in all, this is a great porter if you want something a little off the beaten path, but nothing too unfamiliar.

6/10

As for taste, there’s a definite sour bite to it. Its very similar to a lambic, or a spontaneously fermented beer. That could be expected though, from the scent. While I doubt this is spontaneously fermented, the apple certainly lends that character to it. The biggest surprise is the smokiness. I get that it’s a smoked apple porter, but I after reading the label which mentioned the smoked malts, I wasn’t necessarily excited for it. I thought that the malts would taste more burnt. This was clearly incorrect, and this is a smoky, slightly sweet, sour treat. Very different from anything I’ve had before. I can honestly say I’m thrilled by this in ways I hadn’t imagined I would be.

Is it the greatest beer known to man? No. Is it stellar? That’s up for debate. All I’m comfortable saying is that I really like it for it’s strangeness. In a career of tasting well over a thousand beers, I’ve never had anything like this. It is truly completely one hundred percent unique. Shorts is doing a great job of DOMINATING that category right now. Buy any of their special beers (I highly recommend Good Humans as well) and you will likely be knocked off your chair. Not by the booze, necessarily, but by the innovation.

8/10

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!

So, we’ve all known for some time that Ian and I are great fan’s of Michigan beer.  After all, it is the great beer state.  What does Joe Short have to offer the great state of Michigan?  Well, excellent beer.  Excellent beer that is cleverly named and flavored.  The newest beer he’s crafted that I’ve tasted I had tonight, and that is “The Liberator.”

I don’t know how to describe the Liberator upon initial inspection.  It’s copper, with a solid white head, which lasts FOREVER.  It’s timeless, like Lincoln.

Upon smelling, you are greeted by some citrus and pine aromas, as well as a small amount of malt.  The most prevalent smell is definitely the hops though.  The bitter, delicious hops.

As for flavor, it’s a menagerie of wonderful flavors.  Dominated by the various characteristics of the hops, you taste grapefruit, bitterness, and a hint of malt.  The alcohol is there, but understated.  It’s a bit of a palette-ruiner, but that is just fine by me.

I’m thrilled by this beer.  In my opinion, it’s the best thing Short’s has released to date. This beer will set your taste buds free, like Lincoln did the slaves.  It is to be cherished by mankind.  Beyond that, it’s affordable too!  No 4 dollars a bottle+ here, this was only 2.69 a bottle.  All the bang for the buck you could want.

9.25/10

Had they included Rich’s Rye (my favorite Short’s beer), I would have been in heaven. Read more about it at MLive’s Kalamabrew.

In honor of that, I would like to point out that you can see all of our Michigan Beer reviews here.

As part of Michigan Beer Month, I will also be reviewing a whole slew of Michigan beers. Some are new, some are old favorites, but all are made right here in our home state.

There are too many great breweries in this state, it almost isn’t fair. But if you’re just getting started, check out the following:
Bells Brewing.
Founder’s.
Arcadia Brewing Company.
Dark Horse.
Dragonmead.
Hopcat.
Kuhnhenn.
The Livery.
New Holland.
Shorts.
And that’s just naming a few favorites. There is all kind of great beer to be had in Michigan, so lets enjoy them. Cheers!

I guess in all fairness it wasn’t just the two of us. It was us, 43 Michigan breweries, and nearly 4000 other attendees. Somewhere in there we ran into some old friends, made some new ones, drank no fewer than 24 different varieties of beer, and loved every minute – except for the line for the toilets. That sucked.

I guess its worth mostly talking about the stuff we liked quite a lot, or at least what was very good. There were only a few serious disappointments, and for the sake of everyone involved, I’m going to avoid naming them for now.

(Oh, and that photo right there is Brian and I being sweet, waiting in line for our first beer of the day)

One of the beers we had towards the end of the day was from Short’s Brewing. By the time we got there, they were out of Soft Parade, which I was looking forward to trying again. We got to try their Black Cherry Porter, which I wasn’t impressed with. Maybe I was burnt out on beer by that point, but it didn’t make me want to drink it like I always want to drink, say, Huma-lupa-licious.

Original Gravity Brewing had the one beer that I had all day that was close to being really good, but didn’t quite do it for me. Guys: your Belgian Training Wheels needs some more body. That would have made it a fantastic, classic beer. Certainly drinkable, but not great. Maybe that was the point (as evidenced by the name), to give beginners something that’s highly palatable, while they’re working their way up. Either way, a little more malt and sweetness, and you would have had me.

At Founders we had Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Cerise. Both exactly what I expected, and both fantastic. Kentucky Breakfast will be out in a month or two, and if you like bourbon beers, its a must. The Cerise is replacing the Rubaeus as their Summer/fruit seasonal. Made with Michigan Cherries, it has a great sour cherry character to it, and will be a major part of my beer life when it comes out.

Another highlight was the 4 Elf Winter Warmer from Dark Horse. Dude, it was probably the best spiced winter ale I’ve ever had. I wish it got some distribution (’cause they DO bottle it), ’cause I would love to get my hands on some.

My second favorite brewery of the day was Arcadia. They had their Big Dick’s Old Ale bourbon-barrel aged, which they were calling Pappy’s Big Dick Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Ale. Its a mouthful, either way you look at it. Flavor-wise and name-wise. It was good for what it was, but the real gems at Arcadia’s booth were a bit lighter.

Their Sky-High Rye is amazing. They’re having a hard time keeping up with demand on it, so I haven’t seen a bottle of it yet, but I will be buying when I do. You should too.

They also had a Firkin of Hop Rocket Imperial IPA. Oh man. Three-day dry-hopped Hop Rocket? COUNT ME IN. It was really good. Maybe one of the best beers of the day.

They also had Rick Moranis at their booth.

Taking a break from beer reviews (and a breather before we get to the best brewery of the day), here’s some more of our photos.

Brian and I both love beards and beer – we keep no secret about this. Babe mannequins are also funny, especially when they have beer coming out of their chest. Which is why Rochester Mills gets the Best Booth of the day award from us:

We also managed to find Jeff, Brian’s old co-worker (and occasional B&C contributor). He’s a beer enthusiast, and so are his sister and her boyfriend. They’re awesome. Oh, and his sister special-ordered a case, yes a case, of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. Seriously. Just emphasizing how awesome they are.

Okay, now its time! Best brewery of the day! Who is it? Who is it?!

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KUHNHENN BREWING COMPANY!

From their Bourbon Barrel Barleywine (very good!), to their Raspberry Isbock (great!), to their Tenacious Cassis Fruit Infused Old Ale (a currant Old Ale? Awesome!), it was all great.

Brian and I had to agree that the best beer of the day was without a doubt their American Extreme IPA. In a Firkin! Exclamation marks!

Seriously, this beer is amazing, and has without a doubt one of, if not THE best balance of malt and loads of hops I’ve had in a long time. Bittering, flavor and aromatic hops all coming together… oh man. I want to drink this all the time.

This lady poured it for me. Twice!

This is Brian’s “holy cow beer is sweeet” face.

This is Brian and I drinking our last beer of the day. We were way happier than we look in it. I promise.

Thanks to my manager at work for the tickets, thanks to our friends who shared beer with us, and most of all, thanks to all the brewers making not only the best beer in Michigan, but some of the best beer in the world.

Ian!

4/10