Shorts Bourbon Barrel Sustenance Black Beer

Brewed by Shorts Brewing Co.
Style: Schwarzbier
Bellaire, Michigan USA

Deep black pour with a sticky off-white head. The nose is fairly unusual. Toasty/cocoaish malt with a bit of lightly salty toasted malt. Fairly salty with a kiss of toasted malt and light cocoa on the back. Meh.

22 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with mibirder. Pours a very deep reddish brown, not quite black, that is barely translucent when held against sunlight. The head is creamy and bubbly lasting through the first third of the glass and leaving patchy lace. Very pleasant aroma of bourbon, caramel, vanilla and oak along with a few alcohol vapors. The flavor is less intense than the aroma and includes bourbon, caramel, vanilla, oak and malt. Lacks the rich textural mouthfeel I associate with bourbon barrel aged beers like this, which is no fault of the beer as this is not a stout. I guess I am a victim of Pavlovian conditioning, but I do miss it.

Bottle at the release of Flaming Fury. Pours a brown to black color. Bourbon, fruit, wood, and vanilla on the nose. Crisp and lightly bitter with a bit of fruit behind it. Finishes up a little boozy with a touch of wood.

Bottled. Very bourbony aroma, buttery, mild oak, cream. Really creamy flavor, delicious vanilla and oak and roasty malts, elegently balanced and very drinkable. This isn’t a schwarzbier at all so much as an American Strong, but it works really well. I haven’t felt so good about the Shorts adjunct beers in the past but this one really does it for me. Excellent.

Draught. Poured black with not much head. Pilsener like aroma, some malt, some grass. Malty medium body with pils like flavour except for some roast and oakiness. Pils like finish. But something didn’t quite gel.

Really dark with not much head. Some lacing and nice body. Aroma is roasted malts, wood, bourbon, and dark chocolate. Flavor is similar. Nice bourbon flavor but not too overpowering. Very good.

I didn’t find this especially compelling up against other great barrel aged beers. The palate is a bit thin--perhaps the choice of schwarzbier as against porters and stouts--and the flavors, while quite good, don’t have the same complexity. Bottle shared at RBSG 2009 grand tasting.

Pre MiBGF taste at northernbrews, thanks Jeff: Basically opaque with a creamy head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of bourbon (oak, vanilla, alcohol), chocolate and heavy roasted black malts, hint of lactic acid and brett, nutty. The taste has a nice fruity start with toasty and nutty malt profile before heading off towards a acidic finish and oak undertones. The mouth feel is lush and oily, dry finish. Outstanding balance and complexity, show the Schwarzbier character without overpowering Bourbon flavors.