Beer 381/365- New Holland Dragon’s Milk

Style: American Stout

ABV: 9.0%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate Wine & Beer – Boardman Ohio

What makes this beer different: Thought this would be considered an imperial stout due to the ABV. Regardless this is one of the best affordable “big stouts” available.

Will I be drinking this again: Yes, this beer is a staple in the cellar.

Grade: A-

3/7/2011: Kind of shocked that I didn’t drink one of these during my 365. Even more shocked that this is my first New Holland beer. I tried to make it there on my Michigan Beer Tour, but ran out of time and energy. I plan on driving through Michigan again in the near future, and I plan on making it to New Holland this time around for sure.

Dragon’s Milk in my opinion isn’t overly complex, but complexity isn’t a must for a good beer. The nose is mostly chocolate, oak, and a bit of dark fruit. The flavor reminds me of a stronger version of one of my favorite beers; Dominion Oak Barrel Stout. A lot of roasty malt, chocolate, some oak, and a hint of vanilla and dark fruit. There is a little alcohol kick that you usually get with a Russian Imperial Stout, but it doesn’t bother me much. This coming from a guy who drinks his Beam ‘n Coke’s at an 80/20 ratio typically. Mouthfeel is a bit light for the ABV, which is probably why the alcohol isn’t hidden extraordinarily well. Overall a great beer for the price.

Picture of the day: Who is up for a staring contest?

Beer 341/365 – Short’s Noble Chaos

Style: Oktoberfest

ABV: 5.5%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: A bit bready/grainy for an oktoberfest

Will I be drinking this again: Would love to butttt as with all short’s brew I would have to trade for it.

Grade: B+

10/15/2010: Isn’t it kind of funny how Oktoberfest starts in September? Kind of drives me nuts too that most of the fall seasonal beers are sold out before fall really even rolls around. For instance tonight I am heading up to vintage estate and would love to stop up on more Oktoberfest/Pumpkin beer, but I’m sure all that’s left are the sub-par brews. Annoying.

The nose is bready, grainy, and toasty. The flavor is much of the same, a lot of toasted grain/doughy notes, a nice kick of spice and hops also. A lot of flavor going on for how light bodied this is. Carbonation is good as well. Overall one of the better Oktoberfest’s I have had lately!

Picture of the day: Do you live in a droid, iphone, or blackberry state?

Beer 340/365 – Short’s The Magician

Style: Irish Red Ale

ABV: 6.0%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: Almost tastes like a Scotch Ale.

Will I be drinking this again: Meh probably not, nothing special/unique going on here.

Grade: B-

10/14/2010: Why this one is called the magician? Great question. I don’t know the answer, but I do know I love Irish Red Ale’s so I am hoping this one is solid. Although I made the mistake of reading some reviews on Beer Advocate before actually tasting the beer. I usually avoid doing that because I feel like it sets a bit of an expectation before actually drinking the beer.

The nose is toasty and sweet toffee. The flavor reminds me much more of a light bodied scotch ale than it does an irish red. Lots of sweetness of an Irish red; Toffee, Toasted caramel, and a tiny bit of dark fruit. Semi-metallic thing going on as well. Not really getting any hop kick from this brew. Mouthfeel is light and its a bit under carbonated. Probably the least impressive offering from Short’s that I have tried to date.

Picture of the day: Happy Birthday to the best gaming system ever.

Beer 339/365 – Short’s Rich’s Rye

Style: Rye Beer

ABV: 4.9%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: Pretty decent for a rye beer!

Will I be drinking this again: Wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but wouldn’t turn it down if someone handed it to me.

Grade: B+

10/13/2010: Apparently this beer is named after one of the brewery dads? Not sure about the entire story behind this beer. On that note I wish there was an area on beeradvocate/ratebeer where you could put a bit more of a back story about the beer itself. I see that a bit on ratebeer, but not as much on BA. Oh and check out the head on this beer… Good stuff!

The nose is pretty hoppy for a rye beer. The flavor is a nice citrus hop, some nondescript spice, with some nice caramel malt to balance it all out. A bit of a resin type this going on as well. Mouthfeel is medium and a bit creamy for the style, finishes a bit dry. Overall a pretty good beer!

Picture of the day: Bill Mauer roasts Christine O’Donnell pretty good here.

Beer 337/365 – Short’s Huma Lupa Licious

Style: American IPA

ABV: 6.6%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: On the piney end of the hop scale.

Will I be drinking this again: Probably not.

Grade: B

10/11/2010: Huma Lupa Licious is Short’s best selling, and most reviewed beer. Love the description on the label; “A complex malt and hop theme park in your mouth.” I am assuming going into this one that its going to be pretty tasty. Never thought I would say that about IPAs in general, but I have learned to really crave a good IPA every now and again.

The nose on Huma Lupa is grapefruit hops, and a lot of pine. Not good! For those of you who have been reading for a while you know that I hate piney hope flavor. The flavor is of the sharp resiny pine type, with some citrus, and biscuity malts. Usually I can take a bit of pine, but this little bastard was the main attraction in this theme park. Mouthfeel is medium and very nicely carbonated. Overall I am sure for he style a lot of hop heads would love this, but it was just average to me because of the pine kick.

Picture of the day: A family was almost killed yesterday while making pancakes.

Beer 335/365 – Short’s Bourbon Barrel Sustenance Black Beer

Style: Schwarzbier

ABV: 6.5%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: Not often you see a bourbon aged Schwarzbier. Its works though!

Will I be drinking this again: Loved this one, but I’m pretty sure its a limited release.

Grade: A

10/9/2010: Leave it to Short’s to decide to barrel age a Schwarzbier. Technically Schwarzbier is in the lager family, and lagers typically are best when consumed fresh. The idea sounds a bit hair-brained to me but I should know by now to not doubt Short’s Brew.

The nose has a sweet unobtrusive bourbon nose, with some roasty chocolate in there as well. The bourbon in Sustenance takes this beer to an entirely different level. Bourbon is there but not overwhelming; you still get the chocolate/smoke/citrus from the original Sustenance Black Beer. Sometimes bourbon can take away from the simple good flavor of a beer, but not in this case. I would compare it to saying Pizza is good on its own, but if you add just the right amount of hot sauce it makes pizza amazing. Mouthfeel is average, as well as the carbonation. I might have a soft spot for bourbon beer, but this one was without a doubt my favorite of short’s lineup so far.

Picture of the day: Frankie Muniz is kind of an asshole.

Beer 334/365 – Short’s Sustenance Black Bier

Style: Schwarzbier

ABV: unknown?

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: Not much its just very well balanced.

Will I be drinking this again: As with other shorts brew, if it were available in my area I would buy more!

Grade: B+

10/8/2010: Kind of curious as tom why the ABV is unknown on this brew? I love how shorts always has a short description of each beer, but dislike how they never seem to put the ABV on the labels. Very odd to me.

The nose is musty, earthy, and smoky. The flavor is very well balanced between roast/smoke, chocolate, caramel, and a bit citrusy tang going on. This beer is very flavorful considering the mouthfeel is a bit south of average. Good carbonation. Overall this has been the least unique of the Short’s Brew’s I have tried, but hey I’m not complaining as it was still very tasty.

Picture of the day: Funny collection of yahoo answers.

Beer 333/365 – Short’s Key Lime Pie

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 5.75%

Purchased at: Sent to me in a trade

What makes this beer different: It really does taste lie Key Lime Pie.. well done!

Will I be drinking this again: I would love to get my hands on some more of it.

Grade: A-

10/7/2010: Mmmmm Key Lime Pie. Key Lime Pie seems to be one of those desserts that you either love or hate, personally I love it. Reminds me of going to the Ocean City on vacations with the family.

The nose is full of marshmallow and tart/semi-acidic. The flavor is pretty damn accurate to the name of the beer, lots of tangy lime, heavy marshmallow (which also adds to the mouthfeel), graham cracker is light but there, and there is this semi-earthy thing going on a well. Mouthfeel could be a little lighter but this is probably a result of brewing with actual marshmallows. Overall this is much better than I expected.

Picture of the day: I hate it when this happens.

Beer 332/365 – Short’s Black Licorice Lager

Style: Euro Dark Lager

ABV: 8.0%

Purchased at: Sent to me in a trade.

What makes this beer different: It almost tastes like root beer!

Will I be drinking this again: I would if it were local.

Grade: B+

10/6/2010: So just as a heads up before I get into the review of this beer… I HATE black licorice. Especially during Easter when you grab a handful of jelly beans thinking that the dark purple ones are grape, but no they are black licorice and ruin the whole mouthful.

Lots of chocolate in the nose, and a hint of black licorice. The flavor is not what I was expecting, mostly roasty chocolate, some dark fruit flavors, and only a little bit of Black Licorice flavor (thank god). Something about the flavor is really reminding me of a good root beer, can’t quite put my finger on what it is though. Alcohol is hidden very well which is a huge bonus. Smooth medium mouthfeel with nice carbonation. Very unique beer to say the least!

Picture of the day: Children are tasty.

Beer 331/365 – Short’s Nicie Spicie

Style: Herbed / Spiced Beer

ABV: 5.2%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade.

What makes this beer different: Not overly spiced like most spice beers, very well done.

Will I be drinking this again: Won’t go out of my way for it, but for the style its good.

Grade: A-

10/5/2010: Thanks to Shorts Brewing for giving me a shout on their Twitter page. I made a twitter for my blog a few months back, but its kind of a pain to keep updated. Plus the phrase “tweeting” kind of makes me feel funny ha. Oh and yes this beer is in a tulip. Short’s breaks rules with the ingredients the brew with, so I felt the need to break a beer rule myself.

The last spiced wheat beer I had was White Magick of the Sun from Voodoo Brewing, and it was way over-spiced. The nose of Nicie Spicie is well…nice; Lots of citrus and pepper. Flavor has a great balance to it and I would describe it as “juicy” for a wheat. Lemon and Peach are in the mix, and the peppercorn/coriander gives it just a little bit of heat. A lot of beers that use wheat have this hay-like flavor, but no sign of it here. Very nice crisp/bubbly/creamy mouthfeel. As is the case with most of Short’s Brew’s, this one was very unique and worth giving a try!

Picture of the day: Wow, very odd phone charger. What is wrong with people.