Electric Mullet India Style Cream Ale
Short's Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Pours a hazy medium straw yellow in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass and some faint honey orange + golden yellow highlights. The beer has a finger tall creamy foamy bright white head that slowly reduces to a couple of medium sized patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of grassy + floral hops with light aromas of citrus/grapefruit pith hops, There are light to moderate aromas of grainy + bready malts.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of grainy + bready malts with a light hint of sweetness. That is followed by moderate flavors of grassy. floral. and citrus/grapefruit pith hops which impart a light to moderate amount of lingering bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth and creamy with a light amount of dryness in the finish.

O: I just had to buy this beer based on the name and label but I also have had a couple of other cream ale/IPA hybrids which I enjoyed... Enjoyable but not quite as good as the others in this hybrid style that I have tried because it does not have as big a fruity hop aroma/flavor. Alcohol is well hidden and this one is pretty easy to drink.

Pours a hazy straw color with a couple fingers of rocky foam. Been on a cream ale kick for the last few months, so I'm curious to see Short's take on the style.
Aroma is caramel, biscuit, cracker, grapefruit, and floral hops. Taste is sweet and light as a cream ale should be, but with a bitter kick of grapefruit rind on the finish.
While this is a decent cream ale I wish Short's hadn't given in to the temptation to India Style everything. This could be a real thirst quencher in the summer save for the bitterness. Shortsicle cream ale would be a good alternative release.

L - Slightly hazy yellow with a creamy white head the all but leaves except for a thin layer with few islands of large bubbles. Lacing is a misnomer as the coverage about 85% and stretches as far as the glass is tilted.
S - Initial wafting of hops but then grass and citrus pith
T - Light and refreshing taste that is hop forward with a sweet bitterness in the finish.
F - Full bodied but not heavy - with enough carbonation to support the finish.
O - Well-crafted and true to the style albeit toward the hoppy side of the spectrum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle poured into a shaker pint.

Appearance
Hazy straw yellow with 1 finger of creamy white head.

Nose
Caramel, wheat, corn adjunct, and light grapefruit.

Taste
Bitter grapefruit rind and onion. Caramel maltiness with additions of corny adjuncts.

Mouthfeel
Medium bodied, crisp, bitter, and dry.

Overall
A blast of archaic bittering hoppiness. Really not much going on besides that.

We recently began getting distro of Short's B.C. beers here in south-central PA & I am pretty excited about it! I have known those guys for years, between BA fests in BOS & my (usually) annual excursion to Madison, WI for the GTMW. I don't care if they are in bottles since I never expected them to come to me!

From the bottle: "Handmade by people who care. (tm)"

As I Pop!ped the cap, it gave me a second or two of pause in appreciation for probably my favorite set of caps, ever! They are bone-white with the Short's logo of a pair of short trousers with legs and feet hanging out of them, overlain by a hop vine. I may have to get my craft person to make me a special coaster ... Speaking of special, my pour was nothing special, just a gentle decanting as it seemed to have a haze in the bottle. It had a haze in the glass, too, but it also netted me two fingers of dense, bone-white head with excellent retention that showed no signs of dissipation. Color was a lightly-hazy Pale-Straw (SRM = 1 - 2) & I was reminded of my time as a command urinalysis coordinator. Interestingly, the haze began to clarify as it warmed. Nose was, well, bizarre. It smelled of bread, corn and grass or hay. As a hophead, I love the addition of hops to most beers, but there are some styles in which the hops are wasted, like the Cascadian/Black IPA as a glaring example. This smelled like they overhopped a perfectly fine Cream Ale. Mouthfeel was kind of thin, slightly watery, but not of keeping with the style. The taste was VERY bitter, not grapefruit, but grapefruit rind, pith & seeds! I found myself making the Bitter Beer Face for the first time in a long while. Oof. This is NOT what I want to taste in a Cream Ale! Hey, I still have an affinity for Genesee (Genny) Cream Ale, it having been one of my starters as an underage drinker. This had little to no similarity to a Cream Ale as I know them. The thing is, Cream Ale is a flawed style with its inherent adjuncts, but it is its own unique style. I generally like Cream Ales, especially out of a CAN on a hot summer's day, but this was not making it for me. I appreciate Short's B.C.'s willingness to experiment, but this was j-u-u-u-u-s-t a bit outside, as Bob Ueker might say. Finish was dry, bitter, overhopped & just unsatisfying.