It's About Thyme
Short's Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 12/26/2017. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy deep golden amber/light orange color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, thyme, mint, coconut, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, pepper, pine, honey, lightly toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, thyme, honey, and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, thyme, mint, coconut, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, pepper, pine, honey, lightly toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, thyme, mint, coconut, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, pepper, pine, honey, lightly toasted bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, thyme, honey, and bready malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and zero lingering hop/spicy astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/sticky, and fairly resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol for 7.5%. Overall this is a delicious spiced IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, thyme, honey, and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish, never overly aggressive. Not overdone on the thyme spice. It fits in perfectly with the fruity, dank, and earthy hop profile; nice honey and bready malt backbone, with no residual sweetness. A very enjoyable, unique, and well made style example as expected.

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Short's It's About Thyme in their newest variety pack at Meijers. I'm not so sure how this one will turn out, but lets see how it goes. 2018 Vintage. Poured from s brown 12oz bottle into an IPA glass.

A- The label looks nice, it goes well with the beer and it's a little eye catching. It poured a slightly darker orange color that took on more of a slightly brighter orange color when held to the light and it had a fingers worth of off white that was a little creamy and a little bubbly, it died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left a little bit of patchy lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but I wish it had a little more head and better head retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the thyme being the first to show up and it imparts a herbal and savory aroma that goes right into a butter aroma that's followed by the honey which is pretty noticeable and it has a little bit of that orange blossom honey aspect. Up next comes the hops which are on the lighter side and impart a generic hop, light dank and some light green hop aromas with the malts show up towards the end and they are pretty light and impart some pale malt, bready, doughy and sweet malt like aroma. This beer has a decent aroma, but I think the thyme and the buttery aromas clash.

T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness the with thyme still being the first to show up, it's a little less strong than it was in the aroma, but it's still the flavor that sticks out the most and it goes right into the same buttery aspects that I got in the aroma. Up next comes the honey which is lighter than it was in the aroma and it's not as noticeable. Up next comes the hops which show up more than they did in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects and the malts also show up just a little more this time. On the finish there's a slightly higher amount of medium bitterness with a thyme, buttery and hoppy aftertaste. This is a nice tasting beer, it does a decent job at living up to it's description, but the taste isn't really for me.

M- Not the smoothest, fairly creamy, a little crisp, buttery, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a slightly lower amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it was smoother.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer that lived up to its name, but when it comes down to it's really not for me since i'm just not a fan of those buttery and thyme flavors, but I could see how some people would like it and it lived up to it's description. This beer didn't have the best drinkability, one is more than enough for me. What I like the most about this beer is how unique it is, not many beers taste like this. What I like the least about this beer is how the flavors go together, I just think they clash a little I don't think I would buy this beer again and I can't say I would recommend it, unless your really looking for some thyme and buttery flavors in an IPA. All in all I wasn't a big fan of this beer, but it's lived up to what it's suppose to be, it just isn't for me. It's one of the least favorite Shorts beers that I've had recently and it's a nice example of the style. Nice job guys, this is a unique beer that lives up to it's description, but it's just not for me.

 

 

 

 

Maybe the biggest letdown of 2015. The mixtures are generally superb, and stone has a way with herbs and hops, but they missed the boat on all fronts here. Not bad, but so underwhelming