Old Reliable
Short's Brewing Company

 

 

 

Bottle into a stange appears a clear pale yellow color with a white cap that fades leaving stringy lace.

Aroma has some footy pils grain character, slight corn, mild fruitiness and grass.

Taste is sweet with grain, grass and dusty to footy pils grain.

Light in body with modest carbonation. Overall a decent pils.

 

 

 

 

Pale, clear straw color with a soapy honeycomb head. Maybe a finger of foam that leaves light lacing behind. Classic Pilsner look. Aroma is as light and delicate as the lacing: lemony biscuit/cracker with floral notes coming through. Bright, attractive. Taste is lemon biscuit, some corn, with a slightly earthy, peppery zip. Clean on the finish. Refreshing ale, and quite reliable.

12 ounce bottle into lager glass, bottled on 3/27/2016. Pours slightly hazy pale straw color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of lemon, cracker, corn, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of pale malt and light-mkoderate earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of lemon cracker, corn, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of cracker, corn, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and balance of pale malt and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately grainy/creamy, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Very clean on lager flavors with minimal yeast notes present. Zero alcohol warmth as expected of 4.9%. Overall this is a very good classic American pilsner style. All around good robustness and balance of pale malt and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; and very smooth, clean, and refreshing to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

I picked up a bottle of Short's Old Reliable in their new spring variety pack. I've never had this one before and I'm looking forward to see how it is, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a Pilsner glass.

A- The label looks good, it's well done and it's eye catching. It poured a slightly hazy golden color that took on more of a pale yellow color when held to the light with a fingers worth of creamy white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left some spotty lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but I wish it had more head and better retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with a creamy and sweet grain aroma being the first to show and it's followed by some very bready aromas with lots of bread crust coming through and some more pale malts in the background. Up next comes some doughy yeast which leads into the hops which are light and only impart a light herbal and generic hop aroma. The aroma was ok, but it wasn't too balanced for a Pilsner.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with that same sweet and creamy grainy aspect being the first to show up and it's followed by all those big bready aspects that I got in the aroma. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast which leads into the hops which show up maybe just a little more, but it's hardly noticeable and they impart the same aspects. On the finish there's higher amount of low bitterness with a grainy and slightly hoppy aftertaste. This is an Ok tasting beer, but it's just too malt for a Pilsner.

M- Smooth, a little crisp, a little clean, on the very light side of being medium bodied with a slightly lower amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it had more carbonation.

Overall I thought this beer was just Ok and I didn't think it was a great example of the style, shorts likes to crazy on the hops on bitterness, but on this one it seemed like they forgot about the hops all together and it made for one of the more malty Pilsners I've had. It didn't have the best drinkability, one is enough for me. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance, it's a nice looking beer. What I like the least about this beer is the balance, it was way too malty without much hop flavors or aromas. I wouldn't buy this beer on it's own and I can't say I would recommend it. All in all this was a rare let down from Short's, it wasn't a bad beer, but it wasn't really that great of a Pilsner either. It's now one of my least favorite Short's beer and it's not a great example of the style. Better luck next time guys, this one could use some work.