Imperial Soft Parade
Short's Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle received from adamdd.

Amber red in color and semi-translucent. Pours with a minimal head. Can smell this brew right away and get a good scent of berries including blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Taste is similar to how it smells, however I don't get much alcohol at all as it is very well hidden. If you had a couple of these the 10% would definitely creep up on you. There is good carbonation throughout with the berry fruit flavors continuing through the end on the palate.

Would look forward to trying this one again.

 

 

750ml, bottle 332 of 1008. Major thanks to mike for this one! My long time, mega-wale of a beer. The one I never thought I'd get to try.

Poured into leffe goblet. Trading card notes this beer was brewed on 4.13.07 and bottled on 5.7 and 5.8, 2007. Listening to 'Waiting for the Sun' by The Doors as I sip.. perfect mood music.

A- A ruddy amber/ruby/brown with a thin but lively head that fizzes out to settle on the outer edges quickly.

S- Deep berry fruit. Surprised at the life the fruit has in this! Sweet strawberry jam.

T- Blackberry tartness hits first, with a wave of sweet strawberry following up. The strawberry is overripe and very sweet, but is cut by the myriad of other flavors. The rye is a bit spicy and bitter in the background. I'm floored by the berries, this must have been a sugar bomb fresh. The flavors are still very potent. Blueberries are fleeting, raspberry tartness intermingles with the blackberries.

M- Tart, sweet, slightly puckering, bitter/tannic in the finish. No sign of ABV, I wonder if it mellowed over time or if the berries have always dominated it.

D- Very high. Wow, I enjoyed this beer. It's a very nice thing when a beer meets your lofty expectations. Short's, please please please brew some more.

Picked up this bottle from Shorts a while ago. They say it was from 2008. 750 poured into my town hall snifter:

A - pour gets a thin to medium frothy white head that dissipates into foam ring around the edges with murky cloudy foam in the middle. Amber, ruby pinkish color.

S - Lots of wine like berries. A bit like a fruity slushy. Pretty nice.

T - Faint berries and slightly wine like. Kind of citrus and tart at the same time. I know that its two years old but the berries really suffered on this one.

M - Pretty good carbonation. Its refereshing but probably more like a summer brew than a winter brew.

D - Pretty good. Its nice but I'm really not sure to this kind of beer. It is cool that it is vintage and two years old but the berries in it really suffers and I believe it would be better fresh. Pretty nice smell, mouthfeel and drinkability but the taste lacks.

Bottle from the free table at Woodshop 5.0. Pours a light muddy brown color with a smallish beige head. Striking berry aroma/flavor with blackberries and blueberries especially. Additional notes of caramel, chocolate, and dark bread crusts. Alcohol is undetectable and I was shocked to see this was 10%.

The appearance is a rich chestnut with a slight pink color. Slightly hazy, but pleasantly appealing.

The aroma is a very strong sweet berry smell when it is cool and the alcohol becomes more apparent as the beers warms, but also brings along a malty presence.

The taste starts pleasantly tart and a bitter berry montage follows. The beer finishes dry leaving a subtle berry taste on your tongue and as you inhale. My girlfriend feels as though Joe Short is gods gift to stellar beer brewing, and thinks that this beer is a suitable substitute for the wine she normally drinks. This beer definitely still taste like a beer and is obvious that the beer was constructed with love and not berry extract concoction.

The body is medium allowing for extensive drinkability. There is not a lot of residual sugar and the beer attenuated very nicely.

I could drink the sh*# out of it.

Give me a beer any day over wine, but when you have this you can immerse your self in a beer drinking experience that will also suit most wine drinkers.