Review 153: Short's Hopstache

Review 153

4/2/13

Short’s Hopstache: 6.0% abv

Background: For a second, let’s take a look at the history of Short’s Brewing Company. In Bellaire, Michigan, a brewer by the name of Joe Short purchased an empty hardware store. In the first year, there was only 178 barrels of production. In 2008, Short’s capacity increased to 8,000 to 10,000 barrels per annum. Here ends the history of Short’s Brewing Company. Short’s says they intend to stay small and focus on the Michigan area, producing quality mom and pop style beers. This is a pretty young brewery, but you can bet they have seen more popularity in the last few years.

Nose: The nose contains substantial notes of lemon, lime, and grapefruit, obviously. It has a tart, green apple note in it with a hoppy presence and a definitively floral and earthy, although it is well balanced in this manner. It also contains a little bit of a fresh grass smell to it. This is a pretty fresh nose which opens up the welcoming arms to spring, despite the fact that Michigan refuses to acknowledge this invitation. 

Arrival: Well there’s a lot of grapefruit here. There is slight apple note, and some interesting wheat grain there. There is a mild citrus in the arrival, but otherwise this is a pretty weak arrival. There is nothing really all that special about this arrival. There are also no mustaches.

Body: Besides having grapefruit, there is a small introduction of hops, but this becomes more prevalent in the finish. Otherwise, the body is also horribly anticlimactic, lacking any sort of event to it. We were sorely disappointed in the complexity, although the balance is satisfactory.

Finish: You guessed it: hops and grapefruit. There is a hint of grain in the finish as well, as you get a sense for a dry, bitter ending. Sweet lemon is also in here as well. It is a medium length finish, and the beer comes off very refreshing. It certainly comes off as a summer beer by any standards.

Final Comments: As we said before, this beer shouldn’t take you more than three big gulps to finish, as this is no Stone IPA. There are no mustaches to be found in this entire beer, and frankly, with the standard set by microbrewery IPAs, this does not match their intensity or complexity. We look for something more out of an IPA, and this should sit in a Pale Ale shelf.

Why you’d buy it: Because everybody else is.

Why you wouldn’t: You want to drink an IPA

Score: 7.0/10