So, this has been an interesting year for all involved with this multifaceted project. On the homebrewing front, things are good. Our brew, Sour Puss, has won 1st place in Buckeye Brew Craft's IPA competition, took 3rd in Elevator Brewing's homebrew competition, and was a finalist in Barley's homebrew competition. On the personal home front, things have been been fucked. I lost my uncle and 3 good friends, all to different reasons, and The Phil (see previous reviews) is battling a sickness, and all in the first 6 months of the godforsaken year of 2014. This is dedicated to my dear friend, Dan Haley. If you haven't figured out, from time to time, we'll open up from time to time with our personal life. This is one of those posts.
Dan Haley, gone too soon. Never a bad memory with him. He was there when my Brother-From-Another-Mother and I got our first tattoos. Brother went in first (as his took longer), Dan decided he and I should have a drink before I get mine. One beer was agreed upon. 3 pitchers and shots later... Dan paid the artist $20 to draw a penis in my friend's tattoo (still to this day, after being covered up minutes later, you can still see it). There was another time that Dan showed up at the Athens house as I started to fall asleep... well... Dan pegged me in the with a beer to wake me up (with his duck tape ammo belt)... see pictures...
So, in his passing, I went up to that state-up-North for his funeral. A small town with one giant church, a strip club, an adult book store, 2 bars and a gas station. That's it. you blink, you miss your salvation. Eh.
On the way back home, we stopped off to get some beer to honor Dan. We found some brews we can't get in Ohio and picked those up also.
Short's Huma-Lupa-Lucious IPA. Yes this might be one of the most long, drawn out reviews before actually getting to the review. If you have a problem with it, please email pissoffwanker@IDoWhatIWant.com ... wait... is that a real site? Forget it... Back to the beer finally.
This pours beautiful clear golden amber color with small amount of head. Mind you, this was purchased May 1st, it's now June 23rd (24th if you want to get technical), so I'm hoping we didn't sit on this for too long, like our last review. Perfectly clear brew. I'm looking at the picture of Dan and I through this beer. This has a nice aroma. Caramel heavy with some herbal notes with faint hints of citrus. The taste on this is interesting. It's not as hoppy as I'd expect from the reviews on those 'other sites' (B.A. and Ratebeer). It has a pleasant taste. Pine heavy on the hop characteristics with hints of tropical fruits, but not overly hoppy. The caramel of the malts lends a huge backbone to this piney concoction. The aftermath that's left on your palate is a slightly numbing, piney stickiness that makes you smack you lips and savor the flavor. The carbonation is perfect on this, not too much, not too little. This is better than when I had it first after getting back in town (maybe it was my palate was wrecked from other brews, maybe it was just emotionally numb, who really knows). This is tasty. If it were to be distributed to Ohio, I would have this as a good go-to IPA.
4.6/5
-Nathan-
PS, you learned some more about our personal stuff, so it's only fair that we're friends now. Go, like our pages and prove your friendship....
So, I've been waiting for a long time to get to this beer. I watched an entire hour-long episode of a series ("Brew Masters", natch), while waiting for my partner-in-zymurgy to locate amazing old pictures and take you on his nostalgic journey. I've thoroughly enjoyed it; Nathan is a little worried he became overly personal. Dan, I hardly knew ye, much like this keyboard.... I seem to have misplaced my typing skills. If you've seen them, please email the above-referenced address.
As this beer has had an hour and change to warm, there is no discernible head remaining, although it remains a beautiful medium orange color. Kind of like picking up a piece of amber jewelry in Riga, Latvia, from a street vendor, and you just know it's old and worn and resinous. I pick up so many notes on this now that it has warmed. Notes of caramel, orange, toffee, and pine waft across my olfactory nerves. Taking a sip, I get each of those in turn, plus a note of earth, probably from some Cascade hops that I don't particularly favor. And then late, way late, like after your curfew when you were 12 and you decided to come home after midnight, a big pine note happens across your tastebuds, and it's delicious, balancing out the sweetness from the caramel malts and the citrus from the hop additions. This is a medium-bodied beer that is nicely refreshing on a really warm, stormy night.
I've heard a lot about Short's. Their beers are a pretty sought-after thing here in Ohio from Those In The Know. I look forward to picking up more beers from them when we visit Michigan -- yes, that beautiful state up north -- when we visit my father's hometown this summer and relive a ton of my childhood memories.
4.2/5 caps
-Jennie
Pairings:
Music: "Dan's Song" Frank Turner
Cheese: A nicely aged Asiago
Food: Lemon bars
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