Captain Fantasy - Short's Brewing Company

Soonami

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to erric for the hookup!

A bright, very pale beer with a nice head. The beer smells nice, there is a little spicy phenol, juicy pears and herbal hops. The beer tastes sweet like ripe anjou pears but also pretty bitter with a lingering resiny oily finish that is slighly unpleasant. There is just a weird interplay between all of these ingredients that just doesn't mesh well, but it doesn't taste bad. Not a bad beer, a nice one to try.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 04:46:41 | More by Soonami

Satchboogie

New Hampshire

3.33/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Another shout out to Nate Nelson for this extra.
12oz bottle poured into a stemmed glass

A: Pours Golden pale yellow, hazy, with a beautiful 2+ finger white head (tight bubbles with frothy top). Great head retention and leaves lots of lacing as it recedes.

S: Funk yeast, mustiness, lots of pear and almost a fleshy unripe mango, sizable citrus (lemon zest) and floral hop presence, typical bubblegum.

T/M: Lots of that funk right up front with bubble gum phenols/esters. Unfortunately the pear and citrus take on almost a rotten or at least over-the-hill flavor. Semi sweet (clean sugar) body that doesn't really dry out until well past the finish. Not that clean or crisp overall. Light body with moderate carbonation.

O: Not a big fan of how intense the funky phenols are right up front, while the citrus is in the background and not very bright. Also too sweet for my taste, I'd much prefer it more crisp and clean. Not terrible for a US brewery, but no where near my favorite either.

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2011 21:55:26 | More by Satchboogie

cosmicevan

New York

4.03/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

High 5 to yeahnatenelson for putting this one on my porch today. Always a fan of collabs and been loving Half Acre.

a - popped the bottle and filled my E snifter. Wow...really nice murky golden copper with a nice frothy foamy head that hung out and left nice chunky lacing. classic to style and my mouth is starting to water...

s - the first thing i noticed when i popped the bottle was a wonderful sweet fruity smell. after the pour i went in for a closer look...YUM. bubblegum and tangy tart grapefruit. peppery citric pears. candied sugar with a splash of sour lemons.

t - again, rather impressive. classic saison flavors with an angle of pears, pepper, grapefruit and a bitter finish. certainly has representation of both short's and half acre. there is an offbeat tanginess reminiscent of many short's brews and a nice full bodied hop reminiscent of half acre. this ain't your pappa's saison.

m - much more full bodied that your average short's brew. a touch fizzy, but nice carbonation. finishes with a bitterish tingle. dry on the back of my pallete.

o - overall this feels like the mix of what i know of short's and what i know of half acre...with actually a dominance towards half acre's beers. the tanginess that i normally associate with short's is pretty present and seems to detract a bit from the brew. i'd be really interested to check out the half acre version, but much like freedom of 78, looks like this one is just the short's. pretty enjoyable, but not a classic saison...a saison with a short's twist...but the body of a half acre brew and extreme hopping to tame back the weirdness from the pears.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2011 02:57:35 | More by cosmicevan

oline73

Maryland

4.05/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a goblet.

Appearance: Pours a very cloudy yellow with hints of orange. There are two fingers of off white head that fades quickly but leaves very nice lacing.

Smell: Very nice. Sweet and fruity from the pears with a strong herbal hop note from the Sorachi Ace. Add some more herbal notes from the yeast and you're in business.

Taste: A bit sweet up front from the malt and just a hint of the pear. The finish is dominated by the bitter herbal and citrus peel hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with very smooth carbonation and a super dry finish.

Overall: I really enjoyed this take on a saison. I would have like a little more pear and a little less fruit, but I was quite happy drinking this one.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2011 02:38:23 | More by oline73

THECPJ

Delaware

3.38/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed from notes:

appearance: hazy yellow orange with a 1 finger white head

smell: fruity, citrus, pear, sweet

taste: pear, citrus, dry, crisp, clean

mouthfeel: mild carbonation, medium body,

overall: a pretty decent saison. wish it did not have such a dry finish. Other then that glad I got to try it.

Cheers,
The cpj

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2011 16:11:59 | More by THECPJ

womencantsail

California

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The Short's half of the collaboration. Never a dull moment...Thanks Derek!

A: The beer pours a hazy golden color with a finger of white head.

S: The pears really come through on this. There are lots of fruity hop aromas as well as the fruity ester qualities. A bit of pepper and some spicy notes that seem to be from the yeast. A light bread and malt aroma to round it out.

T: Mildly bitter and peppery with a ton of apples and pears. There's some yeast and quite a few different esters and phenols going on here. Some mild tropical fruits and a pretty nice citrus hop note.

M: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.

O: Really a different beer, but the pears came through nicely. I liked this one.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2011 05:30:31 | More by womencantsail