Gingersnap - Short's Brewing Company

tectactoe

Michigan

3.18/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3

On tap at Ashley's in Westland for the Shorts vs. Greenbush Throwdown. This one pours the color of a stained armoire, deep-mahogany and mostly opaque, except for the very top and bottom. If not held to the light, it could easily be mistaken for black. The small, off-white head fades to a skin within moments, leaving basically nothing behind.

The aroma is kind of a "half-and-half" ginger split. Half of it smells like a gingerbread cookie and the other half smells like pure ginger root. The first, soft waves hit more like a cookie with the caramel and bread notes lending a helping hand from the malt. Cinnamon and nutmeg are faint, but definitely in the background. Deeper inhales reveal a more raw ginger aroma - like a straight up ginger root up your nostril.

As I go in for my first sip, I'm really hoping it's a little more on the cookie side than the root side, but sadly it is not. Tons of ginger on the palate, but it really is pretty akin to sucking a ginger root. Mildly spicy and potent with almost a sinus-clearing presence, this bad boy is loaded with ginger spice. All hope is not lost, though - some light caramel, toffee, and toasted bread malt flavors collaborate in the aftertaste to help things out a bit, also adding a little sweetness for balance.

The bad part is that as this warms up, the raw ginger flavor just grows heavier and more potent, turning the beer more and more into a liquid ginger root than a liquid gingerbread cookie. Eventually, even the help of the malts on the back end is useless, and the aftertaste just becomes a mouth full of ginger. Thin-medium bodied with medium carbonation and a slick, wet mouth feel.

Not a bad beer, but just too much ginger. I guess I was expecting more malt and cinnamon and nutmeg to give that "gingerbread" cookie feel - like Hardywood's stout, maybe. But this was erring more towards pure, raw ginger, especially as time went on. If I was going to drink a ginger heavy Shorts brew, I'd reach for Ginger in the Rye over this one - the ginger is better integrated into the base style and not quite as attention-grabbing.

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2013 10:59:41 | More by tectactoe

Slay40

Michigan

4.75/5  rDev +41.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Appearance was nice and dark

Smell was amazing very ginger and spicy nose

Taste was very impressive was sketchy about the name but went home with a growler very good balance of ginger and spices

great mouthfeel

overall an amazing beer hope it gets bottled someday

Serving type: on-tap

05-09-2013 02:55:57 | More by Slay40