Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Cherry Porter

Origin Story

Black Cherry Porter is one of our oldest beers. Some of the earliest batches date back to our 2004 brew logs, when it was called Rocky Top Cherry Porter. Obviously, cherries are synonymous with Northern Michigan, but rather than make a light fruity summertime beer with our regional fruit, Joe chose to play on the dark fruity notes sometimes found in rich Porters. Cherries are also a natural compliment to rich chocolaty and roasted coffee flavors, another reason why this beer worked so well and quickly became a pub/Short's favorite. Last year, we decided to barrel age Black Cherry Porter for the first time! As you can imagine, this yield was extremely low. So far it has been featured only in small amounts at the MBG Summer Beer Festival, and then given to an establishment like Palate, due to our long standing relationship with Joe and the amazing support he has given to Short's over the years. The barrel aging added notable bourbon flavors to the beer, lending rich vanilla tones and charred oaky qualities, creating favorable accents to the existing flavors.