Bourbon Evil Urges

Origin Story

Evil Urges was the fifth and final beer of a developmental Belgian beer series we created throughout the course of a year back in 2011. Like other beers from that series (Belgian IPA, Richard in the Dirt, Love Knife, and Pan Galactic), our head brewer in Bellaire, Ryan Hale, had a strong influence on ensuring their creation, thanks to his love of Belgian beers and persistence to get Tony to fit them into the brew schedule that year. Unlike the other beers in that series, which were collaborative efforts of both Tony and Ryan, the idea and recipe for Evil Urges was entirely his own concept. Taking a page from Belgium's rich brewing history and their ability to create beers of substantial flavor and body, most of which were used to help satisfy Trappist monks during long periods of fasting, Ryan decided to replicate a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Adding his own personal interpretation to how he would prefer to see this style brewed, Ryan designed a behemoth of a beer using 1,000lbs of grain, amber candy sugar to help mellow the high alcohol content, and also threw in a sizable amount of Chocolate malt giving his version of a Belgian Dark Strong a very personalized and unique twist. As for the name, most Short's employees probably know by now that music plays a huge roll in our company. Always wanting to create a positive work environment, the music played at both facilities hopefully reflects the personal preferences of the employees who work there, while also creating a more upbeat atmosphere to work in. It's always been this way at Short's. It would have been a rare occasion if you ever walked into the brewery when Joe Short was making a beer and found no music accompanying his creative efforts. Over the years many bands have become prioritized as personal favorites for many of us who worked together in those early days. One in particular is an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, called My Morning Jacket (MMJ). MMJ has been around since 1998, cranking out some incredible rock albums since their inception. In 2008, MMJ released an album titled Evil Urges, which also included an opening track with the same name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv7v7lQ3Gas). Needless to say, this album was highly regarded by many of us and received a ton of play time in the brewery for a few years after it came out. When we originally brewed the beer, Evil Urges, it happened to be close to Halloween. Wanting to come up with a name that summarized the tasting experience, time of year, and also sounded cool, the brewers were able to pay homage to one of our favorite bands by using this album/song title as an appropriate fit. Brewed for the second time ever, this beer remains a pub exclusive offering, so expect to see some excited and intrigued pub patrons when it officially returns to the tap line up.