We are pleased to announce the arrival of our first three fall brews for 2012: Autumn Ale, Noble Chaos, and Ale la Reverend. Autumn Ale replaces Nicie Spicie as our seasonal release, meaning that we will brew and bottle it throughout the fall season. Noble Choas and Ale la Reverend will be shipped on a limited basis as seasonal specialty brews.
Autumn Ale is a London Extra Special Bitter (ESB) that is true to style. It has a medium body, amber color, and full flavor. This beer exhibits a balance of initial, malty sweetness with subtle, lingering, floral hop bitterness, resulting in an ideal bridge between malty and hoppy beer styles. Although it is named Autumn Ale and seems perfect as a fall beer, we have always featured it year round on tap at our pub. It was the first Short’s beer to receive a medal at the Great American Beer Festival, earning a silver medal in 2006. For the past three years, we’ve released it in bottles as a fall seasonal.
Noble Chaos is an amber lager that we designate as our Octoberfest beer. The name Noble Chaos refers to one of the most hectic and chaotic days in the company’s early history. Joe was trying to brew this beer while dealing with a number of unforeseen problems and meanwhile dealing with the fact that he was falling in love with one of his pubtenders (now his wife, Leah). Everything got squared away, and the beer turned out great thanks to an incredibly “noble” effort from Leah and Joe during the most “chaotic” situation imaginable.
Ale la Reverend is a distinctively dry, light bodied IPA with an appealing golden hue and thirst-quenching crispness that is laden with pungent hop aromas of citrus and spruce. Semi-sweet malt provides a backdrop for some mild earthy flavors and slight grassy notes. Doubling the dry-hop additions allows for lower alcohol levels, while still providing the entire hop effect expected of an IPA. This was the first session IPA ever created at Short’s. Actually, it was first brewed specifically for Joe and Leah’s wedding. Joe wanted a beer that packed all the hops of his beloved IPA’s, but without the high alcohol content, so he could consume them throughout his important day. The name Ale la Reverend refers to Leah’s dad, Rich Hannan, who became ordained so that he could officially marry Joe and Leah. After completing his online certification, the nickname “Rev” has stuck with Rich. The label art for Ale la Reverend was taken from an actual photo of Rich as he was wadding out with their small Sunfish sail boat to go for a cruise around Torch Lake. This year’s release marks the second time Ale la Reverend has been bottled as a limited specialty beer from Short’s.
Matt Drake, Short’s Operations Manager
