Beer Review: Short's Soft Parade

Beer: Soft Parade
Brewery: Short's Brewing Company
Location: Bellaire, MI
Variety: Fruit beer
ABV: 9%
Price: ~ $12 six pack

I should disclose here that I've had two Short's beers since I've started this blog and I neglected to review both. Oh, they weren't bad. The Pandemonium Pale Ale was quite good (I'd give it 8/10) and the Bellaire Brown was not bad either (6/10). I guess Short's just has the bad luck of falling victim to my poor memory two times in a row while Founders could release a bottle filled with nothing but spit and pencil shavings and I'd still roll over and give it a 9/10 AND have the review up the next day.

So. I'm sorry Short's.



Soft Parade is brewed with several types of berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. What, no loganberries? I believe it's a summer seasonal, though the Web site makes no mention of that. Regardless, fruit beers are usually good for summertime.

It's a very attractive beer; the pictures don't much do it justice, I'm afraid. The color is a very cherry red, with a light pink, foamy head that builds and builds and lasts forever. Very frothy. The scent is of what you would expect: tart berries, with a sort of marshmallowy background with some sugar thrown in for good measure. The sweetness doesn't carry over to the beer, though. It's actually quite tart, bordering on sour, and was at times unpleasant for me. At least it means they likely used real berries and not artificial flavor. I found the finish somewhat flat and watery.

I'm torn on this one. At points I liked it, and I certainly like the concept. But in execution it felt flawed and wasn't much fun to drink. I'll probably give fruit beers a break for a little while since I've never met one that truly WOWED me.

Rating: 5/10 - I kind of want to say to this beer "It's not you, it's me."