Short’s says:
Black is the beer, but soft and sweet on the palate. Rich flavor stems from roasted and dark caramel grains. Sustenance is a very delightful and easy drinking lager with strong emphasis on the balanced malt profile.
Short’s Sustenance Black Beer
Schwarzbier, ?% ABV
Sayeth the Guys
Ryan: Sorry about the lack of a picture of the beer itself. This beer, and few others I’m reviewing this week, we’re consumed out of a 6 oz plastic cup at my hotel room in Michigan during a recent business trip. I know I have said this before, but I should at least pack a pint glass from home for these trips.
This offering from Short’s is an advertised…to an extent. It did pour black, pitch black to be exact, with a nice khaki, tan head. So that jives with the “Black Beer” description on the label. But don’t let the rest of it, which reads: “For when you’re hungry and thirsty,” intimidate you. This is a German Schwarzbier which essentially means it is a dark beer but not a porter or a stout. Think of Sustenance as a dark in color, high in flavor and light in body beer.
Stick your nose in your glass, or in my case a plastic cup (sigh), and you smell hints of toffee and caramel. The taste is similar to the smell; toffee, soft, chewy caramel and coffee. Sustenance finishes with a touch of hop bitterness.
This is a very easy to drink, sessionable offering from Short’s. Again, don’t let the label fool you. This is not going to sit in your stomach like a ton of bricks. In fact, you’ll probably want to head back to the fridge and polish off one or two more.