Shipyard’s New Beer: Shorter Day IPA
The other day in the store I saw that there was a new release by Shipyard, one of my favorite breweries. Even better, it’s an IPA, which in my opinion Shipyard needs more of in their line up, and of good quality. Sure, they have Finder which is one of my favorite IPA’s of all, they have Island Time Session IPA which is alright, and Monkey Fist IPA that is pretty decent, plus the XXXX Double IPA which is good, but it’s part of the Pugsley’s Signature Series, meaning it’s fairly expensive, being mostly only available in the big pint bottles. Other IPA’s they come out with I either can never find where I am, or they’re limited release. So the possibility that they were adding a new good IPA to the menu was exciting for me.
Well, I was disappointed. Come on, Shipyard, you can do so much better. First off, I know that beer is frequently called “Liquid Bread,” but this beer tasted way too bready. It was like they took a beer, put it in a blender with some stale bread and called it good. There is too much maltiness in it for an IPA, and not much of a hop profile. All of the nuances of an IPA and of hops that are present are buried under this mess of yeasty maltiness. It reminds me of Geary’s IPA, which is also very bready and underwhelming. At least Shorter Day is missing most of the iron-ish taste that is present in the Geary’s IPA.
It really feels like it falls short on every aspect that defines an IPA and isn’t very pleasant to drink. The mouthfeel is even a bit dry. Even if it didn’t claim to be an IPA, this would not be a beer I would drink again. I could only get about a third into the bottle before I poured it down the drain. I hate to do that to a Shipyard beer, but it was out of my hands. I know Shipyard has the means to make a great IPA, it just seems they don’t want to put in the effort. I want the happy marriage of Shipyard craft brewing and intense hops. It seems the closest way to get to that besides Finder IPA is the Steady Pale Ale. But even both of those isn’t quite as hoppy as I feel they could be. There could be a great flavor explosion controlled by Shipyard more so then what they’ve made so far. Oh well, I still love Shipyard though. Hopefully they make my dreams come true some day.











