The label and the fact that Short’s Soft Parade is a fruit beer might have you wondering why I’m writing about it in February. Honestly it isn’t a summer beer. It isn’t a spring beer. It has no season and Soft Parade is available all year round, so clearly Short’s Brewing Company agrees with me.

The first time I tried Short’s Soft Parade I was at school in the U.P. (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.)  Friends had gone home to the northern Lower Peninsula and brought it back. I tried it. Thought it was weird. Decided I liked it. Weeks went by and out of nowhere I found myself wanting more. The next time my friends brought some back after a trip home I had more and, that time, I decided I loved it. It grew on me. Even now it seems as though I like Soft Parade more and more each time I drink it.

When first trying it, without reading the label, I couldn’t have told you exactly what the flavors were that I tasted. Now, of course, I realize it’s fruit. For anyone who has had fruit beer, that would instantly make you question the ability of my taste buds I have no doubt. The thing is, Soft Parade is unlike any other fruit type beer I have tasted. They usually smack you in the face with one specific fruit flavor. Or they are so sweet you don’t fancy drinking much, not even a single pint or bottle. Sometimes it’s a combination of too fruity and too sweet, but that isn’t the case with Soft Parade.

When you pour it Soft Parade smells crisp and bright with a beautiful red golden color, brighter and more pink than an amber. As you are pouring it the color of the beer, with the head rising, looks a bit like strawberries and water (or rum if you prefer) in a blender. The head rises to an off white eggshell. The first taste isn’t sweet or fruity. The high gravity ale hits you with rye and just a hint of fruit. I think the mix of the rye with a combination of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are what fooled me the first few times I tasted it. Some flavors dance alongside one another letting you taste one and then the other back and forth. Other flavors mix together and form something new, something harder to describe. That is what the Soft Parade combination was for me: something new.

If you take a sip and let it rest on your tongue for a bit the rye separates and comes to the forefront. The aftertaste leaves you with a bite of fruit. With 15 IBUs the hops don’t jump out at you much. It’s very drinkable which can get interesting at 8% ABV. The more you drink the more the fruit becomes a prominent taste rather than just an after bite. With each sip I could make a different argument as to which fruit stands out the strongest. Sometimes I am convinced it is the strawberry and the next sip it’s the blueberry and the raspberry. I can never decide.

Soft Parade is a good beer to drink with other beer. It’s palette cleansing without being too bright. You can drink anything around it and it stands up in flavor and interest. Drinking it in the middle of an evening of beer tasting brings out the fruit flavors a little stronger, in a good way.

(Speaking of drinking it with other beer, Short’s has an Oatmeal Stout with peanuts called Uber Goober. They blend it with the Soft Parade and call it PB&J Stout; available in November. I’m allergic to peanuts but not in an anaphylactic shock way so it won’t stop me from tasting and getting back to you. I’m extremely interested.)

Soft Parade always keeps me guessing. It is just as new and interesting and increasingly enjoyable each time I have some. The woman on the label may be in a beach chair, but I highly encourage you to drink some before beach weather. Soft Parade is appropriate on a snowy day…I promise! I’ve definitely stood around in the cold enjoying a bottle or two. It is absolutely one of my favorite beers.

As many of you know, on Saturday, February 11th we held a craft beer and chocolate pairing event at the Taza Chocolate Factory featuring their organic, fair trade chocolate being paired with craft beer from Peak Organic Brewing Company, Sixpoint, Narragansett and Slumbrew [Picture below from left: Devon from Drink Craft Beer; Zac from Narragansett; Rob from Peak Organic; Sarah from Drink Craft Beer]. The event was awesome, we had over 550 people come through the door and raised $1828 for The Greater Boston Food Bank! With that money, they can provide 4,570 meals to people in need! That can feed a family of four for a year and a half!

We'd like to thank everybody who made it out and came to the event! Thanks for donating the money and being so enjoyable to spend four hours with on Saturday [Picture Right: In the Taza Factory Store, the line for the second tasting station]!

And, especially, a huge thanks to Peak Organic, Sixpoint, Narragansett and Slumbrew for donating all the beer and to Taza Chocolate for donating all of the chocolate and letting us take over their shop for the whole day! We really couldn't have done it without each and every one of them!

Also, Boston.com's The Next Great Generation had a writer on hand to cover the event, so check out "Taza Chocolate And Drink Craft Beer Prove That Beer And Chocolate Make A Perfect Pair."

Cheers everyone, we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

For more pictures of the event, check out the album on our Facebook page!

-Jeff & Devon
Co-Founders of Drink Craft Beer