Short Story boosts your weekend prospects

As West Virginia transitions from a warm fall to cooler late-season weather, I discovered Short Story Brewing has a lineup of brews that will surely help you make the adjustment.

First, to make any weather worries dissolve, the brewery released three IPA beauties that will warm the heart.

• Audience Choice Hazy IPA
• Hibernation Therapy IPA
• Return Flight DIPA

Audience Choice IPA

I’m here to tell you that this batch of Audience Choice is a winner. Featuring Krush and Superdelic hops, the tangerine jumps out from the haze. Smacks your palate. Beautifully 

It’s one of those IPAs that lays on the tongue like a Parisian boudoir. Peel back the sheets one tropical fruity layer at a time. Savor it. Ooh. Aah. OMG. Which layer do I love the most. Each gets more intriguing. 

Be sure to let these IPAs warm up a bit in the glass so you get their full aromatic effect. So lovely.

Hibernation Therapy IPA

Dialed back on fruitiness, but boosted with flavors of tea and spice, this IPA gives you quite a different flavor profile than the typical hazy IPA. The hops—a blend of Dolicita (the newly named HBC 1019) and Superdelic— are delicious. Nicely rounded bitterness (more than the Audience Choice above, which leans more toward bold fruitiness) opens less common flavor profiles for a Hazy IPA.

The brewery says it emphasizes tropical orange, but that doesn’t hit me so much. I get the tropical but not the orange. What do you get?

Return Flight DIPA

This Double IPA is a spot on beauty. Originally introduced in 2021, I’m glad to see it return again—even better. It truly gets the most out of its featured Mandarina Bavaria, Galaxy, and Waimea hops, along with its smooth, classic pale malt backbone. It could be the best DIPA I have tasted from Short Story—and that’s saying something.

This November 2026 batch is a pineapple floating on a golden plum with a hint of Christmas tree. Passionfruit. Tangelo, Starfruit. With some added Zip. More body than a 1978 Playboy magazine. 

Luscious, mouth-coating flavor. It’s a South Seas voyage for the price of an $8 pour. So luscious—how’d they do that? The sunny surf rolls over the Great Barrier Reef bringing joy to the world.

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And then for something other than hazy IPA, there’s stout.

Broad Shoulders Dry Irish Stout

My body got a wakeup call the other day with midday 46 degree temps and I’m wanting a beer.  It’s time to move on from the summer palate—take a break from my beloved Helles Lager and Kolsch bier. A Dry Irish Stout is just the lower ABV substitute you might appreciate for these cooler days. 

Also as the days get shorter, my interest in darker beers increase. Broad Shoulders is the perfect way to wake up your winter beer taste buds—ones that have been dormant since last March. This stout is a primer to roasty flavors that will push your taste buds down the path toward the flavors of some of the big winter beers to come.

Coffee lovers take note: you’ll be asking the brewer what kind of beans were added. But no, it’s just the beautiful roasted malt. BTW, I wouldn’t mind having this beer at my Thanksgiving Day table. An exciting foil to the turkey and dressing. And excellent with pumpkin pie as well.

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Our changing season brings changing beer lineups for your enjoyment. You can find the beers described above at your favorite Short Story Brewing taproom — Rivesville, Charleston or Morgantown in West Virginia. Deep Creek Lake in Maryland.