During the years before Prohibition effectively decommissioned small scale and regional breweries in Michigan and across the nation, nearly every Michigan town with a bakery, post office, butcher and grocer had a brewery. Since the late 1980’s, our history of once multiple small breweries has made much more than a comeback; craft brewed Michigan beer is now widely available across the state, and with breweries such asBell’s, New Holland, and Founders, Michigan brewed beer is now readily available in as many as 13 states with new markets being explored daily. Another indicator of craft beer’s exploding success, beyond the constant growth of their distribution and overall market share, is the attempts global and domestic beer producers make to imitate the persona of craft brewed beer. Imitation, however, is the ultimate flattery!
With this backdrop of brewing history in mind, let us consider the future. Many of the most successful Michigan breweries have by now celebrated at least their 10th anniversary. A class of demanding and critical people who consider themselves “good beer drinkers” has emerged, supporting an entire media front dedicated to their interests. Specialty, seasonal, tie-in, high gravity, anniversary, and batch series-limited edition-hand capped- foiled and corked -barrel and gypsum mine aged beers are spilling off the shelves of every decent beer store and brew pub south of the 45th parallel. Have we Michigan beer drinkers reached our maximum sensory capacity? Are there now actually more beers available than we could feasibly sample before the next season’s specialties hit the floors? Is there room for anymore?
Passionate brewers, like passionate song writers and authors, rarely consider if there is room for their work; they are too busy producing their art to question rather they can secure their slice of the potential market pie. Twenty-eight year old Joe Short, of the three and a half year old Short’s Brewing of Bellaire (between Charlevoix and Traverse City), is just that kind of man. Operating out of a small town full of “retired republicans” in the middle of one of the most competitive and growing craft beer states, Short has managed to brew a reputation which sets his beers on tier with the best of what Michigan has to offer.
Over the last few years, friends and colleagues of Short’s have whispered tales of daring brewing feats and inconceivable recipe formulations. Stories of a young former home brewer turned professional building a new microbrewery in Northern Michigan spread statewide soon followed by maddening tales of triple mashed, triple hopped, triple boiled delicacies and tomato and spiced infused imperials! It was about time I got up there to try some beers, so I convinced my newly wedded wife to let us make it an important stop on our honeymoon tour of the Leelanau region.
We arrived in Bellaire Friday night of Labor Day weekend and planned to spend the night in a friend and employee’s apartment above the brewery. The regulars at the bar were excited to see so many new faces; it wasn’t five minutes before a loyal local began doting on cooking uses for the smoked apple ale and a few other favorites. My quick first impression was that the care and love with which Short brews his beer is evident in both his passionate fans and patrons and even in the fastidious wood, glass and tile work in the pub. As owner and proprietor, Shorts enlisted construction craftsmen as dedicated in their professions as he, and the product is extraordinary. Mosaics on the bar and floors, stained glass windows and a handcrafted stage all enhanced the overall artisan aesthetic exuded in the place. Even the mug clubber’s beer mugs were made by hand, each spun on a potter’s wheel and glazed with the Short’s logo.
Bartender Jeremy Dicks quickly filled a sampler platter for my wife and poured me a pint of the already famous Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA, which exhibited admittedly more hops than reasonably necessary, and then a Pandemonium Pale which features the stellar Glacier hop variety and has a much higher degree of drinkability. The sampler included all Short’s beers made with fruit: the Nicie Spicy wheat ale, Soft Parade (9% fruit rye ale), Black Cherry porter, Life’s Tuition and Purple Rain. She finished each before going on to the next. Not having contacted Short about my planned visit, I didn’t expect him to take the time, especially on a holiday weekend, for me to gawk and prate. However, Short’s Brewery delicatessen manager and friend Joe Wojtowicz eagerly sent me down stairs to the brewing studio. Short makes beer on a 9 barrel system and ferments in both horizontal and conical tanks lined up within a well ventilated and ergonomic brew house. Embracing his home brewing spirit, Short experiments with ingredients and techniques more familiar to chefs than brewers; multiple smaller brewing kettles, powered mixers, kitchen knives and colanders were obviously standard equipment for Short. While I was there, Short was running some boiled and cooled wort through a giant bag of hops on its way to the fermenter (like there weren’t enough added to the boil.) We talked about his success with unorthodox recipes and ingredients, such as the horseradish and dill added to his tomato based Bloody Beer and the toasted pecans and maple syrup in the Woodmaster Imperial Brown Ale. What intrigued me most is not only is Short creating original and fearless brews, but they’re actually completely enjoyable to drink! This guy put sunflower seeds, peppercorns, and carob in his brews, not to mention enough other craziness to complete a twelve beer imperial series, had each batch hand capped, and released the whole deal accompanied with complimentary food dishes. This was only two months after the second anniversary party which he commemorated with 4 variations on the Double IPA (one of which was fermented on grapefruits inside a bourbon barrel!) Short was patient enough to tell me about these experiments even after a 16 hour day of brewing.
As I headed back to the tap room through the elevated grain room (Short uses all Wisconsin malt), bighearted gifts of limited beers in hand, Short told me he’d be up to enjoy a beer in a minute. A scant 2 hours later he finally emerged, took up a pint, and began to mingle with the people. Check out Michigan’s brewing future at www.shortsbrewing.com.
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