Short's Brewery of Bellaire, MI

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.

Eastside Love

Not every great beer brewed in Michigan is put into bottles; many breweries and brewpubs by definition serve their wares exclusively at their own establishment. Successfully packaging beer is not easy, and for some brewers it is simply not in their business plan. Other breweries may bottle a few select products and others still may bottle many flagship offerings but still yield on packaging experimental and small batch selections. So if you’d like to taste the widest array of Michigan’s offerings, you are going to have to drive.

While planning a brewery tour, one should drink beer, so we headed to Ken McPhail’s Hideout Brewery for the proper libations before setting out. The goal: one weekend, six breweries; good thing it was only Thursday. With ten beers on tap, the Hideout was the perfect place to practice sampling etiquette and prepare for the rigorous pace we were setting for ourselves.

Upon entering a brewery new to you, don’t be shy. Ask the bartender’s name, introduce yourself and ask them their favorite beer. Liesl was pouring the night we visited the Hideout and she was happy to pour us sample trays of each offering, definitely the best way to experience a brewery. To get acclimated, I started with the Purple Gang Pilsner. My wife primed with the Grand River Wheat. The beers were clean with a high degree of drinkability and we moved through the ten samples after which I drink a pint of Bootleg IPA. The room feels like you’re somewhere north of Gaylord, not just off Plainfield Avenue. Look for Bootleg IPA downtown also, on tap at the new Hop Cat.

The following afternoon we left for Ann Arbor. Growlers in tow, we planned first for dinner and drinks at Grizzly Peak. Only a short walk from a well lit parking ramp, Grizzly Peak is known for its food as well as its brews, offering a domestic bottle selection along with wine and liquor. The mainline beers, once brewed by Jolly Pumpkin’s Ron Jefferies, tasted clean and simple with our plate of steamed mussels. Of the specialties Draconus, a strong Belgian style, seemed a little under-attenuated and sweet, however, the two hand-pull Real Ale (unfiltered beer which is naturally carbonated and served from a cask) offerings were authentic and dutifully poured.

Conveniently enough, Arbor Brewing is only a short walk down the block. The brewers at Arbor profess to “respect styles and traditions without being a slave to them,” as exemplified by their distinct take on German and Belgian style ales. Not to be confused with the Corner Micro Brewery of Ypsilanti, Arbor beer is brewed on premise and sold exclusively at this location, so be careful to distinguish between the bottled products available statewide and the beers on tap in Ann Arbor.

Like Grizzly Peak, Arbor offered two selections on hand-pull and many others on draught. One should expect hand-pull or cask beer to be served warmer than draught with gentler carbonation. I started with the Sacred Cow IPA Real Ale which was fruity and distinguished, balancing malt with a distinct hoppy flavor and aromatic profile contrary to most bitter bottled IPAs. I ended the night with a dark and crisp Olde Number 22 German Alt as the college crowd kept pouring in. Arbor also took care to pour their offerings into proper style glassware, goblet for Belgian styles, pints for others.

The next morning we headed to Warren for Kuhnhenn and Dragonmead micro breweries. The wait staff at Kuhnhenn was kind enough to allow us to eat our Zingermann’s lunch inside after our hasty drive. A sampler was brought and we soon dove in, really enjoying the fresh hop and sweet malt of Loonie Kuhnie Pale Ale, bed sheet white and floral Michigan Wit and the pine, citrus, banana and bubblegum laced Simcoe Silly.

As we tasted, home brewers arrived to bottle beer they had previously brewed on premise with the founder and head brewer himself, Eric Kuhnhenn. I made my acquaintance and Kuhnhenn obliged me with a complete tour of brew house and cellar. Kuhnhenn talked about the growing popularity of their beers, spurred on by both creative and iconoclastic recipes and techniques, such as their renowned Raspberry Eisbock, and statewide exposure during the winter and summer beer festivals.

The brewery was very alive. Carboys filled every cranny and fermenters were sometimes stacked upon each other. Batch sizes ranged from 15 bbls to 3 gallons. Down in the basement, 55 gallon oak barrels held more than just ales; red wines pressed from imported grapes were ageing next to rows and rows of Meads, Melomels and Cysers, many of which were for sale upstairs in the cooler. Kuhnhenn tells me they are busy enough to have added a new assistant brewer, Wayne Burns formerly of Bo’s Brewery in Pontiac, who is an expert in the area of extremely high gravity ales and lagers. I’m looking forward to sampling his future contributions.
Another short drive led us to Dragonmead. Situated directly off the expressway, the medieval themed taproom offered on tap over 40 of their own beers! Jennifer, who has been with the brewery for ten years, guided us through the German, English, Belgian and Scottish style ales via flights of sampler trays. The beers were precise clones of their European counterparts and, as a whole, by far the most impressive thus far on the tour. Contrary to Kuhnhenn and many West Michigan breweries, Dragonmead’s products rely heavily upon malt and yeast profiles as opposed to hops. It’s hard to believe this highly awarded microbrewery ferments just 3 barrels at a time! A few select styles, such as Final Absolution Belgian Tripel are bottled and distributed statewide, but I couldn’t resist taking home a growler of London Brown Ale.

Now Sunday had finally arrived, but we had one more stop: Webberville and Michigan Brewing Company. The entire facility had recently moved into its new and massive home with adjoined taproom and production facility. MBC is the largest Micro Brewery in the state, I was informed, and from the looks of the cavernous warehouse, they weren’t lying. Daniel Palmer, a new employee who was staffing the in-house homebrew shop, was kind enough to take us behind the bar and into the gigantic brewery where I was confronted with many thousands of square feet of brew house, fermenters, packaging operations, distilling equipment and one fully operational bio diesel production system. Palmer told me most employees ride bikes to get around the place. The potential for growth here is astounding and I’m keeping tabs on their future plans. Most exciting about the present is their partnerships with Michigan State University in the areas of green fuel production and, unrelated, distilling. It seems that through this partnership, MSU can conduct research and explore technology otherwise inaccessible on campus.
Back in the taproom we ordered up yet another tray of samples. I sipped the Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter and Imperial Stout, the first to have been brewed with steam harnessed from the bio fuel, and also tasted the IPA. The full Celis line of beers was also available on tap and in the bottle. It was a slow drive home.

Info about all of the breweries mentioned above at: http://michiganbrewersguild.org/

Originally published February 2008 in Recoil Magazine