Name: Short’s Brewing Company

Location: Bellaire, Michigan

Type: Production brewery/brewpub

Available in DC Market: No

What you need to know: Opened in 2004 in a 100 year old hardware store in Bellaire, Michigan, the mission of Short’s Brewing has been “liberating” residents of Michigan from bad beer and introducing them to good craft beer. While the brewery had some early struggles, it has since righted the ship and become well-known nationally for a variety of beers that really push the limits of creativity. For example, Short’s has produced PB&J, S’more, and Key Lime Pie flavored beers on its seven barrel brew system. Yes, seriously. It’s a real treat to have this brewery at SAVOR because Short’s does not distribute outside of Michigan and has no intention to do so. Enjoy it while it’s here!

Sponsorship

Beer #1: Spruce India Pilsner

Notes: The Spruce India Pilsner is described as “the quintessential symbol for Joe Short’s love of hops and craft beer.” Brewed with local hand-picked blue spruce tips and a huge number of high alpha hops, this beer is supposedly surprisingly light but with a ton of sprucey (think gin) and resinous pine character from the hops. This is definitely an Imperial Pilsner, and it weighs in at 7%.

Beer Advocate: A- (84 reviews)
Rate Beer: 94 overall, 97 style

Beer #2: Anniversary Ale

Notes: A high-gravity (10%) wheat wine that incorporates a puree of blood oranges and blood orange zest as well as green peppercorns, this beer packs a ton of flavor. Aggressively dry-hopped with citrusy hops to interplay with the blood orange, this is a special, spicy beer that shows off a lot of the brewing risks and inventive combinations that has made Short’s so successful.

Beer Advocate: A- (93 reviews)
Rate Beer: 97 overall, 87 style

Summary: Get to this table. Try these beers. Unless you’re in Michigan often, you probably haven’t seen anything from Short’s before, and both of these beers are going to be tremendous.

This profile is a part of the DCBEER.COM SAVOR Brewery Profile series. For more information, follow the link to see profiles of all 2011 SAVOR participants.

Beer Review Disclaimer: The beer reviews found on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer do not represent the opinions of this site. We provide these in the hope that they will serve as a resource showing what some craft beer fans have thought of the beers. These reviews can be a helpful guideline, but are not the be-all end-all about a beer’s strengths or weaknesses.