Hey Short’s fans! We have a few announcements we’d like to make, with more information to come soon. The 2011 Short’s to Short’s paddle will take place on Friday, April 29th. Be sure to schedule that day off work and join us for one of our favorite events of the year. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Short’s to Short’s paddle is an event that allows participants to paddle through the rivers and lakes that connect our Bellaire Pub to our Elk Rapids production facility. The total 27 mile trip includes three lakes interconnected by three different rivers, all of which are beautiful and challenging in their own ways. For participants interested in a less challenging day on the water, we offer several drop out points. We hope to see all of you there! Also, plan to stay for the weekend because we will be celebrating our 7th anniversary at our Pub on Saturday April 30th.
On Saturday, February 5th, Short’s Brewing Company’s Team Huma will compete in the White Pine Stampede cross country ski race. To prepare, the team did some training on the local trails at Shanty Creek Resort this past weekend. Please watch our “Movie Trailer” to see our team members demonstrating their cross country skiing skills! It’s pretty hilarious!
Our winter seasonal Good Humans will only be available in stores for one more month. After February we won’t see this little beauty again until next December. Enjoy the video of one of the last bottling runs for this epic dry hopped double brown ale, and see if the subliminal imagery makes you thirsty enough to run out and grab a six pack before they’re all gone.
Back in 2004 when Joe Short opened Short’s Brewing Company in the old Bellaire Hardware Store using a 7 barrel (bbl) brewing system, he believed that unrelenting standards of excellence would allow him to one day carry his vision to a much larger audience. Joe’s original business plans from 2002/2003 contain several statements that have held true to Short’s through the years, like: “be outrageous, dignified and delicious.” Joe understood that if these principles were maintained, we would draw people who appreciate quality.
As Short’s has grown, we have maintained our core belief in the “Power of the Smallness” — that the art of making truly world class craft beer can be best achieved on a small scale at the local level. At the same time, when you make truly exceptional beer, people will want it! Lots of it! So, in 2009, we began operating a production-only facility in Elk Rapids to meet the dual objectives of increasing production while retaining our exacting standards and “Power of the Smallness” mantra. Over the past two years, we have designed and developed our Elk Rapids production facility to accommodate these objectives. While our Pub in Bellaire continues to brew its own beer, the Elk Rapids facility brews beer for both bottling and keg distribution to the rest of the state.
Back in October, we received 4 new 90 bbl tanks designed specifically for Short’s and built by Sprinkman Mfg. in Wisconsin. These new tanks hold 3 batches at once and are classified as unitanks, which means that they enable us to ferment, carbonate, and package beer from the same tank. As awesome as these tanks are, getting them into our plant presented a logistical challenge. Since they didn’t fit through the door, we had to take the roof off the building and “drop” them in. The 90bbls tanks are now at full production capacity.
We are truly humbled by the support of our loyal friends, family, and all the loyal Short’s fans that have made our success possible. So, it is to you that we dedicate our video tribute to our new 90 bbl tanks. Thank you!
Our philosophy here at Short’s is to embrace “the power of smallness” to bring you the highest quality craft beer you can get your hands on. To that end, we work overtime to keep our operation small and awesome, even as our demand increases. There are a lot of moving parts to operating Short’s, and keeping it all running smoothly is a burly task sometimes. To keep our creative juices flowing, we embrace our Northern Michigan heritage. One of the key ways we do that, is our health and wellness program.
On February 5th, many of our employees and friends will be skiing in the White Pine Stampede cross country ski race (see update, below), which Short’s is sponsoring. To get ready for the race, Joe Short has been leading training operations at Camp Huma. Here, we have a 5k course with lots of challenging features, all of which are named after Wilco songs (one of our favorite bands). So, for instance, here is a picture of Joe expertly navigating Handshake Drugs, a long descent that suddenly jogs left, then right.
The course ends with Impossible Germany, a long, steep descent that suddenly arrives at a 90 degree turn and nowhere to go. Ah, but the ride down is like a long, sweet Nels Cline guitar solo.
Those of us here at Short’s know that Joe is up to some pretty amazing things in the Brewery (stay tuned), but it is nice for us to see the kinds of things he can achieve when he turns his focus and determination on other things. For example, today Joe debuted a new “ski jump” style of cross country skiing that involves self-propulsion through sheer mindpower, though some of us theorize it may also involve flatulence.
Stay tuned for more “health and wellness” updates as we prepare for our 2011 events, including the Short’s to Short’s Paddle, Iceman, and more.
5th Annual ISLAND Benefit Concert and Silent Auction Featuring: Airborne or Aquatic, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Josh Davis, Gifts or Creatures, Mike Shimmin, & Special Guests. Silent auction of…
Short’s is sponsoring the White Pine Stampede which will take place on Saturday, February 5th, 2011. The White Pine is a cross-country ski race that begins at Mancelona High School and ends at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, just minutes from Short’s. Events include 10k, 20k, and 40k distances in both classic and freestyle categories. This is an exciting event with a beautiful course that winds through public and private land.
Short’s Brewing Company’s “staff and friends team” — known as Team Huma — will again compete this year. Joe Short himself will compete in the longest event — the 40k. Team Huma has once again purchased its gear through No Boundaries in Boyne City. Whether you are a skier or simply a fan of Short’s, please come out to support the White Pine and Team Huma. As a special reward, racers will be able to get a pint of beer for $1.50 at Short’s following the race. To get the $1.50 pint, racers will have to show their race bib and get it stamped.
Released for the first time since 2007 the beloved Woodmaster, an Imperial Brown Ale made w/ toasted pecans and Northern Michigan maple syrup, returns to the Short’s brewing schedule. First brewed near the end of 2006, this beer was originally part of our 13 beer Imperial Beer Series. Hand filled, capped, and labeled the original was only available for sale at our Bellaire pub in 750ml bottles. This time we were aiming to make it more readily available for Short’s fans located throughout the state, and decided on doing a special bottle release in 12oz six packs. However, distribution will be extremely limited, so seek out your specialty bottle shops within the next two weeks, and get ready to covet your share of this very tasty brew. Can’t wait two weeks? Then visit our brew pub in Bellaire, where a select number of Woodmaster six packs are already available!’
Cheers!
SBC Crew
Woodmaster A high gravity American brown ale fermented with Northern Michigan maple syrup and toasted pecans. This dark brown, full bodied ale is rich with sweet malt and syrup flavors which are complimented by the presence of hop aromas and a faint nuttiness. The palate delights with toasted qualities of caramelized malt and an earthy pecan laced finish.
Sometimes we move so quickly from one project to the next, that we forget to keep everyone in the loop. Bellaire wasn’t the only Short’s facility to receive some fancy new upgrades. Here’s a message from Joe, along with some cool pics, about the amazing new fermenters we installed in Elk Rapids almost two months ago! The images are of the SBC crew lowering tanks into the ER facility through a makeshift hole they created in the roof. This was also the day we saw some of the first snow flurries of the year.
Enjoy,
SBC Crew
Today at 211 Industrial Park Drive, Elk Rapids Michigan, the maintenance team and the brewing staff in ER ripped a hole in the roof and deployed 4 brand new, 100 barrel tanks! This puts us at roughly double fermentation capacity. Very cool stuff. I have to say it went very smooth. The roof seemed to be the most troublesome and even at that was still not too much of a hassle. The crane from Elmer’s made lifting and moving the tanks down into the brewery a cinch.
These tanks were designed by the Short’s Brewing staff to fit inside our building, cater to our brewing style, hold as much beer as possible while keeping safety in mind. The bottom of the cone is one of two points of access making it easy for personnel to clean and inspect the tank from ground level. The other access point is the top man way, which was designed to accommodate a lot of hops or whatever else we like to put in our beer. These tanks will hold 3 batches at once. Classified as “unitanks” we will be able to ferment beer, carbonate beer and package beer from the same tank. This makes our operation more efficient, with less beer to transfer or additional tanks to clean and uses less water and energy.
Our new babies were made by Sprinkman Mfg. out of Wisconsin, and we’re proud to have American made vessels in our brewery. It’s likely we’ll have beer in these tanks within two weeks.
Hey Short’s fans! We have a few announcements we’d like to make, with more information to come soon. The 2011 Short’s to Short’s paddle will take place on Friday, April 29th. Be sure to schedule that day off work and join us for one of our favorite events of the year. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Short’s to Short’s paddle is an event that allows participants to paddle through the rivers and lakes that connect our Bellaire Pub to our Elk Rapids production facility. The total 27 mile trip includes three lakes interconnected by three different rivers, all of which are beautiful and challenging in their own ways. For participants interested in a less challenging day on the water, we offer several drop out points. We hope to see all of you there! Also, plan to stay for the weekend because we will be celebrating our 7th anniversary at our Pub on Saturday April 30th.
