Shorts Brewing Co.

October 6, 2008 [ Updated October 19, 2008 ]
Solid good beer in a brew pub that captures the small town feel of this great little up north town. Beer is good but no real big stouts. Did not eat food selection limited.

September 18, 2008 [ Updated September 20, 2008 ]
Cozy little brewpub way up in northern Michigan. Great selection of beers on tap, sixteen total when we visited, along with a ton of other beers available in bottles (if at a really high price for the imperial series). The vegetarian food is a bit limited, with the cheese / vegetable sandwich being almost completely unhealthy (tons of gooey cheese and oily vegetables), but tasty nonetheless. Solid, excellent selection of beers, with good service and lots of great bottles. That said, those familiar with the imperial series of beer in bottles might be a touch disappointed by the selection on tap, and big beers seem to be where this brewery shines. Altogether, definitely a great stop in northern Michigan, and (let’s be honest with ourselves) there’s really nothing else around.

August 13, 2008
My hometown brewpub. I don’t get in there as much as I’d like to, but when I do it’s always a pleasure.

July 23, 2008
Some really good beers and decent food (from what I remember when I ate there 2 years ago). Really good selection of beer.

July 7, 2008 [ Updated September 23, 2008 ]
Took the short trip over to Short’s during a recent trip to mid-Michigan. The drive was more than worth it. Bellaire is a small lake town brimming with young people meandering around the small downtown. The brewery sits in the small block and was practically full when we visited. The bar is modern and comfortable, a nice mix of tunes playing in the background. Over a dozen taps offered the brewery’s beers. We tried The Magician, Huma Lupa, Bellaire Brown, Chocolate Wheat, Soft Parade and Pandemonium Pale. All were above average. We also grabbed a case full of 750ml Imperial beers before heading out the door. Great place to spend a few hours (or a long night if you have a place to stay). From the looks of it, they also have music every Thurs-Sat during the summer. We tried a little bit of food, but beer was definitely our focus. If you are thinking about making the trip, it is well worth your time.

May 30, 2008
This place fuckin’ rocks! One of my favortie brewpub stylings. Eclectic, but very tasteful decor and design. Awesome big chalkboard of huge brewpub variety. Lots of beers to ogle. The food is simple, but well done, delicious and affordable. The waitress is very nice accommodating to my beer-geek needs. I had a fantastic flight of beer. I’d love to stick around for some music and a few pints of the Huma-luma. A must stop in Northern Michigan.

May 6, 2008 [ Updated August 22, 2008 ]
Bellaire is a surprisingly small town in a recreational tourist area. The brewery itself is in a modest brick building it does not suggest anything special. However, once you get inside, you glance at their chalkboard and line up of 750’s on the bar and you know you are in a special place. The staff is friend and willing to tell you about what is happening. You can get any number of styles on tap and I admit I probably did not examine the beers as closely as I should have. The tap line up is solid and rival the best few brewpubs I have visited, both in quality and variety. An interesting and unique experience. I picked up some botteld sutff but had to restrain myself as it would be easy to spend a lot. Anyone coming anywhere near this place should make the trip. Maybe it’s not a good critique of the food, but I had some nice soup while drinking.

February 10, 2008
Very cool old brick building with an airy, open interior reminiscent of The Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo. I visited on a Saturday afternoon. The beer was excellent. They had 16 on tap the day I visited and offered 16 completely different bottled beers. Their beers are offered in different sizes, including 5 oz tasters for $1 per sample. The service was great. John, one of the guys who works there, was friendly and showed me around the brew house briefly. The food was decent and the music was even good (they played some Decemberists while I was there). The drive, although long, was scenic and well worth the effort.

February 9, 2008
Amazing place. Joe remodeled himself, it used to be an old hardware store. 16 taps of great beer, I’d move to Bellaire just to be closer to this place. The staff is amazing, they some of the friendliest people(except Kristen.) The pizza is great and all menu items looked good.

December 24, 2007
Very great! The highlight was the clientele, who where all very nice, enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable. They serve only their beers, whose quality varied from good to great, and always interesting. The food was pretty good for the brewpub style. The remote distance makes a brew only trip as stretch however, it is in the middle of a nice tourist destination. The co$t of the imperial series is intimidating, and the lack of any of these on tap makes their purchase risky... hopefully their great, because I bought a ton.