Short's Brewing Company

tyee

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

A wonderful place in the upper part of lower Michigan. I made a special trip to this place because of the beerfly reviews and I am glad I did. Great, fresh food. Very friendly people that introduce themselves by name and want to know yours. Very granola feeling. The bar was all wood and brick. Their beers were good (had about 12 on tap) but the Anniversary Ale (I2PA) was very, very, very good. My girlfreind had the Soft Parade and loved it. I will be back to this place whenever I am in the area. Well worth the trip!!

05-31-2005 16:18:47 | More by tyee

mentor

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

Stopped in just before New Year (2004 into 2005). The sign for Short's is bold and well-lit, which I found gaudy in this small northern Michigan town. I stepped inside, tentatively. The inside was really amazing. A long wooden bar streched along the right-hand wall. A few couches were on the immediate left and some bar tables further in. The building is brick, like a brownstone. Through an opening, the other half of the establishment is down a few steps. In that room are some tables, another area of couches and a stage that is apparently used frequently. Hanging on the walls were an interesting display of artwork, apparently created by someone affiliated with the brewpub. The bar-tender was friendly and knowledgable about the selections. About 12 beers were on tap and the small menu offered a number of interesting food items. I split a beer sample platter with my brother and we each ordered a soup. A wide range of beer styles were represented and all were quite tasty. The soup was good, too. It had a granola atmosphere, was clean, and the service was great. All and all, this was a worthwhile destination and I recommend stopping in if you are in the area.

01-01-2005 02:56:12 | More by mentor

proc

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5

What a gem.

I stopped in at Short's (in Bellaire) on my way to our annual duck hunting camp (read: cabin on a lake) just a short 15 minute drive fruther north in Central Lake. We hit the place around 9:30 on a Tuesday night in late October. I was expecting to see 4 people, tops, in there, but was surprised to see about 30 or so.

Short's is located in an old hardware store right on M-88 in downtown Belliare, a quaint, little community south of Charlevoix near the big ski lodges of the area (Schuss Mtn., Shanty Creek, etc.). The interior is well done with lots of wood and stone work present. There are two rooms, the main room complete with bar/kitchen and the back room, complete with a stage. It happened to be open microphone night and we had quite the grin listening to "Cadillac Willie", whose real name was probably Fred Smith.

The beers were very good to outstanding. We sampled a bunch of the beers which were listed on the menu board. The Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA was fantastic. Nicie Spicie, Autumn Ale, Choco Stout, Soft Parade, Funkin' Punkin', Pale Ale, and Bellaire Brown were all excellent. We stopped back every day/night of our trip to reload growlers as well as take 'em home.

A listing of nightly events was on hand, which included bands and a movie/popcorn night.

We didn't try the food, but saw others eating it and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. It appears all the food is cooked fresh to order, including some interesting daily soup choices.

If you are ever in the northwest corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, I would highly suggest a stop here. Its not that far of a drive from Traverse City, which is a big, summer destination for many folks from Detroit and Chicago.

Shorts...well done!

11-01-2004 17:49:27 | More by proc

nortmand

Virginia

4.85/5  rDev +9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

Wow! Quite a gem nestled in Michigan's great wet North.
Very cool place in the heart of downtown Bellaire. Nice new, clean feel, with some interesting artwork on the walls and old carseats for non-bar seating.
Oh my, are their beer ever good. I tried the Chocolate Wheat, Pale Ale, Nicie Spicie and took a growler of the huma-lupa licious. All were solid and many were different. The locals are friendly and the staff are friendlier. I was quite impressed.
Selection? The best brewpub selection I have seen. (In my limited experience. But I have yet to go to Kunnhenn's or Kraftbrau in MI.)
Great deli sandwich, fit nicely with the overall atmosphere.
Michiganders, get here immediately. Everyone else, be jealous of us.

10-05-2004 01:51:11 | More by nortmand

CRJMellor

Arkansas

4.06/5  rDev -8.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Had the pleasure of stopping in on my way back from Petoskey. 3 kids (2 asleep) and wife waited in the car while I ran in for a pint of ale. 40 minutes later, 2 trips to the car and 2 pints, 4 samples and 2 growlers were secured and a very happy man was made for the haul back to K'zoo. Really cool atmosphere with old Caddy seats but on wood furniture frames. Nice bar room and pretty coll looking stage in the back. Semed a pretty young but still diverse crowd. Ended talking to a "local" retired guy and pleasant afternoon was had.
Food and menu looked great just wasn't in the cards. Definitely worth a trip back at some point.
Service was attentive, patient and generous with the samples.

07-17-2004 01:43:52 | More by CRJMellor

arizcards

Arizona

4.63/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

We found this place while vacationing via an article in a weekly newspaper circulated in the NW Michigan area.

The atmosphere is very cool. The owner and friends worked on this place for a year and a half, comverting it from a hardware store to a full service brewery and restaurant. It is set up for live entertainment and we were fortunate enough to catch a little of a jazz band that was playing. The bartender Chad was very friendly and made it a point to introduce himself and ask the name of every customer coming in. It was divided into two parts, one part for dining and conversation and the other side primarily catering to live music.

It is a very good quality brewery. A lot of work went into it and the staff was very friendly.

The service was outstanding. Chad hustled his butt off the two hours we were there.

There were about 9 beers to choose from but being the IPA junkie I am I only sampled that.

The food was near perfect. I had the apple smoked pork sandwich that was melt in your mouth.

The only disappointment was that Joe the owner did not acknowledge our presence at the bar.

06-14-2004 22:02:14 | More by arizcards

Mitchster

Michigan

4.45/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Not having ever been to Bellaire, I had no idea where this place was, but I found it within about 20 seconds because it's right off the main strip.

The atmosphere is quite cool. I went there at about 6:00 on a friday night and there were 10 other people there, with about 20 there when I left at 7:30. The building is divided into the smoking section, which has an elevated stage and room for a dance floor and tables, and then the other side (the bar side) is non-smoking. That's forward thinking in my book. On the bar side, they have perhaps room for 15-20 at the bar, and comfy couches which would seat about 50-75 more. Everything except the furniture is wood and provides a nice natural decor.

Chad, the barkeep was exceptionally nice, calling us by our first name and chatting with us for a while. Met Joe, the owner and brewer and he was intrigued by my methodological dissection of his beer:) Nice guy...shot the shit about beer and life for a while. Told him about BA.

We tried 2 sandwiches, one was greek style, and the other was italian style. The breads are awesome and quite memorable.

I had 4 beers...The Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA, which was a great representation of the style...the Nicie Spicie, which is a wit hybrid fermented with ale yeast and brewed with tons of lemon and orange rind, pepper and coriander...The chocolate wheat was wonderful, which is kinda like a porter brewed with wheat and fermented with standard ale yeast...I also had the seasonal Double Chocolate Wheat, which is the chocolate wheat brewed with a shitload of cocoa...Quite rich and wonderful, reminding me of something between a Sam Adams Chocolate Bock and a Rogue Chocolate Stout.

I believe they had 9 brews on tap at this visit. All of the beers were excellent, including the sample of "The Soft Parade" which is brewed with 200 lbs of mixed berries. They were all cleanly fermented and unfiltered.

An excellent brewery with a very cool laid-back and friendly atmosphere make this a place that I will frequent again and would highly recommend to my friends.

06-05-2004 14:29:26 | More by Mitchster