Since they opened in 2004, Short's' goal has been to remain small and to promote beer awareness & education through a process they call, "beer liberation". By "embracing the smallness", as they say on their website, they allow themselves the flexibility to create these small batch, experiment beers without placing a tremendous stake on their success while still focusing heavily on their few mainstay brews like Huma-Lupa-Licious. For instance, at the festival this year they served an experimental IPA called, "Juicy Tree", which was brewed using Michigan spruce tips, juniper berries, and cranberries. This is certainly not something for all palates and won't make them tons of money, but Short's embraces the idea of creating something totally different that challenges beer lovers to try something new.

Jon also told us about the exciting possibility of opening a tap room right in downtown Elk Rapids, which is where their brewing facility is located. They have found a suitable building space along the water and are in talks with the city and harbor councils on how to make this idea work. As always, we enjoyed chatting (and drinking) with the people from Short's and celebrate their continued success and quirkiness!