Short’s Brewing Co. in Bellaire, Mich., left the 2014 Great American Beer Festival with a gold medal in the Experimental Beer category for their Key Lime Pie fruit beer. This special beer is made with fresh limes, milk sugar, graham cracker and marshmallow fluff. Many of Short’s beers are sought after, and they continue to have visitors from across the country visit the brewery—but what is it like to run this type of experimental brewery?
In their blog “Short’s Spotlight: A Day In the Life of Our Brewery”, they explain the business behind their brewery.
This detailed blog post walks you though the happenings of July 25, 2014, an extremely busy day at Short’s Brewing Co. Here are some highlights:
- The brewpub served 452 sandwiches, 655 pizzas, and 1,159 pints of beer.
- Brewed a batch of Bloody Beer: beer fermented with Roma tomatoes, and spiced with dill, horseradish, peppercorns and celery seed.
- The team removed three older brite tanks which were later replaced with five brand new Uni-Tanks.
- The Short’s team helped move their next door neighbor, the Bellaire Pharmacy, into a building across the street and began the process of expanding their brewpub in the old space.
- A new hot water tank was installed at the production facility that was under construction in nearby Elk Rapids. The install required part of the roof to be removed so the tank could be placed by a crane!
All of this was in addition to the regularly scheduled programming of brewing six batches of beer and packaging 1,767 cases and 108 kegs of Pandemonium Pale Ale.
This might not be a typical day in the life of every brewer, but it is a great example of how hard America’s small and independent craft brewers work to get beer to our tables. As a consumer, I go to the store, buy a beer and enjoy it. I don’t usually sit down to contemplate just how much hard work and passion went into the beer I love. Take a moment to appreciate everything that went into the beer you are about to drink, including all the work done by the brewery staff to get you your beer. Hug a brewer—they deserve it.
Read more about being apart of a brewpub in the blog post: “Short’s Spotlight: A Day In the Life of Our Brewery”
Atalie Rhodes is the current Craft Beer Program intern at the Brewers Association. Her love of craft beer lead her to becoming a trainer at Yard House Restaurants, but she is constantly seeking more beer knowledge. If she is not at a brewery asking a plethora of questions about their beer, she is probably out fishing, playing volleyball or reading one of her favorite books.
CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.
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