Short's Cast

Space, tasty nuggets of alien technology, sweet refurbished snow mobiles, and the meaning of life… all things you should be thinking about while you enjoy your Space Rock Pale Ale over the holidays. Damn it’s a good beer and we’re bringing in Head Brewer Tony Hansen, CEO Joe Short, and Chief Scientist and Skeptic of Aliens Sam DeCamp to discuss the mighty Space Rock. Bridgett and Woj captain the hosting chairs while leading us in a conversation that takes us to galaxies far far away. Our music in this episode is from The Go Rounds, who will be rocking out at our Ugly Sweater Party, and are a staple here at Short’s. They consistently release great EP albums and their music is phenomenal. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you Short’s Fans and Short’s Cast listeners. We hope you enjoy a Juicy Tree over the holidays which is what we’ll be doing while cleaning our microphones in preparation for 2016. We’ve got a lot of great podcasts coming your way. So keep your Ear Balls fresh bcuzaliens exist! CHEERS

We're excited to bring you another installment of our Live Music Series from Short's and it's with Cadillac native and New Orleans 2015 Blues Artist of the Year, Luke Winslow-King. Luke sits down with our Pub Manager and Talent Buyer, Rob Lewis, to talk about his start with Earthwork Music, what it was like to play in the pub back in the late 2000's with Hi-Lo, and his many memories performing music in Michigan.  Luke is currently on tour and is recording a new album but his recent albums "The Coming Tide" and "Everlasting Arms" are timeless and available at www.Lukewinslowking.com. Luke talks about his travels, finding a home in New Orleans, and describes the direction he is taking with his new album. It's a beautiful and honest interview with one of Michigan's finest songwriters.  You'll hear Luke's song "I'm Tired" and a song that will be featured on Luke's new album. We're grateful for permission to use his songs in this podcast. This weeks beer release read by "The Wizard," Steve Ison is The Liberator. A

Short's cast is on the road again, highlighting the vendors that have supported our craft beer from the get go. This week we are down in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan and Zingerman's Creamery. One of the Zingerman's community of businesses they affectionately refer to as "Z Com." We were joined by Jack Schleick and Tessie Ives Wilson from Zingerman's, and they talk with Bridgett and Woj about Zingerman's background, their amazing deli, and creamery. The Short's Cast crew even sampled some cheeses crafted with the Short's brews Space Rock and Bellaire Brown. It was an educational experience at one of Michigan's most successful small businesses. We would like to thank Jack and Tess for inviting us to Zingerman's and for the delicious cheeses we were lucky to try. In the episode Tess covers a list of 7 Classical Styles of Cheese. Reference the list below for cheese names. The 7 Classical Styles of Cheese Lactic freshCity Goat - Zingerman’s Creamery Semi-Lactic “Soft-ripened”Moses Sleeper - Jasper

It's the holiday season which means it's the perfect opportunity to celebrate and COLLABORATE! Short's is excited to announce a collaboration craft beer with Funky Buddha Brewing in Boca Raton, Florida.  In our first segment Bridgett and Woj sit down with the owners of Funky Buddha, brothers Ryan and KC Sentz to discuss the craft brewery culture in Florida as well as how they got their start in brewing.  In our second segment head brewer Tony Hansen and pub brewery Luke Whitley join in on the conversation and talk in depth about the collaboration beer that is currently being brewed. It's a great conversation about between two breweries who are very loyal to their respective states and ambassadors for their craft beer communities.  Our music in this episode is performed by the jazzy singer-songwriters Luke Winslow-King who will be performing at the pub on Saturday, December 5th starting at 8pm. You'll hear his song "You Don't Know Better Than Me" off of his album "The Coming Tide".  Make sure you keep an eye o

Happy Thanksgiving to all from the Short's and Short's Cast team! We're excited to bring you a unique episode this week, focusing on a thankful community of craft beer. First we sit down with our CEO, Joe Short, who reflects on his recent trip to Lansing for the first leg of the Michigan Only Tour. Joe also expresses his thanks to his family and the Short's family.  The Cookies just released their debut album "Welcome to the Party." You'll hear two songs "Love is Divine" and "Get It Together" on this episode of Short's Cast. They will be performing at this year's Brewski Bash where Short's will be tapping 5 stouts, and celebrating all day long. You can find more info about The Cookies at TheCookiesBand.com.  Next, Woj and Mike had the opportunity to roam the Michigan Brewers Guild Detroit Fall Beer Festival where they ran into some good humans who work in the Michigan craft beer community.  You'll hear from:  Conrad Conner, Head Brewer at Redwood Brewing Company Chris Reester, Brewer at Greenbush Brewery Dano

We're on a road trip! And this time we're headed to Clarkston, MI, home of the Union Woodshop, and The Clarkston Union. First, we are grateful to the Union Woodshop staff for the delicious food we were able to inhale before our show. The Clarkston Union is well known for its world famous mac and Cheese, and the hype is real people, but it's also known by Michigan craft beer enthusiasts as one of the best craft beer venues in the mid-west.  Woj, Bridget, and our Southeast Beer Liberator, Brian Talpos, sit down with the Union Joints Beer Czar, Mike Yahner and Union Joints Beer Comrade, Scott Laufer to talk about the history of the Clarkston Union, which led to the opening of the Union Woodshop just down the street. They also own other great restaurants like the Vinsetta Garage in Berkley. You can find more information about all of their restaurants at www.unionjoints.com. The music in this episode was kindly provided by The Pistil Whips out of Boyne City, MI. They are frequent performers at Short's and they jus

Woj and Bridgett are back along with some voices we haven't heard in a while on this week's episode of Short's Cast. So when Pauline Knighton, Brian Talpos, Scott Newman Bale, and our CEO, Joe Short stop by the show it's bound to be a good time with great stories. On this episode we're talking all about our motto "Michigan Only, Michigan Forever." What does it mean? Who came up with this contrarian philosophy? And how many bets have been placed banking on Short's leaving the state of Michigan? (Well that's not going to happen people, so if you're betting on Short's staying in the Great Lake state you got a good head on those shoulders).  First, Beer Liberators Pauline Knighton and Brian Talpos discuss plans to bring Joe Short on tour and the logistics that go into making that happen. The first tour will be in our capital city of Lansing, East Lansing (home of the Spartans), and Okemos. They'll break down the 3 day tour, so if you want to attend you should probably listen and take notes.  In our second segment

We've got ourselves quite a podcast for you craft beer enthusiasts tuning in. We we're grateful to have Alec Mull of Founders Brewing Company in Bellaire to record a roundtable discussion with Bridgett, Woj, and Tyler Glaze. We learn a lot about Alec's background and about how he worked his way up through the Michigan craft beer industry.  Alec is the Vice President of Brewery Operations at Founders and has been mentored by Scott Graham and Ron Jefferies. Alec also worked at Bell's under Larry Bell beginning in 1999. In 2004 Alec started his own business installing draft systems and cleaning draft lines which he owned until 2012. Alec begin working for Founders in 2006 while still running his draft business in Michigan.   Our music today was kindly provided by our friend Seth Bernard who also wrote the intro and outro music for the show. You'll hear his song "We're Humans" which was the inspiration behind the double brown ale, "Good Humans." Seth joins the show to give us some info on the label art in our bee

We're celebrating all things chocolate today and dedicating this show to some local businesses that marry chocolate with Short's Beer. Our first stop is in Empire at Grocer's Daughter Chocolate where we'll be talking with new owner D.C. Hayden who recently purchased the business with his wife Jody Dotson. D.C. talks about the history of the business and a new Bellaire Brown Chocolate that we were lucky enough to taste.  Next we work our way on over to Grand Traverse Resort and Spa to meet Stephanie Elwell, Head Pastry Chef for all events and restaurants at Grand Traverse Resort. She talks about her role overseeing all things desert as well as creating an IPA Tiramisu which is absolutely delicious.  Our music today was kindly provided by Joe Hertler and The Rainbow Seekers who will be performing at the pub on Halloween night as part of Short's Annual Halloween Party. They'll be taking the stage around 9:00 pm. On this episode of Short's Cast you'll hear their song "Future Talk." Our Beer Release this week come

We're all in on the state of Michigan and lucky for us, over the past few years local farms have been experimenting with growing craft beer ingredients like barley and hops. In fact, just up the street in East Jordan, Valley View Farms has started to grow barley and is having it processed by our friends at Pilot Malt House. This years crop turned out to be some of the best barley Erik May of Pilot Malt House has ever seen in the state of Michigan.  We are joined by John, Jim, and Andrew Boyer from Valley View Farms who just spent the day brewing with Short's Head Brewer, Tony Hansen. All four join Bridgett and Woj to discuss how the Short's and Valley View relationship began, and the decision John Boyer and his family made to start growing barley in Northern Michigan.  The music you'll hear in this podcast is kindly provided by Bigfoot Buffalo who is performing at the pub in Bellaire on October 30th at 8:30 pm. You'll hear the song "I Don't Feel Nothin" off of their self titled album, Bigfoot Buffalo. Our Bee

Want to hear an interview in a hot air balloon? We know what you're thinking, podcasts and hot air balloons don't seem like the ideal recording situation. Well thanks to Gordy Schafer, owner of the Dockside on Torch Lake we made it happen.  Joe Short's first job in the restaurant industry was working for Gordy at the Dockside which is an iconic restaurant on beautiful Torch Lake. Matt Drake, Joe Short, and Jesse Den Herder join Gordy on a hot air balloon trip from The Dockside, over Torch Lake and they land in between Alden and Rapid City.  Just a heads up, you will hear the burner consistently throughout this episode, but you'll also hear stories from Gordy about Joe's first job as a busboy and working his way up to serving. We're pretty sure this is the first podcast recorded in a hot air balloon and Short's Cast is excited to give you something unique for your ear balls.     

  Bridgett says at the beginning of this show, "We've got an epic podcast for you" and boy is she correct! This week, we bring in members of the Short's Great American Beer Festival (GABF) crew who had the opportunity to go out to Denver, Colorado and share Short's beer with the world at GABF in September. Short's brought home a Silver Medal in the Experimental Beer category for "Melt My Brain," a gin and tonic inspired beer. Bridgett and Woj sit down with some veteran GABF goers as well as some first timers. Pub Manager, Rob Lewis, Production Brewer, Sean Niemisto, and Art Director, Jesse Den Herder attended the festival for the first time, working alongside Kendall Fifield from Short's Festivals and Events department, "The Magician" Scott Newman-Bale, CEO Joe Short, and others. They all get a chance to talk about the overall feel of the event, winning the silver medal, and the they time spent outside of GABF touring the beautiful state of Colorado. The music you'll hear on this episode of Short's Cast was p

Well this is about as good as it gets for September in Michigan. We've had beautiful weather and it inspired us to take a road trip out to the Leelanau Peninsula to talk with Larry Mawby and Mike Laing from L.Mawby, M. Lawrence, and Big Little. Mawby is an extremely beautiful vineyard that specializes in sparking wines and is a must stop for all wine tours rolling around the Leelanau Peninsula.  Bridgett and Woj get a history lesson from Larry about the birth of the wine industry in Northern Michigan and everything from the rise of the vineyard to self-distribution. Larry heads up the bottle fermented wine, and Mike Lang oversees all operations involving the tank fermented wines. Mike took the opportunity to learn as much as possible from Larry and worked his way up through the company. He now owns Big Little wines with his brother, Peter, which is located on the Mawby vineyard.  The music featured on this episode of Short's Cast was kindly provided by Black Jake and the Carnies who will be performing at the

Summer is the busiest time of year for all who work at the pub in downtown Bellaire, and keeping 20 beers and ciders on tap at all times is a challenge. On this episode of Short's Cast, Woj and Bridgett sit down with Head Pub Brewer, Ryan Hale and Pub Brewers,  Luke Whitley and Mike Baltzell to talk about the challenges the Bellaire brewers face during the summer season.  For someone like Mike Baltzell, who recently became a brewer, it's about learning on the fly while Luke Whitley is now a seasoned veteran. Ryan has helped both Luke, Mike, and other Short's family members see their very own brews come to life. He talks about this and about how the pub brewers have added crafting Starcut Ciders to their daily routines. At the end of the season, it is easy to see that it was an extremely successful summer at the pub. High fives go out to these three brewers and the rest of the pub staff for keeping the taps flowing all season long.  Short's has got a TON of events taking place this week throughout the state. W

It's our annual field trip where we head out to Empire Hops Farm in beautiful Empire, Michigan. We talk with the farm manager Alex Weisen who oversees all that goes on at Empire Hops Farm and much more. Alex gives us a history of the farm and why it decided to start growing hops about eight years ago, the history of hops in Michigan, and the future of the industry here in the mid-west.  Our music in this episode is from the band "The Afterwhile." You'll hear their song "I J" from their album "These Days." The Afterwhile will be performing on Friday, September 18th at 8:30pm.  Our featured beer release this week is ERMAGERDNESS which was dreamed up by one of our Elk Rapids Production Brewers, Al Russell, who is also featured on the label artwork.  There's a lot of craft beer events going on throughout the state of Michigan this month and we appreciate you tuning in and keeping up to date with Short's by listening to Short's Cast. If you have any questions or comments you can always email us at shortscast@short

As you may already know, we're big fans of Earthwork Music here at Short's. And this week, we're honored to have Seth Bernard (founder of Earthwork Music) join us on Short's Cast to talk about the upcoming Harvest Gathering, taking place September 18th - September, 20th, 2015. Short's is a proud supporter of this event and we're happy to have Seth explain to us how Earthwork Music was formed, his relationship with Joe Short, and about the jingle he wrote for Short's Cast.  In the second segment this week's episode, we welcome two members of Seth's crew to join the show and talk about the execution of Harvest Gathering.  Brett (who heads up set-up and tear down) and Derek (site coordinator and the man with the answers to all your event day questions) give us the details of the upcoming festival.  We highly recommend you attend this event; it's full of amazing live music, great food, community, as well as workshops for those who want to learn about songwriting, performing, and much more. It is a truly unique mu

If you've tried Bourbon Evil Urges or Bourbon Magician, then you know that Short's has rocked the barrels a few times, but it's time to step it up a bit. On this episode of Short's Cast we bring in Short's Head Brewer, Tony Hansen, to talk about the Short's barrel aging program and its exciting growth. Just like Starcut Ciders, this is something Tony has been working on for a long time and his patience is starting to pay off.  The addition of exciting new programs like this mean new opportunities for Short's crew members to get involved in specific niches of the industry. Woj and Bridgett sit down with Mike McQuiston who just recently became a brewer at Short's and works with the barrel aging program. He gives us some great info on where we're headed with barrel aging beers and even lets us in on some of the ideas that are being tossed around at the Production Facility.  The music you'll hear on this episode comes from the band Nina and The Buffalo Riders out of Detroit, MI. You'll hear their songs "Buffalo B

Short's Fest has come and gone but the audio lives on! This podcast was recorded during Short's Fest on Saturday August 8th, 2015. Bridgett Beckwith hosts the show and is joined by Short's Cast Producer, Mike Moran, who fills in for Jon "The Woj" Wojtowicz (who was operating the ever popular Woj's Weiners cart during the festival).  If it wasn't for Michigan media outlets, the craft beer industry wouldn't be what it is today. We highlight some Michigan journalists, marketing mavens, and photographers in this episode of Short's Cast and there were many in attendance.   Our interview order looks like this.. Coryn Briggs... from Traverse City Tourism Dani Knoph... Marketing Cooridinator for MyNorth.com Michael Murphy IV... Short's Brewing Photographer Short's Brewing Beer and Cider Events Musical interlude: "Two Pears Dancing" by the Moxie Strings The Moxie Strings... First band to play at Short's Fest Lindsey Israel... Feature Writer for The Awesome Mitten Emily Hengstebeck... Writer for Mitten Brew Beth Millig

We're back at the roundtable and dedicating another episode of Short's Cast to highlighting a longtime Short's account. Today, Ted Vadella, co-owner of Shakespeare's Pub in Kalamazoo joins us via Skype. Ted gives us some insight on a young Short's Brewing Company making its way up the ranks of the craft beer scene in Michigan. It's an honest and at times, brutal conversaton. Ted even let us know which beers he does not care for.  The music in this episode is from one of Joe's favorite bands, Breathe Owl Breathe. You can hear more from and about Breathe Owl Breathe on their very own episode of Short's Cast! You'll hear their songs "Swimming" and "Black Bear." See them live at the pub on August 15th at 9pm. This week's beer release is Short's popular summertime Mexican lager, Cerveza De Julie." Cerveza is now available in six packs all across the state that has a blue flag with a couple of deer on it...cheers. 

Steve Ison aka The Wizard, aka Uncle Steve, aka Stevo, is Shorts Brewing Company's longest standing employee other than Mr. Joe Short himself. Steve's been there from the beginning and he's got quite a list of stories to tell. Bridgett and Woj sit down with Steve and give him the opportunity to share some of those stories with you.  The music you'll hear throughout this podcast is from Rebecca Rego out of Wisconsin, she's got a great album out with her band Rego and the Trainmen. You'll hear her songs "John Wayne" and "Bury My Body." She'll be performing at the pub solo on August 8th at 8:30 pm. Over in Elk Rapids on August 8th, Short's Fest will be taking place from 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm and Short's Cast will be on site recording in the Water Ski Shack, we hope you have a chance to stop by and say hello and leave us a comment or a question for Short's Brewing Company.  Tyler Glaze gets weird again on this week's Beer Feature, Space Rock. This week we introduce the new and improved gluten reduced Space Rock with