Joe Short, founder of Short’s Brewing Company, served a great many attendees of the U.P. Fall Beer Fest Saturday. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

MARQUETTE– The 16th Annual Fall Beer Festival at Lower Harbor Park on Saturday saw thousands of attendees and a great many brewers join the festival thanks in part to the Michigan Brewers Guild. One member of over 20 years is especially proud of being a part of the guild.

“We have been a member ever since we were a brewery,” said Joe Short, founder of Short’s Brewing Company. “So around 21 years now.”

Short has been doing Guild festivals his entire career, which started when he was 21, now he is going on 26 years in the business. Working with the Guild has been very successful for Short, and he recommends it for a variety of reasons.

“Its a great way to get your product out to the market,” Short said. “Also its great for sharing stuff in the taproom that you don’t normally see on the shelves, its also great to test the market if you have something new, its fun and you get to meet a lot of people.”

Short grew up in Rapid City and graduated from Kalkaska High School. He began working in the hospitality industry at a young age as a waiter at the Dockside on Torch Lake. Short began homebrewing while attending Western Michigan University. After beginning his professional brewing career with stints at the former Traverse Brewing Company in Elk Rapids, the former Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville and the former Jackson Brewing Company (later Zig’s Kettle and Brew), Short decided to return to northern Michigan and start his own brewery. Since then, Joe has worked every position at Short’s. Behind the scenes, Short spearheads the creative process, any construction or expansion projects, marketing, special events and overall direction of the company.

Short’s has a variety of unique beer with: cucumber, blueberry, ginger, black currant, a bloody mary flavored beer, coriander, black pepper, citrus and many more flavors. With the many flavors offered, Short still finds the most important part about brewing to be giving something memorable to the customer and hopefully making a lasting impression.

“Hopefully you can make their day and give them something they will remember and seek you out for.”

Short’s Brewing Company can be found at most specialty alcohol stores.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.