Hoppy Friday! Pure Genius.

Beer has been around for a while (ca. 9500 BC).  Beer genius is a slightly newer phenomenon (ca. 2004).

From these tanks, all good beer comes.

You wouldn't think twice looking at Joseph R. ("Joe") Short.  At first glance, one might think he's a hipster skirting the paradigm of conventional wisdom in Northern Michigan.  He rocks some pretty outstanding facial hair, but is otherwise physically unremarkable.  While his initial appearance may seem quotidian, this guy is to beer what Che Guevara was to post-colonial Latin America.  Amongst his brewery team, genius is a term utilized frequently but not used lightly to describe the paternalis of Short's Brewing. 

Salty Dog and I had the distinct privilege of visiting Short's Brewing Company's brewing and distribution facility in Elk Rapids, Michigan.  While Short's was started "By People Who Care in Bellaire, MI", the discerning palates of Michiganders demanded more than the small facility in Bellaire could provide.  Ergo, the streamlined operation of Short's Brewing Company in Elk Rapids, MI was born.  Despite this growing operation, Short's remains committed to creating a Michigan product.  Short's Beer cannot be found outside of Michigan and the brain/beer trust at Short's doesn't see fit to change that any time soon.

Sweet, hallowed hall of beer, how I would love to bask in your warm, fermented glow on a regular basis.   The fermentation vessels and conditioning tanks at Short's Elk Rapids facility.  Note the catwalks above; creating easier access for late fermentation additives like dry and wet hopping.

If you are oblivious to Short's Brewing, you simply have no concept of how far craft brewing has come in the past 20 years.  While many brewers boast superb craft brews in the traditional styles of English Style Ales, Lagers, Pilsners, IPAs, Pale Ales, Porters and Stouts; Short's has taken everything light years beyond conventional wisdom.  While Short's creates many of the traditional brew styles favored by connoisseurs , Short's stands alone in its ability to create never-before-tasted brew creations.

The lauter tun and brew kettle at Short's.  Got Wort?

Sine qua non.  No malt, no beer.  Raw product in the mill room at Short's.

Take, for example, Short's Bloody Beer.  This specialty beer is fermented with roma tomatoes and spiced with tellicherry peppercorns, celery seed, fresh horseradish and dill.  Who the hell thinks of this stuff?  Joe Short & Co., that's who.  And it tastes pretty good!

In addition to this lycopene laden brew, Short's crafts beer fermented with berries (Soft Parade) or peaches (Peaches 'n Creme) or locally grown fresh hops (Kind Ale).  The good folks at Woodford Reserve also send Short's their used oak barrels to cask condition their bourbon flavored ales.

Craft beer and craft bourbon: a match made in heaven or hell?  Discuss.

Cold storage, including some tasty cerveza being aged in
Woodford casks.

You can't taste any Short's Brew at the Elk Rapids facility.  Not yet, at least.  Plans exist for Short's to create a tasting room of sorts.  No firm date on when it will open, but when it does it'll be open 3 seasons of the year.  Winter will miss out on the bier garten fun.  Most intriguing about this new location, the staff at Short's bought their founder a mini brew system to allow him to experiment however he sees fit.  They plan on having a micro-batch creation each week based upon the whim and fancy of Joe Short.  Now, that sounds exciting.

The brewpub in Bellaire always has ~20 beers on tap.  All of the beers on tap in the Bellaire facility have been brewed within 100 ft. of where you're drinking them.  While the beer is always phenomenal, the food is a treat easily overlooked.

The last time we journeyed to the Bellaire pub, my brother's wife was upset with me.  She wasn't upset with the time needed to get to Bellaire from Petoskey (45 min).  She wasn't upset with the company's take on kids in the bar (Encouraged, so long as accompanied by an adult and not in the pub at night.)  She was upset because she mistakenly believed that the only menu items were those listed on the chalkboard next to the registers.  Despite the fact that her legal genius husband picked up the menu and pondered its meaning, they believed Short's only offered 3 menu items and a pizza.  Seriously?!?!  I mean, seriously?!?!!  You were holding the menu, bro!  (On our most recent trip, the helpful young woman behind the counter reminded us the full menu was in the record jacket looking things in front of the register.)

Why is she with me, you ask.   Because: I feed her delicious, high gravity craft beer fermented with peaches

I'm not really a lawyer, I just play one on this blog.

Had my dear brother opened the menu he was holding, he would have discovered a plethora of tasty treats.  Curiously, all of the menu items are named after songs by the band Ween.  Puerto Rican Power is a perennial favorite for obvious reasons.  Sketches of Winkle and Flutes of Chi also generate greedy smacking of lips.  Despite these staple item's availability, failure to peruse the constantly changing daily offering could result in remorseful second guessing of one's culinary choice.

YOU MUST TRY THE MAC AND CHEESE!!!!!!  Every day, the gastronomic wizards at Short's create a new variety of mac n' cheese.  We've had blue cheese and pancetta, a gorgonzola variety and something involving gouda.  This most recent trip, however, provided the best mac 'n cheese ever created....EVER!!!!  Bacon Cheeseburger Mac 'n Cheese.  Genius!  Just eat it.  You'll be so happy you did... unless you're on a diet.  Then, you'll kick yourself for eating it until you blissfully drift into contentedness induced by the sheer ecstasy of what you just ate.

Bacon Cheeseburger Mac 'n Cheese.  Eat it.  You can thank us later.

Short's is not, however, without controversy.  Some of their tag lines and beer names have not been universally embraced.  My personal favorite is the old tag line of Soft Parade, "Ye Olde Leg Spreader."  Soft Parade is a rye ale, flavored with an assortment of berries.  A certain beer drinking demographic liked it, hence the name.  A certain other demographic didn't like the name, hence the change.

Another notable instance of political correctness in the craft beer world is Short's ControversiALE.  My mom had grabbed us some tickets to the Robert Emmet Society event at the City Park Grill in Petoskey, Michigan this evening.  The county within which Petoskey sits is named after Emmet. Emmet was an Irish rebel who was hung, drawn, quartered and beheaded by the British in the early 1800's for asserting the then-controversial point that Ireland should be a sovereign; separate and distinct from Great Britain.  Suffice it to say, the Brits didn't much care for his position.  He is celebrated because, honestly, who doesn't like an Irish rebel. The money raised at the event goes to send a student to study in Ireland for the semester.  Now, please enjoy some bagpipes.

Anyway, while at the City Park Grill I noticed a Short's beer that I'd never seen before; Hangin' Frank Pale Ale.  Curious, I ordered one.  The grapefruit nose was familiar to me.  I felt that I'd sampled this libation on prior occasions, but I'd certainly never before heard of Hangin' Frank Pale Ale.  Due to the dedicated beer liberation efforts of Short's team, our waitress informed me that Hangin' Frank Pale Ale is otherwise referred to as ControversiALE.

The only place in America you can find Hangin' Frank Pale Ale.  City Park Grill.  Petoskey, MI

Papa drank at the City Park Grill (formerly The Annex).  You should too.  A spot at the bar literally has his name on it.

According to our server, only the City Park Grill is permitted to refer to this beer as Hangin' Frank.  Frank was a former owner of the City Park Grill many years ago when it was named the Grill Cafe.  He hung himself in the basement.  Apparently, Short's originally called the brew Hangin' Frank, but certain elements decided that the name was inappropriate.  Being controversial, the folks at Short's decided that an appropriate and obvious name was ControversiALE.  Despite this downward departure for the politically correct, the City Park Grill retained the right to call it Hangin' Frank and remains the only establishment allowed to call the brew by its Christian name.

Yeah, that's right.  They have an awesome truck, too.

Please, drink good beer.

Thanks to all at Short's for showing us such a great time today.  We learned a thing or two and had some fun.  Keep making great beer!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Pants Pt. 2

Ah yes, San Diego.  Literally translated in Spanish, it means whale's vagina.  OK, you're right, it doesn't.  But Anchorman is such an awesome movie.  I'm looking forward to the sequel.

The Salty Dog and I had the honor of attending her cousin's wedding in said city this past July.  If you've never been there, it's worth a trip.  Aside from the fact that it's California expensive, it really does have a lot to offer and it's not quite as plastic as LA.  The weather is San Diego is 80 and sunny year round.  It's also close to Tijuana if you have a desire for low cost prescription drugs or a burro show.

We stayed at the Hotel Solemar.  The hotel is right in the heart of downtown San Diego.  This boutique hotel seems to be where the beautiful people congregate.  While the most beautiful woman in the world is Salty Dog, all the other women here tied for second.  I'm not sure what it was, but good God those were some hard bodies around the pool.  I was too embarrassed to take my shirt off due to my manatee-like physique, so I sat at the bar and drank....and watched, then drank some more.  And the watching was good.  Surprisingly, so was the beer.

There is a wonderful bar out by the pool, and in the evening it turns into a hot spot for the see and be seen crowd.

SD has some great beer.  I had read about some of these beers and was eager to try them.  Coming from Michigan, the Great Beer State, I was doubtful that any of these Cali beers would measure up.  I was wrong.  While Michigan brewers Short's and Bell's will always be the best, SD made a strong showing.  One of my new favorites is the Ballast Point Sculpin IPA.  This beer is one of the better IPA's out there, maybe even the best.  Most reassuring, the Dry Fly can find this beer at Anderson's General Store in Toledo.  While it does cost a whopping $15 per six pack, it is worth every penny to the discerning IPA drinker.  Also around SD and worth a taste are the Stone Brewing Co.(home of Arrogant Bastard Ale), Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Green Flash brewing company, and San Diego Brewing Co. just to name a few.

Hotel Solemar is only a block or two from Petco Park where the Padres play.  Quite a few good bars around here as well.

The wedding was a great time.  The reception was held in the San Diego Museum of Art, located in Balboa Park.  Balboa Park is home to many museums and some great open space in metro SD.  The collection of the museum was quite impressive, as would be expected in a major metro art museum.  Food was located in the foyers on the first and second floor.  The museum was also open, so Salty Dog and I wandered around and took in the art.  It was nice that the docents noted how outstanding our museum in Toledo is when we mentioned it was our hometown.  The evening was punctuated with dancing and chatting with friends and family.  The bride and groom looked very happy.  I think it safe to say that a good time was had by all.

Salty Dog and her cousin sharing a dance at the reception.

After recovering from our hangovers, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Broken Yolk Cafe of Man vs. Food fame.  We didn't try the giant omelet, but we had a breakfast burrito and a Monte Cristo, coffee, mimosas.  Hangover cured!

Next, we were whisked off on a tour of San Diego culminating in a trip to Cabrillo National Monument and the Del Coronado Hotel.  The view from Cabrillo is impressive and whales can sometimes be seen migrating off the coast here.  It is also the entry to San Diego Harbor and has a view of Coronado Airfield. If you're lucky, you can catch a glimpse of fighter jets and naval ships coming and going over the harbor.  It's a bit out of town and there is a small entrace fee, but this was one of the prettier things I saw while here.

After driving around all day, we had some hungry folks in the car.  We stopped at a pricey Mexican place called Agave, which had hundreds of tequillas and numerous moles on the menu.  The rest of the group wasn't that interested in mole or tequilla, so we went the tourist route and headed to old town San Diego.  I'm so glad we did.  It's a complete tourist trap, but it had some great places that educated visitors on the early history of San Diego.

Salty Dog pestering the locals.  They weren't very animated.

Our main stop was the "haunted" Whaley House.  This is a historical home that has been turned into a museum.  The tour was great for the history alone, but people allegedly see ghosts and such.  No such luck for this group.  What I found particularly interesting was the practice of law in early America and the way that Courthouses were truly the centerpieces of community in early America.  On an related topic, many rural and semi-rural communities in our neck of the woods are trying to preserve their early courthouses for this very reason.  Click here for the story, pictures and a map.  Regardless, San Diego Viejo is worth a stop for an afternoon or evening, though many attractions close around 6.

The old courtroom / store / ballroom at the Whaley House.

I Object!  This court doesn't even present a spectre of justice!

After our whirlwind tour, it was time to get back to our dawgs who missed us so.  San Diego was great.  Drink the beer.  Eat a burrito.  Take in the culture. 

Goodbye Summer, Hello Pants. Pt. 1

Adios Summer!  See you next year unless the Mayans were right.

 
The summer has flown by and soon we will be in the throws of a Midwest winter.   The nights are thankfully dropping into the 50's again and soon the leaves will regale us with their annual change of color.  The past summer has been a season to remember for the DFSD.  Both of us are Catholic, or some version closely akin thereto.  As a benefit of this, our families breed like rabbits.  This always gives us an excuse to travel and annoy our families with our crafty witticisms.  Mostly, we just go for the food...and beer.  This blog post will be the first of several posts recapping our summer of awesome!

The first trip this summer was to Philadelphia, also know as Philly or Filthadelphia.  We got to meet our newest niece for the first time.  We had lots of family fun.  We ate cheese steaks.  If you're ever in Philly, make the drive out to Villanova and get a cheese steak from the Campus Corner.  They are the best in the area, hands down, and I eat a lot of cheese steaks.  Chickie's and Pete's is also pretty good.  Fresh bread, gooey cheese, onions, peppers, shrooms!  Soooo good.  I want one now.

Chickie's and Pete's cheese steak. Mmmmmm, cholesterol.

Do yourself a favor and go here!

We also did a bunch of canoeing and fishing.

Who's driving this boat?

For the uninitiated, northern Michigan is just about the greatest place on earth.  From the clean, clear rivers to the great lakes to the deep woods; something about this place is special.  We love going Up North whenever we can.  No matter how many times we travel up there, we always seem to discover a few new things.  Future blog posts will take you to some of our favorite haunts.  We'd also love to hear about your favorite places Up North!

The inland oceans.  No Salt, No Sharks, No Worries.

Grayling, Michigan

If it's good enough for Papa, it's good enough for me.

We love to explore in our own backyard as well. It is always great to see what's happening in NW Ohio and SE Michigan.  We have so many places to see, that there is never enough time to check them all out.  Fishing and canoeing take us to our favorites with some regularity.

A little somin somin from the Muddy Maumee.

Cookin brats and catching catfish!

That's all we have time for right now.  I've got a Puerto Rican telling me it's time to clean the house.  We have some guests coming this weekend, and apparently it takes a week to clean.  Stay tuned for a recap of our trip to San Diego (it means whale's vagina in Spanish), a trip to Puerto Rico for a bona fide Puerto Rican wedding and assorted other frivolity.