Short's autumn IPA is 'Pure Michigan,' and at Fall Beer Festival in Eastern Market

If you’re going to bring a beer to a Michigan Brewers Guild festival, you might as well go all in for your home state. And Short’s has done that.

The Bellaire brewery is pouring “Pure Michigan Autumn IPA” at its stand just inside the gates of the Fall Beer Festival at Eastern Market in Detroit.

It’s not hazy. It’s not West Coast hoppy. It’s just a very old-school IPA with a slightly malty backbone and a traditional bitter finish – all courtesy of Michigan grown hops and malts.

“All of the malts. All of the hops. We even used yeasts from Craft Cultures, which is up in the U.P. It is 100 percent Michigan ingredients,” said Pauline Knighton, sales director for Short’s Brewing Co.

The beer was brewed in partnership with Pure Michigan, the state tourism and economic development agency.

“Obviously that’s a big deal because, we all know that when you live here in Michigan, you know that the campaign ‘Pure Michigan’ is really something that people look forward to,” Knighton said,

Michigan Hop Alliance and Empire Malts were two major suppliers for the beer, along with Craft Cultures.

“Pure Michigan wanted to work with a Michigan brewery that would make a beer that would appeal to a lot of people, would be unique, but would also really capture the Michigan experience,” Knighton said. Short’s reputation as an experimental brewery – it seems like the northern Michigan brewery will try anything once – led to their selection.

They created what Knighton calls an “old-fashioned, traditional IPA.”

“So you are going to have some bitterness from the hops, but it still has some great citrus tones. It’s a very easy drinking IPA. You get a little bit of slight sweet malt in the finish, but you get some balance from the hops. It’s a very approachable IPA.”

We found it a pleasant diversion from the IPA-of-the-day styles like New Englands and West Coasters.

Knighton said the beer, in addition to pouring at the festival, should also be available at beer stores throughout the state, as well as some major retailers like Busch’s, Kroger and Meijer.