Michigan's Short's Brewing Collabs With Funky Buddha, Takes Over Taps Tonight

Tonight, December 4, is going to be pretty exciting for fans of Michigan beer in South Florida, as Short's Brewing Co. will be highlighted at Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park with a tap takeover to commemorate the two breweries' collaborating on a set of beers. It's the first time in the past five years that Short's has done a collaboration. "This one presented itself, and the cool thing about it was the unique approach," Jon Wojtowicz, head of "Beer Liberation and Field Representation" for Short's Brewing, said in a podcast.

If you consider yourself a craft-beer enthusiast, this is a tap takeover not to be missed.

The "Michigan Only, Michigan Forever" motto that the Bellaire, Michigan, brewery follows is a testament to the Drink Local movement, so it's a rare treat to have it out of its homeland.

"Craft beer's foundation is built on ties between the breweries and consumers, so the further away from the person enjoying the beer, the less strong the tie," they state on their website. With this collaboration, the ties between Michigan's and Florida's craft-beer communities will be strengthened. 

John Linn, Funky Buddha's brand director, says, "We will be collaborating on a special brew with Short's that is actually two beers — a strong ale we brewed with cherries up in Bellaire, Michigan, in August and an orange, yarrow, and rosemary gruit we are brewing this Friday with the Short's crew here. The beers will be barrel-aged and blended together, then released for the first time at Extreme Beer Festival in Boston."

This will be the first and possibly only time to taste Short's beers out in the wilds of South Florida — or really anywhere outside of Michigan.

The full tap list of Short's Brewing beers is set to include:

• Huma Lupa Licious (American IPA)
  
• Soft Parade (Fruit Rye Ale brewed with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
  
• Space Rock (Gluten reduced Pale Ale)
  
• 600 #s of Sin (Sour Stout)
  
• Funky is as Funky Does (Brett IPA)
  
• Dubble Down (Belgian Dubbel)
  
• Lil Wheezy (Hoppy Amber Lager)
  
• Zangief's Bearhug (Russian Imperial Stout)
  
• Queen Bee (Imperial Amber brewed with star thistle honey)
  
• Through the Smoke (Smoked Pale Ale)
  
• Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster (Belgian IPA)
  
• Squishy (Semi-sweet cider made with Michigan cherries)
  

Funky Buddha will have some interesting beers on tap as well:

• Raspberry Nikolai Vorlauf
  
• Lemon Meringue
  
• Raspberry Floridian
  
• Rum Barrel Aged Piña Colada
  
• Saaz Matters
  
• Small Axe Big IPA
  
• Tripel Lindy
  
• Nitro Nib Smuggler
  

In addition, the two teams recorded a podcast session, which you can listen to here.

Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers. He is a Certified Beer Server and has been a homebrewer since 2010. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.