Photo courtesy of Short's Brewing.

BY AMY SHERMAN | asherma2@mlive.com

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This weekend a Reddit post about a possible sale of Michigan craft brewery Short's Brewing Company caused a lot of internet chatter. The claim? That Heineken, one of the largest brewers in the world, and based in the Netherlands, was purchasing a percentage of the Bellaire based brewery.

Started in 2002, by brewer and owner Joe Short, the brewery has built its reputation on brewing flavorful, bold, innovative beers. Originally only available in Michigan, as part of their "Michigan Only, Michigan Forever" campaign, they expanded their distribution to other states starting in 2016.

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Rumor mill: Heineken/Lagunitas to purchase [portion of] Short's Brewing http://ow.ly/UkIT309PpQo #beer #craftbeer #mibeer Posted by BrewStuds on Sunday, March 12, 2017

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Photo courtesy of Joe Short.

According to Short's marketing coordinator, Gillian Cobb, this rumor isn't exactly new. "We've been approached for years about selling and it hasn't been something we've explored before", she said.

"We've had conversations about the benefit of a possible future partnership that would not involve loss of control or enough shares to get near the Brewer's Association craft definition. But we don't have anything to report at this time."

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The BA defines a craft brewer as:

From the Brewer's Association website

Small

Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.

Independent

Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

Traditional

A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

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So why does this rumor keep popping up?

According to Scott Newman-Bale, one of the partners at Short's, the rumors about Short's selling always start to kick back in gear each year during the approach of the Craft Brewers Conference. "Although, I'll be honest. They usually start during the conference, not before", he told us.

This years conference is happening in Washington D.C., April 10-13. Newman-Bale thinks that the rumor mill gets going because the conference is an opportunity for everyone to get together, and when breweries are seen chatting with each other, about anything, things can easily get misinterpreted.

One of the things that Short's prides themselves on, Newman-Bale said, is being open to discussions. "We don’t hide things when potential opportunities come up, we talk about it out in the open. It’s our own fault for being to open, but I prefer it that way."

"I can tell you that we’ve been approached numerous times, a lot more over the last few years. We’ve always declined, and we have no agreed upon deal at this time. We get approached, and we always talk to them. We’ve never closed that door, we think it’s always an important discussion to have, and we'll continue to have them. But at this time, we have no announcement to make" he told us.

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Heineken turned heads in the craft beer world a few years ago when it bought a 50% stake in Lagunitas Brewing. Lagunitas, well loved in the craft world for it's innovative and very popular beers like "Little Sumpin Sumpin", "Brown Shugga", and their flagship IPA, was questioned as to the future of the brewery when in partnership with a major company like Heineken.

Lagunitas looked at the partnership as a way to increase their distribution foot print globally, with a company that they felt understood their vision.

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And while Short's may not be partnering with Heineken, or any other company at this time, other Michigan breweries have made this leap.

Founders Brewing Company announced their partnership with Spain's largest brewery Mahou San Miguel in 2014. The foreign company bought a 30 percent stake in the Michigan based brewery, and helped them solidify their standing as one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the country. With their recent $40 million dollar expansion to their Grand Rapids area brewery, Founders now has the ability to brew upwards of 900,000 barrels of beer annually.

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In 2015, Perrin Brewing of Comstock Park announced their partnership with Oskar Blues Brewing of Colorado. This model eventually incorporated Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, into a three way partnership that not only opens up distribution to the three breweries, but also allows collaboration brews between the brewers.

New Holland Brewing struck a deal with Pabst Brewing Company for distribution of their craft beer nationwide in 2016. The agreement allows New Holland to remain independent, and to continue to manage all production, marketing and finance themselves.

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(Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)

Short's in the news

Short's has recently been in the news for announcing it's support of the coalition of Michigan businesses that are working to decommission the controversial oil pipelines owned by Enbridge, that run under the Mackinac Bridge.

Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo and BarFly Ventures in Grand Rapids also are members of this group. Short's announcement was tagged with the line "Clean Water Makes Better Beer".

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Fritz Klug | Mlive

In 2013, Short's Brewing was named Michigan's Best Brewery by Mlive. They currently have their pub in Bellaire, along with their production facility in nearby Elk Rapids.

In 2014, Short's produced just shy of 35,000 barrels of beer.