LONDON – Olympic spectators enjoying a drink in the London pubs across the pond might have a chance to grab a pint of Michigan beer as they watch the world's top athletes compete on the international stage.

According to a blog post on craftbeer.com, journalist John Holl recently spotted some brews from Short's Brewing Company's at the Cask Pub & Kitchen in London's Westminster neighborhood -- nearly 3,700 miles away from the beer's origin.

In his blog post, Holl said he was surprised to see U.S. beers with limited distribution show up in England pubs, but he's noticed the London drinking scene becoming more diverse in recent years, as more than 30,000 barrels of American craft beer were exported to the United Kingdom in 2011 alone.

"While it's nearly impossible to find it in the states—except for Michigan—shockingly the dark red ale was available 2,700 miles from the breweries," Holl wrote after seeing a bartender pour a bottle of Short's Brewing Company's The Magician.

The beer traveled a long way to get to England from its Bellaire-based brewing company, especially since Short’s doesn’t distribute its wares outside of the mitten.

“I was surprised,” said Short’s CFO Scott Newman-Bale, a former Londoner himself, of seeing the craftbeer.com post. “That pub in particular is a big Short’s fan.”

Newman-Bale said the beer likely reached the London bar through Henrik Boes Brølling, an employee of Danish beer import company Drikkeriget, or "Drinking Kingdom," who stops by Short's brewery on a regular basis.

In an email, Brølling said the Danish company distributes Short’s beers throughout most of Europe and bringing Short's to London didn’t have any direct connection with the Olympics as the beers have been sold at the pub for one or two years.

“Short’s is a great brewery doing really amazing beers, CASK Pub & Kitchen in London is one of the best beers bars in the world,” Brølling said. “Of (course), Shorts and CASK go very well together.”

According to the company’s website, they also import Michigan beers from Founders Brewing Company, Dark Horse Brewing Company, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales and Leelanau Brewing Company to sell in Europe.

Newman-Bale said the international exposure has created a buzz for the company in Michigan and a large part of their demand is driven from out-of-state customers. He often sees people visiting the brewery load 20 to 40 cases of beers in their trunks to take back home and has gotten letters from clientele as far as way as India writing about how much they enjoy the brews.

Newman-Bale said he grew up about two miles from the area where some of the Olympic cycling events are being held and stopped by the CASK Pub & Kitchen himself last summer.

Although the company is happy to have the international exposure, including during the Olympics, Short’s currently is sticking by its Michigan distribution focus, he said.

“It’s found its way all over the world,” Newman-Bale said of the company’s beer.

E-mail Megan Durisin: mdurisin@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/megandurisin.