Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

Get bigger or be devoured. Craft beer's rapid evolution has a well-loved brewery from tiny Bellaire selling beer across state lines.

Short's Brewing next month will spread its sales footprint to Pennsylvania and Illinois, as other areas are explored. But for a brewer who should be proud of many successful experiments and quality flagships, founder Joe Short had an almost somber tone in his handwritten announcement posted to the brewery website.

"While our Michigan craft beer is thriving, my observation is that there is simply too much awesome beer on the shelves for everyone to enjoy sustainable growth in the near term," the note said. "We want to continue to grow and do awesome stuff, but we don't want to sell out to investors or another brewery."

The brewer says that while "this is probably a tough decision for some people to accept," the commitment to quality and passion is probably what people care about most. Founded in 2004, Short's in 2014 was the fourth-largest brewer in the state. Experiments like Key Lime Pie, Bloody Beer and Melt My Brain — a gin-and-tonic beer — have won gold and silver medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

But no matter how good the beer is, the pressure's on: New local breweries continue to open, and the mass producers are making calculated moves to hold their ground and expand.

Sellouts are happening in unexpected places. Last month, it was announced that Anheuser-Busch InBev was acquiring Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado. The transnational corporation also counts Goose Island Brewery of Chicago among its acquisitions.

You may have noticed delicious Ballast Point Brewing beers from San Diego appearing on Michigan shelves. That company was acquired by Constellation Brands (Corona Light, Pacifico, Svedka, etc.), per a November announcement.

Having access to Ballast Point's delicious Sculpin IPA and others is nice. But it is taking shelf space from local breweries.

For me, part of the appeal of craft beer is that I can drive to Bellaire — or Marshall (Dark Horse Brewing) or Dexter (Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales) — and meet the maker/owner, who makes beer because he loves beer. He's putting his passion into making something wonderful and overseeing it personally. That's a far cry from an overseas CEO with hundreds of brands working to appease a global multitude of stockholders.

Do-it-yourself success: The story of Dark Horse Brewing

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen rates some Short's beers

So here's to Short's. Here are some of my favorites, as rated on Untappd (2016 release date included where applicable):

Sticky Icky Icky (6.5% alcohol by volume, 70 international bittering units): "Fantastic! Tasting mango, pine, grassiness. Juicy and balanced. Pleasantly bitter." 4.75/5. Released: October.

Strawberry Short's Cake (5% ABV, 25 IBU): "Wonderful. Actually tastes like a strawberry shortcake, yet not unbearably sweet. I could have two." 4.75/5. Released: July.

Soft Parade (7.5% ABV, 15 IBU): "Solid fruit beer. Strawberry flavors. Some blackberry. Well-balanced." 3.5/5. Released: year-round.

The Liberator (8% ABV, 116 IBU): "Boldly bitter, grapefruity, piney, hints of lemon." 3.75/5. Released: December.

Spruce Pilsner (7% ABV, 65 IBU): "Really nice one from Shorts. A great-tasting, earthy Pilsner with flavor of noticeable but not-overwhelming blue spruce needles." 4.25/5.

Key Lime Pie (5.5% ABV, 21 IBU): "Delicious, actually tastes like a Key lime pie with hops." 4.5/5. Released: August.

Queen Bee (8% ABV, 30 IBU): "Smooth, nice butterscotch caramel flavor with sweet honey. Goes down easy." 3.75/5.

Uber Goober (6.4% ABV, 24 IBU): " 'Roughly a handful of peanuts in every glass,' according to the drink menu, and it tastes just great! Balanced with chocolate, roasted malt." 4.5/5

Gin Barrel Aged Melt My Brain (7.1% ABV, 6 IBU): "Love gin, so this is so good. Strong herbal gin flavor then comes lime, tangy crispness that lingers like a cocktail. Wow. Worth $20? Hmmm." 4.5/5

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers alcohol for the Free Press. He can be reached at rallen@freepress.com or Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter, @rallenMI; Facebook, robertallen.news, and Periscope, @rallenMI.