Blog : Northern Michigan

Starcut Ciders, a craft cider brand produced by Short’s Brewing Company, is celebrating two years handcrafting hard ciders this month. Launched at the Short’s Brewing Company pub in November 2014, Starcut Ciders began bottled cider distribution in August 2015. Experiencing tremendous growth, in just two years Starcut Ciders is now the third largest cider maker in Michigan and a strong regional brand.

Regularly distributed in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Colorado, the company has sold approximately 315,000 liters or 2,700 barrels of hard cider in 2016. According to Short’s CEO and Creative Engineer, Joe Short “We are thrilled to have created a locally grown brand that’s connecting with consumers in Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Between artwork by the legendary Don Pendleton and the well balanced and unique ciders crafted by our team, we’ve found a winning combination.”

According to the company’s Head Cider Maker, Tony Hansen, cider fans have much to look forward to in the years to come. “We have a lot of exciting cider projects happening soon including a bottled sparkling cider to be released at our Starcut Ciders Celebration (February 25th, 2017), a new fruit cider, and a handful of experimental ciders. We also plan to increase our number of Erraticus wild cider and barrel aged offerings in the new year.”

In 2017 the company will continue to distribute flagship ciders Octorock (semi-sweet) and Pulsar (semi-dry) and three seasonal varieties; Immortal Jelly, Squishy, and Phuzz. In addition to the ciders distributed by Starcut, the company will continue to bottle their Erraticus Series. Erraticus is a series of rare, small batch, wild ciders fermented with apples sourced from Northern Michigan orchards. Erraticus 5 and Erraticus 6 are currently available for sale at the Short’s Brewing Company pub and Short’s Mart in Bellaire, MI. Erraticus 7, a spruce cider, will be released later this season.