NEWS

Name: Oud Bruin 

Style: Flander Brown ale

 ABV: 7.5%

 This is our third release of Oud Bruin, our traditional Flemish style sour produced from a blend of beers aged for up to 2 years from a variety of oak barrels. Long, slow fermentation with a blend of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and other sour cultures contribute the characteristic tart flavor. The Funkwerks sour beer program was launched in early 2012 to produce traditional beers of the Flemish region of Belgium to appease the current and future sour enthusiasts. Pucker up.

Notes of black cherry, raisin, and a hint of dark chocolate.

Pairs well with prepared pared pears.

Ingredients:

Yeast blend – beer yeast, sherry yeast, 2 bretts, a lacto and a pedio

Is it barrel aged?

Yes. This batch of Oud Bruin was aged for 2 years. 

A blend of 6 barrels.

Beer it might be comparable to-

-Rodenbach Grand Cru

Can it be cellared? If yes, how long?

Yes. A couple years.

The Great American Beer Festival is the largest beer festival and competition in the country. Every year we are excited for the opportunity to participate in the brewing community as a whole. Often times, it is the only time a year that we get to see a lot of the brewers that we know. GABF is a good way for us to get our beer in front of a wide audience, and winning medals at the GABF is one of the highest awards a brewery can receive.   

In past GABF competitions our flagship Saison received a silver medal in 2011, and then a gold medal in 2012 for the French- and Belgian-style Saison category. Deceit received a gold medal in 2012 for the Belgian-Style Golden Strong ale category. A second gold medal gained us Best Small Brewing Company of the year in 2012. And last year (2014) our Raspberry Provincial won a gold medal for the Belgian-Style Fruit ale category. 

This year we will be pouring all GABF medal winning beers at the booth, including Saison, Raspberry Provincial and Deceit. Our booth is located in the Meet the Brewer Pavilion, booth #W24.

Our taproom will be ready for you! To accommodate the extra beer tourism (estimated 60,000 people), we will be opening the taproom an hour earlier at 10am from Monday to Saturday. We will also be giving tours from 12pm-5pm every hour on the hour Monday through Saturday. 

Stop by to taste our 2015 Oud Bruin. It will be available on draft and in bottles at the taproom. 

If you are coming to town next year for GABF, make sure you drop your business card or e-mail to receive information about the secret tapping in our taproom during 2016 GABF. 

Taproom Hours Monday, Sept. 21^st – Saturday, Sept. 26^th:

Monday:      10am – 8pm

Tuesday:      10am – 8pm 

Wednesday: 10am – 8pm

Thursday:    10am – 8pm

Friday:         10am – 9pm

Saturday:     10am – 9pm

Brewery tours every hour, on the hour 12pm-5pm. 

Adam, Gordon, Justin and Charlie Papazian at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival. 

Gordon and Brad at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. 

Name- Punch

Style- Red Wine Barrel-Aged Saison

ABV- 7.2%

Our flagship Saison had never been aged on oak before now, and our curiosity was peaked. We received six red wine Puncheon barrels at the end of June and filled them with our Saison. A puncheon barrel is over twice the size of a regular oak wine barrel. Sitting for two months gives this beer subtle oak and red wine characteristics without being overpowering. 

Notes of passionfruit, ginger, black pepper, and red wine. 

Pairs well with starting your own fight club. 

Bottled on: Friday August 21^st

Released: Friday August 28^th

Why did you decide to brew it?

We wanted to see how Saison would barrel-age. 

Is it a Saison?

yes

Interesting/Special brewing story-

Named Punch after the red wine Puncheon barrels it was aged in. The 6 puncheon barrels arrived days before we filled them. It was our first Puncheon barrels we’ve ever had. 

Is it barrel aged? Yes – red wine barrels. Not sour, but winey tartness. 

If yes- What type of barrels/where from/ how long-

Beer it might be comparable to- Saison

Can it be cellared? If yes, how long?  Cellar at your own risk.

FORT COLLINS, CO (August 2015) – Raspberry Provincial will soon be available in 4-packs for customers to enjoy the same Raspberry goodness in a smaller, more convenient bottle. The first packaging date is set for August 7^th, 2015. 4-packs will be directly available to taproom customers, and will hit the liquor stores in Colorado shelves by the end of August, and the rest of distribution will start to see Raspberry Provincial 4-packs in September.  

Raspberry Provincial was a product of creativity, ingenuity and luck. “In the summer of 2013 we took a test batch of our sessional sour summer ale, Provincial, that didn’t quite hit gravity, and decided to have some fun with it! We added a heavy dose of raspberries" explains Gordon Schuck, Co-founder of Funkwerks. The end result was a delightfully tart fruit beer, and the fastest selling batch of beer in the taproom that has ever been produced.

At the Great American Beer Festival in 2014, Raspberry Provincial was awarded the gold medal in the Belgian-Style Fruit Beer category. After which, Funkwerks decided to brew it year-round and it has been in high demand in all of the available markets. Despite its bright pink hue, it has proved to have just as many male admirers as female since being released to Funkwerks’ distribution footprint.

Funkwerks started bottling in 330ml bottles last year. Brad Lincoln, co-owner/co-founder explains, “people tend to save larger bottles of beer for a special occasion or to share with others.” Smaller bottles provide more variety, accessibility, and the convenience of enjoying a single beer without the commitment of a larger bottle.

However, fermentation capacity limited Funkwerks to bottle to only Saison, Tropic King and Deceit in 330ml bottles. After the most recent expansion, Funkwerks now has the capacity to add Raspberry Provincial to the 4-pack line-up. 

Name- School’s Out 

Style- Belgian-Style Farmhouse Ale

ABV- 6.3%

Schooooool’s out for summer! Experimenting with a new Farmhouse yeast strain, this beer is cholk-full of citrus notes from the addition of Mandarina Bavaria hops and a new experimental hop, Lemondrop.  Each refreshing sip tastes like summertime. 

Refreshing notes of orange citrus and lemon.  

Pairs poorly with lawn darts. 

Release date- Saturday, July 4th. 'Merica.

Why did you decide to brew it? 

Gordon drank a beer in Portland, OR that used a different (Farmhouse) yeast strain and he wanted to brew our Saison (with a few recipe adjustments) with the same Farmhouse yeast strain to compare to our Saison proprietary yeast strain.

Interesting Ingredients?

We used a hop variety called Lemon Drop that adds a lemon characteristic, which somewhat resembles the Sorachi Ace hop strain, minus notes of dill. We also added Mandarina Bavaria hop variety to round out the citrus profile. 

Is it barrel aged?

Technically yes. It was fermented in our red wine Foeder, instead of fermenting in a stainless steel fermentation tank. Due to the short amount of time the beer spent in the oak Foeder, the beer does not have a particularly oak like characteristics. 

Beer it might be comparable to?

Saison.

Can it be cellared? If yes, how long?

Our beer is brewed and aged for immediate consumption, but can still develop with age. However, because we do not know how it will age, we can not recommend cellaring. Age at your own risk. 

Originally posted: April 28th 2015. 

Our first Foeder arrived!

Foeders (pronounced FOOD-er) are giant oak barrels used for aging wine. Brewers use oak Foeders for aging beer. The process works similarly to using regular oak barrels, but in larger quantities. As our sour-head population grows among the craft beer industry, keeping up with the demand for sours is more difficult, making a foeder a helpful piece of equipment. 

Our Foeder is came all the way from a winery in Washington State, where it was used to age red wine. Foeders come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from 7 barrels to 100 barrels. Our little Foeder can fit 25 barrels; a perfect size for a brewery of our 15-barrel brewhouse. 

Dahlia will be the first beer to go into the Foeder, and it will be expected to appear in the last week in May! After the first couple of batches we will use it to age sours.

• 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (lukewarm, no need to take temperature)
• 1 packet active instant yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon (8g) granulated sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Dahlia Sea Salt from The Old Town Spice Shop (available at the Funkwerks Taproom)

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir with a spoon until fairly mixed, about 1 minute. Some clusters of yeast will remain. Add salt and sugar; stir until fairly combined. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add up to 1/2 cup more. Poke the dough with your finger - if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and shape into a ball. With a sharp knife, cut ball of dough into 1/3 cup sections. This measurement does not have to be exact - use as much or little dough for each pretzel as you wish - the size of the pretzel is completely up to you.
4. Roll the dough into a rope with an even diameter. My ropes were twenty inches long. This measurement will depend how large you want the pretzels. Once you have your long rope, take the ends and draw them together so the dough forms a circle. Twist the ends, then bring them towards yourself and press them down into a pretzel shape.
5. Boil 6 cups of water with 2/3 cup of baking soda. Dunk the pretzels one by one into the mixture for 30 seconds. 
6. In a small bowl, beat the egg and pour into a shallow bowl or pie dish. Dunk the shaped pretzel into the egg wash, or brush on.  Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. 
7. Bake for 10 minutes at 425F degrees. Turn the oven to broil and bake for 5 more minutes to brown the tops. Watch closely to avoid burning.
8. Allow to cool and enjoy. Serve warm or at room temperature. Pretzels may be stored in an airtight container or zipped top bag for up to 3 days.

Originally posted: March 31st 2015.

Barrel-Aged beers are continuously rising in popularity within the craft beer industry. The flavor gained from aging beer in barrels adds a complexity and unique flavor. 

The production of barrel-aged beers is a more costly venture than non barrel-aged beers for a variety of reasons. Oak barrel prices range depending on the type of barrel, and can cost a brewer $120 to $500, only to be used an average of three times. One barrel only holds around 53-59 gallons of beer (a little more than three kegs of beer), so multiple barrels need to be purchased. Additionally, aging beer takes time, and time is money. We age our barrel-aged beers a minimum of around one year, and have barrels that have been filled for three years!

Because the production of barrel-aged beers is expensive, brewers have been inventing methods of producing the complex oak flavor in your beer without needing to purchase an entire barrel. 

Aging beer on oak spirals is one method of producing an oak aged beer without an entire oak barrel. These spirals are toasted the same as the inside a barrel. The spiral shape allows for more surface area for the beer to come in contact with absorbing the flavors of the wood. Spirals are simply thrown into a fermenter and sat to age for a desired amount of time. 

Wood spirals have also opened up the opportunity to use different types of wood. Now brewers are not limited to oak. 

We found four barrel spirals in one of our red wine barrels we use to age Oud Bruin. As a barrel becomes more neutral, wine makers throw toasted oak spirals in to extend the longevity of the barrel. 

Oak barrels have been used in the brewing process for thousands of years. Originally, wood barrels were utilized for the fermentation stage of brewing beer. Brewers made the switch from wood to metal in the mid 1900s because of the strength and stability of metal in comparison to wood. Today, stainless steel is the choice vessel for fermentation, but oak barrels are still a highly sought-after for barrel aging. By aging beer in oak barrels, brewers are in a sense reverting back to a traditional method of brewing beer.

Originally posted: March 11th, 2015.

Anyone who has visited us in the wintertime knows how cozy it can be in our taproom. In December we finished and opened the Barrel Room to expand our seating capacity for the weekends.

Save some spent grain from your next homebrew to make a treat for your furry friend! Here's a basic recipe that will guarantee a satisfied pup.

Ingredients:

4 cups spent grain

2 cups flour (whole wheat preferred)

1 cup peanut butter

2 organic eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile combine and mix each of the ingredients thoroughly until a thick dough forms.

Roll out the dough on a generously floured surface and cut shapes with cookie cutters, lining them up on baking sheets.

Dough is very sticky; add flour as needed.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 225 degrees and continue baking for 2 hours. This will ensure they are completely dry to extend their shelf life.

 Dried cookies will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze to keep them longer.

** WARNING: Do not add hops to the dog treats. Dogs can be dangerously allergic to hops.