This past week, our taproom rolled out two infused beers. Our flagship Saison is currently infused with blackberry sage green tea. Ten, our Belgian-style Quadruple Ale, is being infused with cinnamon and cacao.

Often called a Randall (Dogfish Head Brewery is credited with the invention of the tool under that name), Funkwerks uses a HopRocket made by Blichmann, a brewing engineering company. This stainless steel chamber intercepts the beer flow from keg to tap line, steeping the beer much like tea. Because the infusion happens after the beer has been kegged, the flavor intensity can certainly vary. Intuitively, the infusion flavor is more apparent the longer the beer spends in the flavor chamber.

Taproom staff take a field trip to downtown Fort Collins to the local tea house and spice shop. Back at the brewery, we fill a large mesh bag with whichever flavor has been selected. This bag is placed inside the HopRocket and attached to the tap line and keg. A short ten to twenty minutes later, a new tasty brew is waiting to be poured for you.

Just as quickly as we're able to hook an infusion up, so can the flavor be changed. Once the infusion flavor begins to weaken, staff refreshes the flavor with either a new batch of the same or an entirely different infusion. Sources have spotted Chai Spice, Thai Chili peppers, peppermint and chocolate rose tea in the office. Stop by the taproom to see which infusion you'll find.

FORT COLLINS, CO (May 27, 2016) – Funkwerks, the award-winning Saison-focused brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, was recognized this year at World Beer Cup for its Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale named Deceit. The World Beer Cup is a biannual competition hosted by the Brewers Association to celebrate the art and science of brewing and is regarded as the most prestigious beer competition in the world.

Deceit took home a Bronze medal this year in the category for Belgian-Style Pale Strong against 48 entrants. This award is the third for Deceit, aptly named for this deceptively palatable 8.5% alcohol by volume beer. Funkwerks' unique Belgian yeast strain masks Deceit's high alcohol content with flavors of pineapple, pear, citrus and a slight spice. Deceit boasts a Gold Medal from the Great American Beer Festival® in 2012 as well as a Silver Medal from the 2014 World Beer Cup.

World Beer Cup judges award medals based on blind tastings of all beers in each category. “It is an honor to take home this award from World Beer Cup. We're humbly proud of Deceit, which has become our most decorated beer to date,” said Gordon Schuck, Funkwerks Co-Founder/Owner and Head Brewer. “I'm pleased that this beer continues to stand out year over year amongst other renditions of the style.”

This year, 253 judges reviewed 6,596 beers from 1,907 breweries in 96 different categories. Of those which took home awards, 37 medals were brought back to Funkwerks' home state of Colorado. “It's an exciting time to be brewing beer in Colorado and we're pleased to be recognized amongst so many innovative breweries in our state,” said Brad Lincoln, Funkwerks Co-Founder/Owner.

Deceit can be found in bars, restaurants and liquor stores across Colorado, Arizona, Iowa and Northern Texas. Bottles of Deceit are also available in the Funkwerks taproom, where a barrel-aged version of the beer can be sampled.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 1/2 ounces semi sweet chocolate

8 tablespoons of butter, browned

1/2 cup Ten

4 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift flour, coco powder and salt together.
3. Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water.
4. Pour butter and beer into chocolate and mix together.
5. In a small pan over medium heat, melt butter until golden brown.
6. Beat together eggs and sugar until thick and shiny (about 2 minutes).
7. Continue beating on low while adding flour mixture and wet mixture.
8. Finish with vanilla and don't over mix. 
9. Fold in chocolate chips. 
10. Pour batter in buttered and floured pan.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes. 
12. Cool and enjoy :)

It took five men and two forklifts to unload two 60 barrel fermenters and one 60 barrel Brite tank. Their problem solving skills were put to the test! 

 

FORT COLLINS, CO (March 2016) – Funkwerks, the award-winning brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, is preparing for a large expansion to their production facility. A shipment of two 60-barrel fermentation tanks and one 60-barrel brite tank is expected to arrive early March, adding an additional 50% total production capacity.

Experimental brews have always been a focus of Gordon Schuck’s, Co-Founder/Head Brewer, however “this past year we’ve been busy keeping up with the demand of Raspberry Provincial, Tropic King and Saison 4-packs. I am excited to finally have some extra capacity to devote to experimental brews.” Funkwerks brewed 3,500 barrels in 2015, an 80% increase from 2014. This year, Funkwerks expects to double their production and enter into new distribution territories.

Additionally, Funkwerks’ barrel program will be expanding. The number of oak barrels will double, allowing for an increase in production of sour ales and other barrel-aged brews. Brad Lincoln, Co-Founder of Funkwerks, is “really excited we will no longer be running out of beer, and to see our barrel program beers finally reach the channel.” The increase of oak barrels will allow for distribution of Funkwerks’ barrel-aged beers, including Oud Bruin, Peachy King and Barrel-Aged Deceit.

Thirsty? More funky brews are soon to come your way.

With the welcoming of a New Year, the Funkwerks employees compiled a list of New Year’s resolutions, and there are some good ones in here.

Introduce someone to one of your favorite breweries.

Part of what makes the brewing industry exciting is that there is so much variety, making it fairly easy to introduce someone to a new favorite brewery or beer.

 Cook with beer.

Try recipes from Christina Marie’s Cooking with Beer in Colorado cookbook. 

Or try one of these recipes from our blog:

Clam Chowder with Saison Base.

Saison Beer Bread

Saison Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Beer Brined for Turkey or Chicken

Visit a new brewery every month.

1.8 breweries are opening per day, according to the November/Decemeber 2015 issue of The New Brewer.

Try a Beer Cocktail.

Our blog has a few Funkwerks cocktail recipes from Ace Gillett's, or try this Basil Saison Cocktail. 

Learn more about beer.

There is so much to learn about beer tasting, beer history and beer science. There are some great books about beer out there, including Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher and The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth.

 Here are some informational post from our blog: sour and wild beer, barrel-aging and oak spirals, and proper glassware.

Try beers you normally wouldn’t order and research the style as you are enjoying it.

Here are two great resources to learn about different beer styles:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/

http://www.craftbeer.com/beer-styles

Open more beer from your cellar, and share with friends. 

Some beers can be cellared, but cellaring doesn't necessarily make beer better. Most beers are best consumed fresh. Here is some additional information on beer freshness and cellaring: http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/cellaring-craft-beer-to-age-or-not-to-age

Drink more beer in order to attain the following 6 resolutions…

• Seek out and win as many limbo competitions as possible.
• Dance more
• Laugh more
• Smile more – even faking a smile has been observed to cultivate a better mood. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/study-forcing-a-smile-genuinely-decreases-stress/260513/

• Take more naps in the sun
• Learn to ribbon dance

• Mastering the one-handed headstand. Warning: this may be more difficult when under the influence of beer.

We came out with our first variety pack, just in time for the Holidays. What better way to celebrate the holidays with your friend and family than over a delicious beer? We decided to fill our variety packs with three of our favorite mainline beers, and Trust Fall, an experimental that is exclusively available in the variety pack. 

Saison

Style: Belgian-Style Saison Ale

ABV: 6.8%

Our flagship Saison was born from a series of test batches begun in Gordon Schuck’s backyard, the French Saison yeast strain used in test batch #6 was utilized to become the Great American Beer Festival gold medal-winning Saison that sits before you.

Notes of passion fruit, tangerine, lemon verbena, ginger and black pepper. 

Pairs well with high fives.

Saison was named one of 5 beers you’ll want to drink on Thanksgiving day by Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine, and we agree. The complex notes of fruit and spice pair well with holiday dinners.

http://beerandbrewing.com/VkPfmikAAKEqO0Po/article/5-beers-youll-want-to-drink-on-thanksgiving-day

Tropic King

Style: Imperial Saison

ABV: 8.0%

Originally designed to be a hoppier version of our flagship Saison, the accidental (but fortuitous) addition of two extra bags of Munich malt balanced the hop bitterness leaving us this very unique Imperial Saison. Tropical fruit flavors coming from the unique New Zealand hop variety, Rakau.

Notes of passion fruit, mango, peach, pepper and ginger.

Pairs well with hula hooping.

Raspberry Provincial

Style: Belgian style sour brewed with raspberries

ABV: 4.2 %

This delicious creation was truly 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. The end result was so delicious, we decided to recreate it! This delightfully tart fruit beer is refreshing, with a citrusy raspberry aroma which transitions to a subtlety sweet and tart finish.

Notes of lemon zest and tart raspberries.

Pairs well with cloud watching.

Trust Fall

Style: Session Belgian IPA

ABV: 4.1%

Trust Fall symbolizes collaboration… and Brad’s love for team building activities. Our brewers collaborated to build a beer that was refreshing and sessionable, without compromising taste. They chose an assortment of hops that would add mouthwatering tropical fruit flavors, and heavily dry hopped to amplify the aromatics of the hops, without the bitterness.

Notes of grapefruit and tropical fruit with a hint of spice.

Pairs well with workman’s comp.

Bottles available Exclusively in the variety pack.

Turkey day is coming! Here is a fun and delicious beer brine you must try. 

Ingredients:

10 cups of water

2½ cups kosher or sea salt

5 cloves garlic, quartered

¼ cup whole allspice berries

1 tbsp whole cloves

2 large white onions, quartered

750ml of Ten, or two 330ml bottles of Ten (half of a 4-pack)

2 cups ice

1 turkey (thawed)

3 celery stalks, cut in half

¼ cup olive oil

Kosher or sea salt (for seasoning the turkey pre-oven)

2 cups chicken broth, plus 4–6 cups water (if needed)

Directions:

In a large pot add the water, salt, garlic, allspice, cloves, and one of the onions.

Just as the water starts to boil, remove from heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the salt.

Add the beer and the ice and stir. Cool to room temp, refrigerating if necessary.

Rinse the turkey and remove any items from the cavity. Place one oven bag inside the other and then place the turkey inside those. Pour the brine over the turkey. Remove as much air as possible and tie bags to seal as tightly as possible.

Place turkey bag on the roasting rack inside the roasting pan. Place in the refrigerator.

Brine for 16–18 hours. Rotate the turkey every 6–8 hours to ensure it marinates evenly. Remove from the brine and rinse, inside and out. Discard the brine and the bags.

Place turkey back on the roasting rack inside the roasting pan. Place in the fridge, uncovered, for 12–18 hours to dry the skin. (This will give you a nice crispy skin to go along with your juicy bird.)

Preheat oven to 400°. Stuff the remaining quartered onion and the celery stalks inside the cavity of the bird. Truss turkey if desired. Brush the entire turkey with olive oil; sprinkle with salt.

Add the broth to the bottom of the roasting pan. If the pan starts to dry out as it roasts, add more water to the bottom of the pan. Do not allow the broth/water in the roasting pan to touch the turkey.

Cook until your turkey reaches about 165°, and then test the temperature with a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (it will continue to cook and its internal temperature will continue to rise once it’s out of the oven).

Let rest for 10 minutes before carving. And enjoy ;)

FORT COLLINS, CO (October 2015) – Funkwerks’ Ten, a Belgian-Style Quadruple ale is now being packaged in 4-packs of 330ml bottles. Customers can now enjoy the same delightfully warming beer in a smaller, more convenient bottle. 4-packs will hit liquor stores in Colorado shelves around the first week of November, and the rest of distribution by December.

The name Ten stands for its strong alcohol percentage, at 10%ABV. Inspired by the Dark Strong beers of Belgium, this full-bodied Quadruple Belgian-style ale pours with a deep burgundy hue and a frothy tan head. The malt-forward aromas of toffee and chocolate compliment the dark fruity aromas of raisins and plums. The aromatic qualities follow through in the flavor and combine with refreshing effervescent carbonation. A dry and balanced finish makes this strong but quaffable beer the perfect way to end a long, Winter day! 

“Ten is our fall/winter seasonal because it is a great winter warmer and has notes of dark fruits and chocolate compliment the colder weather,” explains Gordon Schuck, co-founder and head-brewer. Ten will be the first seasonal beer to be packaged in 4-packs, and will be produced throughout the winter.

Funkwerks started bottling in 330ml bottles last year. Brad Lincoln, 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. Ten will still be packaged in 750ml bottles to bring to holiday parties and family gatherings.