NEWS

Originally posted: December 12th 2014.

Every month the Funkwerks team gets together outside of work for some team bonding, kind of like the team bonding activities you did as a kid, except instead of trust falls and the 'human knot', we like to get together for some 'market research'. 

A couple of months ago, the Funky team decided to visit Ray, one of our favorite bartenders at one of our favorite bars in Fort Collins, Ace Gillett's. 

Ace Gillett's is an underground Jazz Lounge located under the Armstrong hotel in Old Town. Named after the founder of the Armstrong hotel; an entrepreneur who greatly influenced the development of downtown Fort Collins in the 1940's. If you haven't had the pleasure to visit, we strong recommend you schedule a date. 

Ace Gillett's is well known for their handcrafted cocktails, and they are ingenuitive and delectable. Ray concocted a few specialty Funkwerks cocktails for the Funkwerks gang that were too delicious to keep to ourselves. Ray was kind enough to give us the recipes to share!

The River Styx

4 oz Fresh Sqeezed OJ

1.75 oz Basil Hydens Bourbon

1 oz Amaretto Disaronni 

Circular Ball Ice

Fill to the top with Tropic King 3.5 oz 

Bloody Bastard

1 oz Dimmi (Dimmi has hints of Apricot and peach that pairs well with Tropic King)

.5 oz St. Germain

½ an organge  or 1 oz of OJ

2 oz of Red Wine

.25 oz Simple Syrup

Shake the above with Ice.

Strain over fresh ice. 

Fill with Tropic King and gently stir to mix.

The Strong Island Iced Tea

25 oz Vodka

.25 oz Gin

.25 oz White Rum

.25 oz Tequila 

1 full lime 

1 full lemon

.25 simple syrup

Stir the above together

splash of Cola

.25oz Cointreau 

Top with Tropic King

Originally posted: May 5th, 2014.

In our most recent experimental single hopped Saison, Motueka, we threw in some acidulated malt, just for fun! 

Also known as Sauermalz, Acid Malt, or Sour Malt, Acidulated malt is a type of malted barley that contains a small amount of lactic acid that gives it a sour taste. Acidulated malt is most commonly used in small amounts (1-5%) to reduce the pH of the wort or mash. It can add complexity and slight tartness that helps highlight certain hop flavors.

In Motueka, we added 3% acidulated malt to highlight some of the Motueka hop flavors, such as lemon, lime, and passion fruit, and to give it an interesting mild tartness. 

At greater amounts (8%), it can be used in certain beer styles to help sour, such as Berliner Weisse and Gose beers, instead of souring the kettle by putting lactobacillus strains straight in the kettle.

Weyermann® acidulated malt is soured with naturally occurring lactic acid that they propagate from wort, following the German Purity Law, which states beer can only be produced using water, barley, and hops. Although exact details of the acidulation process remain undisclosed, the process is similar to the production of other malts. They use a pale barely malt that is steeped, germinated, kilned, and acidulated. 

Always learning something new! 

serves 4 to 6

ingredients

1 12-ounce bottle Funkwerks Saison

1 cup carrot, medium-diced

1 cup onion, medium-diced

1 cup celery, medium-diced

1 large tomato, medium-diced

1 large Russet potato, medium diced

1/4 lb. bacon

15 oz. can of chopped clams

15 oz. can of pureed tomato

3 cups seafood stock or bouillon

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, picked and chopped

preparation

Render bacon in a medium pot until crispy. Remove bacon (not the fat) from pot and set aside.        

Add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and bay leaf to pot. Cook on low heat and caramelize,  about 15 minutes.

Add tomato paste and thyme and stir to coat rendered vegetables. 

“Toast” tomato paste for about five minutes, stirring often. Deglaze tomato paste with beer and simmer for about five minutes to reduce beer just a bit.                            

Strain the clams, reserving the liquid.                                                              

Add the clam juice, lobster stock, diced tomatoes, chili flake, cooked bacon from the first step, and puréed tomato. Bring everything to a simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes and continue to simmer until potatoes are tender.

Turn off heat, add chopped clams, and stir. Garnish with fresh-picked herbs of your choice. 

Enjoy ;)

PRESS RELEASE: (August, 14th 2014) Funkwerks is now packaging in 330ml bottle 4-packs! Now customers can enjoy the beloved Tropic King and the award-winning flagship Saison in a smaller, more convenient bottle!

For three years now, Funkwerks has been bottling solely in 750ml bottles. 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. Not that 750ml is too much Saison for me....

Smaller bottles additionally help in maintaining freshness. If people are opening a larger bottle and saving half of it for a later time, the beer will lose it's carbonation and quickly oxidize with so much air left in the bottle. 

Previously Funkwerks did not have the capacity to accommodate the increase in production that would come with bottling in 330 ml bottles, but their recent expansion of two 30-barrel fermenters increased their fermentation capacity by almost 43%. 

Now with the ability to brew more beer, Funkwerks has also decided to return to kegging in half barrels, reducing the cost per fluid ounce for accounts. 

What are some of the reasons you are excited to pick up a 4-pack?

Originally posted: June 2nd, 2014.

The device simply hooks up to the draft system between the keg and tap. We fill the Hop Rocket with peaches. The beer flows from the keg into the Randall where the beer is infused with peaches and from the tap we are now pouring a Peachy Tropic King! 

Every infusion is an experiment that allows us to come up with fun creations, such as Mango Habanero Saison or Pineapple Deceit. The downside? Each beer creation is fairly brief. Because the Hop Rocket needs to be cleaned with every keg change, each batch lasts the duration of a keg. 

Make sure you can come in and try whichever fun invention we come up with, while it lasts!

We've done a Citra hopped Saison and Saison with espresso coffee and cocoa nibs! Come in and let us know what you want to see go into our Randall!

Originally posted: May 1st 2014

This years Craft Brewer’s Conference was a doozy of a week for Funkwerks. Being CBC’s first year in Colorado we had a lot of expectations along with a lot of unknowns. The experience was better than we could even have had imagined. Industry people from brewers to equipment manufactures from all over the world flocked to Colorado for the conference.

Picture your days as a child at summer camp, similar to the experience depicted in the movie Meatballs, for those of you that have seen it, (if you haven't, you should; it's hilarious). You spent all year doing your own thing, and then summer rolls around and you get to meet back up with all your friends at camp. CBC is a very similar experience for craft brewers. You spend the entire week having fun, trying new beer, and going to lectures. Between meetings and beer tastings you walk the exposition hall, talking to manufactures about their latest and greatest.

countries. Instead of Bill Murray (from Meatballs) presenting the winners, Charlie Papazian the godfather of home brewing and the craft beer movement stood on stage and presented the World Cup winners. This year there were 4,754 beers entered from 1,403 breweries, from 58 countries into 94 different style categories.  219 judges from 31 different countries judged the entries, needless to say the competition was stiff.

Impatiently waiting for the specific categories while all the while the winners were being announced. The Saison category came and went with no medal for Funkwerks. Needless to say we were extremely disappointed. Out of the four entries, our bets were placed on Saison to win a medal. Then Deceit was called and all the anxiety washed away.

Overall, next to the all you can eat oysters on the half shell and cheese carts at the awards ceremony, the best part of CBC was the camaraderie experienced between all the brewers. The support and inspiration was overwhelming. This is Funkwerks first World Beer Cup win, now it only means we have to work harder to out do ourselves! 

Thank you to all of our supporters,

Justin Renninger (head brewer at Funkwerks)

1 1/4 oz      gin of choice (I recommend Hendricks)

1       oz      simple syrup

3/4 -1oz      squeezed lemon juice

5 - 7            basil leaves

3 - 5  oz      Funkwerks Saison

1) Muddle basil leaves and lemon juice in a shaker.

2) Add ice, simple syrup, and gin and shake! Or stir.

3) Add Funkwerks Saison, and stir. (Do not shake!)

4) Pour into a glass and garnish with a bail leaf.

Funkwerks Saison Beer Bread Recipe 

Ingredients:

3     cups of all-purpose flour

1     Tablespoon of baking powder

1.5  teaspoons of salt

4     Tablespoons of Sugar 

1     bottle of Funkwerks Saison - 12 oz for the bread, remaining for your face :)

3     Tablespoons of butter (optional)

4) Brush melted butter across top of dough. This step is optional.

5) Bake until done, baking time can vary. Mine took about 45 minutes. A toothpick should come out         clean.

6) Enjoy :)

Originally posted: Feb. 7th 2014.

There is no doubt that people have caught the bug of wild fermentation. With the array of stimulating flavors and the range of intensity and complexity that wild yeast and bacteria can bring to beer, it’s hard not to appreciate the uniqueness that wild fermentation can to bring to craft beer! The variation in bacteria, yeast, and brewing practices, brings infinite possibilities for the “wild ale” beer consumer, and many styles to choice from. Saisons, Sours, and Brett beers are often mistaken for the same style of beer, yet there are some distinct style differences that have been defined, and knowledge of these differences can help distinguish between the similarities. 

The saison beer style has been around since the 19th century and was traditionally brewed by Belgian farmers in uncovered containers in their farmhouses. Due to the naturally unhygienic brewing conditions, the beer developed a wild flavor, naturally. Saisons are brewed with pale malt, a light to medium hop, and carry notes of citrus, herbs, and spices. Originally a low alcohol beer style intended to keep the farm workers in production, the modern rendition is a relatively higher alcohol beer brewed using a cultivated wild Belgian saison yeast strain, instead of utilizing open fermentation practices. The Belgian wild yeast imitates the wild flavors that traditionally resulted from open fermentation, giving saisons their characteristic peppery and citrus flavor.  

A common misconception is that saisons get their distinct flavor because they are brewed with Brettanomyces.

Brettanomyces is a type of yeast that is found on the skins of fruit. In most cases, Brettanomyces is considered a contaminant that produces an off flavor in beer, however, it is a key ingredient in many wild beer styles. When brewing a Brett beer, it is typically used in addition to another yeast, although there are 100% Brett Beers, like our Brett Trois. Brettanomyces contributes a unique funkiness, described as “horse-blanket.” It can also give beer an acidic quality, a unique spiciness, earthiness, and fruit characteristics.

Sour beer is characterized by an acidic, tart, and sour taste. There are many types of sours that can range in color and sweetness. The word “sour” is a blanket term and includes Lambic, Gueuze, Flanders Red Ale, and Oud Bruin. Similar to Brett beers, sours are intentionally infected with (good) bacteria strains, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, which give them a mouth puckering quality. Barrel aging is a common practice with sours, because these bacteria strains love oak barrels. As the barrels are reused, the bacterial colonies will grow, making barrels a happy home for these souring microbes to help develop a delightfully complex and puckering brew.

Saisons and sours are not necessarily brewed with Brett, but they can be. Due to this confusion, saisons and brett beers are frequently mistaken to be a sour. When brewing sours, Brettanomyces is often utilized, but it is not the souring agent. This leads to the common (and understandable) lack of distinction between Brett Beers, Saisons, and Sours. And lastly, although there are unique differences between the styles, the only thing you can expect from wild ales is that they are unpredictable. On top of that, many brewers blend the styles to create a uniquely crafted brew, designed for limitless enjoyment!