Homemade Dahlia Salted Pretzels with Dahlia Mustard

Pretzel Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 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)

Directions:

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.

Dahlia Mustard Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown mustard seeds, yellow mustard seeds, or a combination. 
• 1 cup of Dahlia
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 half pint canning jars with lids and rings. 

1. Soak mustard seems with dark beer in a large bowl and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours. If the seeds soak up the beer too quickly, add more beer. 
2. Transfer the soaked mustard seeds to a food processor along with garlic, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and black pepper. Pulse until desired consistency is reached. 
3. Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. 
4. Pack mustard into hot jars, filling within 1/4 inch of the top. 
5. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. 
6. Wipe the rims of the jars. Top lids and screw on rings. 
7. Refrigerate the jars of mustard for 2 weeks before using. 

Enjoy!

Spent Grain Dog Treats

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.

Fort Collins Style Clam Chowder with Funkwerks Saison Base

photo courtesy of Emily Hutto and recipe courtesy of Chef Ricky Myers of Jax Fish House at 123 N. College Avenue in Fort Collins

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 ;)

Funky Cocktails and Swanky Music at Ace Gillett's

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

Pumpkins Come And Pumpkins Go, But A Jack-O-Lanterns Steal The Show.

This year we provided pumpkins and carving utensils for anyone who wanted to join us for a Pumpkin Carving Party!

We bought 32 pumpkins!

Everyone who wanted to participate in a Pumpkin Contest for the chance to win some free beer stayed until sundown..... And the winner is.....

1st Place in Pumpkin Contest goes to this FW Skull Glass
by Joseph Sennett

2nd Place Cat Pumpkin
Brad loves Cats.

Adam's Pumpkin

Join us next year!

Funkwerks Wins a Medal at GABF!

Raspberry Provincial was awarded a Gold medal this year for the Belgian-Style Fruit Ale beer-style category at Great American Beer Festival® (GABF). 

Presented by the Brewer's Association, GABF is the largest national beer competition that evaluates and recognizes the most outstanding brewers and their beers produced in the United States. The 2014 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of 222 expert judges from the record number of 5,507 entries, plus 89 Pro-Am entries, received from 1,309 U.S. breweries. The competition was fierce!

Raspberry Provincial stood up against 40 other beers in the Belgian-Style Fruit Ale category and took Gold!

Raspberry Provincial is a Belgian-Style Berliner Weisse ale with a heavy dose of raspberries. A sessionable fruit beer at 4.2% alcohol by volume that is delightfully tart, with a citrusy raspberry aroma and a dry, tart finish. It's a beer that appeals to a range of beer drinkers because it maintains a bright fruit profile without being overly sour or cloyingly sweet. The result is one of the most refreshingly drinkable beers we have brewed.

Photo © 2014 Jason E. Kaplan

Raspberry Provincial is brewed during the summer season and available in bottles. Please check our website for availability or shoot us an e-mail!

What is Acidulated Malt?

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!