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