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Glassware Education

Variation in beer glassware has become more prevalent within the craft beer industry in recent years. The generic shaker pint is becoming less prevalent and there are more snifters, tulip, and Weizen glasses being utilized in return... and there is a purpose for that!  

When assessing glassware for beer, an important function of glassware is how well it retains beer’s foamy head. Head is important for two reasons, one of which is presentation of the beer.  The second significance of head retention is that it traps in the compounds in beer that contribute to a beer’s aroma, referred to as volatiles. Volatiles dissipate quicker when a beer has no head.

The Pint glass is a slightly tapered cylinder. Although common, the 16 oz tumbler pint glass was not originally intended for beer, as it was designed for shaking cocktails (Shaker pint). The 20 oz Imperial Pint glass, also known as a Shoulder Pint, is preferred and has a bulge towards the top that aids in head retention, helps in stacking glasses, and keeping a tight grip of the glass.

Ideal for: Pale ales, Amber ales, IPAs, Brown ales, Porters, and Stouts.
        

The Mug, also known as a Stein. These glasses are large, heavy and sturdy, with handle. Mugs come in many different shapes and sizes. Designed for reckless cheersing and heavy drinking, because it holds a lot of beer.
Ideal for: German lagers or anything you want to drink a lot of.

    

Pilsner Glasses are 12 oz. tall, slender and tapered glass. The narrow body of the glass helps showcase the color, carbonation and helps with head retention. Great for enhancing volatiles (aromas).
Ideal for: Pilsners and other Lagers.
   

A  Stange (Slender cylinder) is a traditional German glass. Stange means “stick”, representing it’s long, narrow body. Stanges are used to serve more delicate beers, amplifying malt and hop nuances. The shape contributes to slower dissipation of the carbonation and a more narrow concentration of volatiles.
Ideal for: Czech pilsner, altbier, gose, gueuze, kolsch, lambic, rauchbier.

  

The Flute glass is a long, narrow body, usually with a stem base. Similar to a stange, the long narrow body slows the dissipation of the carbonation allowing better head retention. Additionally, the shape helps showcase the color of the beer with a thinner body.
Ideal for: Czech Pilsner, Bock, Dunkels, and Sours.
           

A Tulip glass is a stemmed, bulbous glass with the top of the glass pushes out a bit to form a lip in order to capture the head, in the shape of a tulip. The benefits of a tulip glass is that it catches and amplifies volatiles, while it retains foamy heads.
Ideal for: Belgian-styles beers and Sours. 

   

Goblets, also known as a Chalice, are common for Belgian-styles. They come in different designs, usually dependent on the brewery. Typically have heavy, thick walls. They are designed to maintain head through scoring the inside of the bottom of the glass, creating CO2 nucleation point contributing to head retention.
Ideal for: Belgian-style Tripels, Dubbels, Quadruple ales.
     

 Snifter glasses, also used for brandy and cognac, are great for beer. Their wide-bowled or stemmed glasses with their tapered mouths are perfect for capturing the aromas. The provide room to swirl and agitate 

volatiles.
Ideal for: higher ABV beers. Imperial IPAs, Imperial stouts, Barley Wines.
             
A Weizen glass is an authentic Bavarian Weizen glass designed for wheat beers. Tall with thin walls to showcase the color and allow room for head. Designed to hold more beer and more head.
Ideal for: wheat beers. 

BEER RELEASE: Oud Bruin

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. 20% 1 year & 80% 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.

Getting Ready for the 2015 Great American Beer Festival

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.

 

2014 GABF

2014 GABF

2012 GABF

2012 GABF

BEER RELEASE: Punch

New beer introductions

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.

Raspberry Provincial Released in 4-packs

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.

BEER RELEASE: School's Out Saison

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. 

Funkwerks' Sour Program is Growing

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.