Funkwerks Got a New Toy

We got a Randall!

A Randall (also known as a Hop Rocket), that was originally invented by Dogfish Head brewery, is an in line infuser. We use to infuse beer with different types of hops, fruit, vegetables, and whatever else our Funkwerks hearts desire! We could even infuse the beer with bacon….. mmmmm, bacon….

Justin playing with his new toy!

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, a Amarillo hopped Saison, and Saison with espresso coffee and cocoa nips! Come in and let us know what you want to see go into our Randall!

Citra hops in the Randall

Craft Beer Conference comes to Colorado!

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.

Conferences and All you can eat oysters at the
World Beer Cup Award Ceremony.

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.

From left to right:
Gordon Schuck,  Charlie Papazian, and Justin Renninger.  

With the end of the week, comes the World Beer Cup. With an international panel of 219 beer judges from 31 countries it is the Olympics of Beer Competition. There were 4,754 entries from 1,403 breweries in 58 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)

Our "decorated" Deceit!

Flavor Tripping

Never having tried the flavor altering substance known as Miracle fruit, the Funkwerks gang decided to get together and “flavor trip.” We tested a few of the different forms of miracle fruit; dried, powder, and pill form. Best results were found with the powder and pill form from www.miraclefruitman.com and mberry.

Synsepalum dulificum is a berry, commonly known as Miracle or Magic Fruit, composed of protein molecules that bind to the tongue’s taste buds and activate sweet receptors when it comes in contact with acidic foods. Originating in West Africa, Miracle fruit is consumed before a meal to sweeten plum wine, beer, and to improve the flavor of soured corn bread and other foods that easily sour.  

A smorgasbord Lemons, limes, hot sauce, salty Chex Mix, Sour Patch Kids, and of course, our sour brown ale, Oud Bruin. Although miracle fruit is reported to only activate with low pH foods, we experimented with all of the taste buds. After letting the powder fully dissolve, our puckered faces relaxed. The lemons tasted like refreshingly sweet lemonade, and Oud Bruin tasted like sweet Belgian ale with no sourness. As to be expected there was no taste difference in the Chex Mix, and not a noticeable difference in Frank’s Red hot sauce, however there may be more of an effect with a more acidic hot sauce.

Walking away with stomachaches from all the candy and citrus, it was universally decided we enjoyed our Oud Bruin more when our taste buds were not under the influence. Nonetheless it was an interesting experience.