Awarded 2012’s Small Brewing Company of the Year, Funkwerks takes cool and cozy to a whole new level. Inside, Funkwerks feels like a small cabin with environmentally-friendly wood-and-corrugated-metal walls to compliment the Fort Collins community of sustainability.
It’s a welcoming environment with bright colors and the inviting staff helped me pick out the top four beers to sample. Their beer choices are based solely on Saisons — dry profiles and complex fruity aromas— as well as Belgian-style beers causing a higher alcohol content than the original versions. Funkwerks takes brews meant for summer months and turned them into a year-round taste for all to enjoy.
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1. Flagship Saison
First on the flight was the Flagship Saison. Heavy with flavors of oranges and other citrus fruits, touches of ginger and spices hit the taste buds with a lingering dry bitterness. The aftertaste has a nice effect that makes you reach for the glass just one more time, because one glass isn’t possibly enough.
2. Tropic King
Similar to the Flagship Saison was the Tropic King. This delicious beer is full of exotic fruit flavor, ranging anywhere from passion fruit, mango and peaches. The Tropic King was the darkest of the four beers that I tried, but I enjoyed that it ended with a sweet and tangy aftertaste.
3. Raspberry Provincial
Raspberry Provincial was next on the list with a purple-red color making me gaze in awe as it was poured. This one was sour and tart, bitter and dry. Drinking this beer simultaneously reminded me of drinking sparkling wine or hard cider. Although different from what is expected from a brewski, the raspberry flavor that you would expect is fully present and didn’t let me down. Don’t let the color and aroma fool you, the Raspberry Provincial is less sweet and more sour than expected.
4. Deceit
Last, but definitely not least, is the Deceit beer. This one was my personal favorite for a variety of reasons. With the highest alcohol content — similar to a hoppy IPA — and tastes of pineapple and pear, the flavors cause your mouth to water. It is refreshing, less tart, less bitter and less dry than the first three beers on the flight. It was awarded a gold medal at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival) in 2012, and is a special kind of wheaty, fruity, strong ale.
All four beers from Funkwerks were light with fruity, ginger and other spicy flavors and just the right hoppiness that gave me the perfect buzz. Some were bitter, some were dry, some were tangy and some were sweet, giving beer lovers a nice variety to choose from when they walk in. Above all else, there is no doubt in my mind I will be headed back here in the near future to see what other flavors Funkwerks has to offer.
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Collegian Entertainment Reporter Makaela Bamonti can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.