Denizens Make it Funky Fest 2015


On October 3, 2015, Denizens Brewing Company held their first ever Make it Funky Fest. It featured 21 breweries and more than 50 funky, wild, and sour ales, including 10 from Denizens. It was the first event of its kind in this area, at least that I'm aware of. It was well-run and the lines weren't bad because they only sold 200 tickets. In addition to the funky beers, they also played funky music all day from classic artists such as Dr. John, the Gap Band, Earth Wind & Fire, and Rick James. It was a cloudy, cool, somewhat rainy day - perfect for drinking beer indoors!

Just in case...

There were some interesting paintings of various famous people with funky hairstyles:


The following are the beers I sampled, with my favorites in bold:

  1. Lost Rhino Woodpucker (American sour)
  2. Lost Rhino Alphabrett (barrel-aged brown ale with Brett)
  3. Franklins Brewery Brettino's Bounce
  4. Franklins Brewery Slippin' into Darkness
  5. Coppertail Brewing Purple Drank (Berliner weisse)
  6. Coppertail Brewing Strawberry Dangerous Frank (Berliner weisse)
  7. Coppertail Brewing Kiwi Khaleesi Floridaweisse
  8. Crooked Stave Pure Guava Petite (sour American wild ale)
  9. Crooked Stave Origins (American wild ale)
  10. Gordon Biersch Barrel-Aged Quadrupel
  11. Gordon Biersch Sour Stout
  12. Ocelot Brewing Idle Hands (sour saison)
  13. Ocelot Brewing Weird Creatures (tart raspberry saison)
  14. Mad Fox Brewing Oaked Crazy Ivan (Russian imperial stout)
  15. Mountain Sun Golden Valley Abbey Ale
  16. Mountain Sun Golden Ciel Sauvage Wild Ale
  17. Baying Hound Aleworks Darwin (wild fermented ale)
  18. Hellbender Brewing Kentucky Common (American strong ale)
  19. Hellbender Brewing Peach Saison Sour
  20. Union Craft Brewing Old Pro Gose
  21. Union Craft Brewing Third Stone (apricot sour)
  22. Iron Hill Golden Child (American wild ale)
  23. Iron Hill La Flama Blanca (Berliner weisse aged in tequila barrels)
  24. Old Ox Brewery Blood Orange Gose
  25. 3 Stars Cognitive Dissonance (Berliner weisse)
  26. Brewers Art Dinaus (kettle sour)
  27. Brewers Art In the Sauer Kraud (blend of Dinaus and a raspberry beer, soured in a keg)
  28. Denizens Bocho (gose with lime)
  29. Denizens Brett Dubbel
  30. Denizens Brett Leroy Raddle'd (Brett IPA radler with tangerine juice)
  31. Denizens Low County Common
  32. Denizens Wee Bit Funkay (wee heavy with Brett)
  33. Denizens Drie Day (100% Brett white IPA)
  34. Denizens Bocho Bandito (Bocho mixed with their Tripel, aged in mezcal barrels)
  35. Denizens Wee More Funkay (barrel-aged sour wee heavy)
  36. Denizens Guera en la Madera (mezcal barrel-aged Brett tripel)
  37. Denizens Backyard Boogie (farmhouse-inspired barrel-aged ale)
  38. McKenzie Brew House Cuvee du Soleil (barrel-aged grissette)
  39. McKenzie Brew House What Supp (10.5% ABV barrel-aged strong saison with cherries) (keg version)
  40. McKenzie Brew House What Supp (10.5% ABV barrel-aged strong saison with cherries) (bottle version)
  41. Free Will Peach Lambic
  42. Free Will Cranberry Sour
  43. Free Will Blood and Guts (dark sour)
  44. Right Proper Scott 5 (farmhouse ale)
  45. Right Proper Know Your Conjurer (farmhouse ale)
  46. Strangeways Brewing Hibiscus Wake Me Up Before You Gose (aged in red wine barrels)
  47. Strangeways Brewing Rot in Hell (pumpkin stout)
  48. Bluejacket Peach Nectarine Sour Ale
  49. Bluejacket The Jam (strawberry rhubarb Berliner weisse)
  50. Bluejacket Plum Sour
  51. Bluejacket Vignette (cherry ale with Brett)

I can only see this event growing. Sour and funky ales are getting more and more popular, and the first year of any festival always gets fewer attendees than subsequent years. As word gets around, this festival will become very popular.