Davis, Calif. — Fünke Canadien, a collaboration brew from Sudwerk Brewing Co. and BSG CraftBrewing, is a featured beer at the 2015 Craft Brewers Conference, April 14-17 in Portland, Ore.
The beer, a Session Brett, is the joint effort of Mike Hutson, lead brewer for Sudwerk, and Peter Hoey, West Coast sales manager for BSG CraftBrewing, an industry supplier. The yearly gathering of brewing professionals is a great place to shine light on the companies’ brands and partnership, Hutson said.
Hoey is excited about pouring the beer at the Craft Brewers Conference. “The CBC is a wide audience of professional brewers that is the perfect place to showcase our ingredients, and what better way to do that than brewing a beer to serve at our trade show booth?”
To brew the Fünke Canadien, Hutson and Hoey used 2-row barley malt, malted and unmalted wheat, and oats. It was initially fermented with two strains of Saison yeast (Belgian and French) and finished with Brettanomyces. The Brett fermentation was allowed to progress for nearly two months in the “Funk Tank” Sudwerk uses for sour beers, Hutson said. The results are a delicious beer that has a 5.4% ABV and 30 IBU.
Fünke Canadien features Canadian malts, but it’s not the first Sudwerk beer with a funky name. The brewery also has Fünke Hop Farm wild ale, which is a dry-hopped, barrel-aged Saison.
During the Portland conference, the Fünke Canadien can be found at beer station 1952 of BrewExpo America, in the Oregon Convention Center. Presented by the Brewers Association, the annual conference unites craft brewers and brewpub professionals with industry suppliers. It’s at different locations each year.
Hoey said Fünke Canadien fits right into brewery’s critically acclaimed sour and barrel-aged program. “Sudwerk is one of the few local breweries that use open fermentation as part of their program, which are great for Belgian style ales as well as the traditional German beers they brew, so I was excited to use those in the production of this beer.”
Hutson likes the opportunity to spread the word about Sudwerk, a 25-year-old brand that gained new energy in 2012 when Trent Yackzan, grandson of one of the founders, and co-owner Ryan Fry, organized investors to purchase it. “We are in the process of rebuilding our brand, and love opportunities to show people that in addition to brewing West Coast lagers, we are also capable of making more avant-garde styles.”
Building on 25 years of family legacy and brewing tradition, Sudwerk Brewing Co. specializes in artisanal craft brews, specifically West Coast craft lagers. Its taproom, The Dock Store, at 2001 Second St., Davis, Calif., is open from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and Sundays during the warm season. It offers a rotating menu of experimental and innovative beers, “honest pints” and growler fills, fresh White Labs brewers’ yeast, and good conversation. Learn more at http://sudwerkbrew.com.