Beer with the Buddha :: Funky Buddha Brewery

in #beer7 years ago (edited)

I just realized I need to visit more breweries and brewpubs.


After enjoying @sunravelme's Austin, TX brewery tour post, I dug up some photos from a visit the wife and I made a month or two ago to a local brewery here in South Florida.


Funky Buddha, based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, started in 2010 in a hole-in-the-wall strip mall location. They upgraded to a very nice facility several years ago. Now they're owned by Constellation Brands, who also owns very pedestrian beer brands Corona and Modello. Normally that would turn me off; I'm a bit of a beer snob and hate to see good brands subsumed by the Great Beer Satan brands (Bud/Miller/Coors/etc).

Still, they retain their local flavor, and don't seem to be affected by the purchase...yet.



The exterior of the brewery is fun and definitely Florida. The giant silo at the right is full of grain (barley) for their beer.



Inside, we get dropped right into their bar area. No food here, just beer. Food is made one room over, and you can bring the food back to this area to eat. Probably some legal thing.



The place was pretty empty at noon when we arrived for our brewery tour.



They also have a separate glass-door area where private parties can be held.



And food is made here!



But first, the tour. As expected, lots of stainless steel.



Barrels were stashed everywhere. These guys do a lot of really weird beers, and like to try barrels from wine, port, whiskey, etc.



And they bottle their stuff. This was a Saturday, so the bottling apparatus was offline. Probably a good thing, since that seems like it'd be super loud.



Big stack of kegs!



And more barrels. Our tour guy was telling us that once during a tour a barrel sprung a leak, and rather than let the beer go to waste he let people bring their sampler glasses up for as much as the wanted. I tried to break a barrel, but he wouldn't let me.



Closeup of some casks.



And then finally out for some beer in the taproom! Tons available, but I had to try their flagship...Maple Bacon Coffee Porter.




[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 26.174512 lat -80.131107 long d3scr)



Photos by @negativer.

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Maple Bacon Coffee Porter.

What madness is this? How did it taste?

It sounds disgusting, I know. I'm a homebrewer, and wouldn't consider attempting putting bacon in my beer. Having an oil slick on top of my beer would be gross, so I have to think they used artificial flavors.

That said, it tasted more like a stack of pancakes than an amalgam of the namesake food items. Still, unique and very good!

Do you inquire whether it was vegan or not? Especially if they are using flavourings rather than actual pig. It could be.

I admit...this question was pretty low on my list of things to discuss with the bartender.

Maybe because I already knew the answer about the vegan part of it. :) Oddly enough, it is not. The reason is due to the lactose/milk sugar they add for sweetness, which is typical of a lot of darker, sweeter beers (since it is a non-fermentable sugar).

They don't actually use bacon in the beer, though. They use 'natural flavorings' (I think a form of 'liquid smoke') and smoked grain to emulate the bacony flavor.

Ah the good old liquid smoke. Confusing vegans and vegetarians everywhere!

Interesting it's not lactose friendly beer. I know Guinness wasn't vegan for ages, but I have a feeling it is now.

I can see this easily turning into a breakfast beer. Lol.
Maple sounds good. Not so sure about the bacon part.
Thanks for sharing, bro.

That looks like a fun brewery! I love taking tours (mostly because they usually come with free beer)

It was really pretty cool! We got little 5oz taster glasses, and 3 pours during the duration of the tour. I love any tour that gives me a glass with beer in it.

Maple Bacon Coffee Porter ... OMG ... you didn't tell us how it tasted:)

It's their flagship beer; when it first came out bottles of the stuff were selling for hundreds of dollars on Ebay.

I liked it, but it was more of a 'maple' beer; I didn't get much bacon. I was sad. But I still drank it.

I think I would be sad too :):):)

And you got your shots just right...nice photography @negativer

Thanks!

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I'm trying to remember which was my favorite. There was the Lychee Berliner, and Fire in the Hole. I think it was between those two.

The Berliner was surprisingly good. I wasn't sure about the spicy beer, but that was a good counterpoint to the berliner.