Brewery of the Month:
Funky Bow
This month's Brewery of the Month is Funky Bow Beer Co out of Lyman, Maine. We would like to thank founder, Abraham Lorrain, for taking the time to talk to us about everything Funky Bow!
When did you open: We opened our doors in April of 2013
Where are you located: Lyman, Maine. About half an hour South of Portland
Where can people find you: ME, NH, MA, RI
What is the history of the Brewery: When I was 18 years old, my dad and I had a disagreement. I had some friends over, and we were rocking out to loud music and my dad got mad at us. Long story short, we didn’t talk to each other for 7 years. During that time I graduated from college with a degree in microbiology, and got a grant to study ocean water, but I eventually reconnected with him. For Christmas that year he bought me a beer kit. I eventually lost the grant and I was considering going back to school. My dad was bummed because I had just reconnected with him and he thought it would be more fun to open a brewery. He pitched the idea to me and I thought why the hell not!? It took us about a year and a half to open up the brewery doors.
When we were getting ready to open the brewery, we were talking for months about how we wanted to connect to customers. I played the guitar and my dad played the fiddle. We decided to try to connect to customers through music, and that is reflected in our beer names and brewery name. The name “Funky Bow” is a form of bowing called slurs where you play multiple notes on one drag of the bow on a fiddle. I like to think that I get my money out of my microbiology degree by using multiple different kinds of yeast and testing for contamination. I have a small lab where I do those kinds of tests.
Do you have a philosophy behind the beers you brew: We wanted to brew beers that we like to drink ourselves. We like to brew clean ales that are dry that you could have multiple pints of. That said we also have to brew beers that the market calls for.
What styles of beer do you prefer to brew: IPAs- I’m a hop hunter, myself. But the fun styles are bier de garde, saisons, kolsch, and barrel aged beers. The fun for me comes with experimenting with a bunch of different types of yeast. I am currently using a lot of French, Belgian, and German strains, but I also have a new Czechoslovakian strain that I’m excited to use
What are your core beers: G-String Hoppy Pale Ale, So Folkin’ Hoppy, Citra IPA, Jam Session IPA, Hoedown Kolsch, Special Effect Mosaic IPA, Pluck It Double IPA, 5-String Oatmeal Vanilla Milk Stout, Midnight Special Coffee Porter.
Plans for fun/cool beers: We are doing a lot of wine barrel aged beers with fruit and different yeasts. We are also going to be doing some blended saisons, as well as some Imperial Russian Stouts for the winter. We also have 3 peach trees on our farm- we want to take our Kolsch beer and add it to a 3 barrel tank and add the peaches.
What can we expect from Funky Bow in the Future?: Every weekend we are open for 17 hours where we invite different bands to come play. It’s a great time and people should definitely come check it out!
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