Funk are best known to West Australians for their range of ciders made in the Swan Valley. Since moving to a larger facility, however, the family business has also broadened its scope into Funk Drinks Co. And that broadened scope has now led to the release of Farmers Ale.
Brothers and co-founders Martin and Dustin Michael began producing a range of cold-pressed juices in 2012, which evolved into a thriving cidery plus a range of Funk wines, with beer a longer-term proposition.
“We always want to do something with a purpose, and that’s to showcase something that grows on our family farm,” Martin told The Crafty Pint, “but the malting side of things wasn’t possible when we started, so we started squeezing our own oranges in 2012.
“We think the produce that we grow in WA, with our arid conditions, has a lot more punch. We’re a Wheatbelt farm, growing wheat and barley in a reasonable scale, and we looked into our own malting but it was a bit too hard to justify.
“Brewing is pretty capital intensive but this is a whole different level – it’s millions of dollars for an entry-level setup”
However, the brothers' curiosity wasn’t quelled and, in 2019, Dustin completed a malting course in Montana. More recently, a group including Tim Hosken from Whipper Snapper Distillery launched Loam Malt Studio, a small-batch malting operation which now produces Funk’s malt in five tonne batches.
“It’s the perfect scale for where we are at in the beer world,” Martin says, “and there’s scope to grow.
“It’s about a four-week turnaround from getting it malted to being brewed. We’ve dialled down the hops to two grams per litre to showcase the malt, and we reckon there’s a freshness to it that we haven’t noticed in any other malts before, which got us excited.”
They found another intriguing quality highlighted through the recipe development phase. Initial test batches used some of Loam’s Narrogin farm malt, sources about two hours south of the Michael family farm before shifting 100 percent to Toodjay malt.
“Being further north and with drier conditions – and this highlights the terroir aspect like wine – our malt seems to give more a bit more punch,” Martin says.
Funk’s barley and wheat are dry-grown, without pesticides and minimal fertiliser, in WA's Wheatbelt, which covers more than 150,000 square kilometres to the north, east and south of Perth. The majority is broadacre farming, responsible for nearly 20 million tonnes of grain per year, which contributed more than $6 billion to the Australian economy in 2023.
Now in control of their own paddock to pint beer, Martin is keen to keep the approach simple.
“The full circle of beer has gone from hoppy and fruity stuff back to more traditional styles, and we think Farmers Ale fits the moment pretty well.
“We’re thinking about a dark beer for winter, but Farmers Ale will be the only year-round beer.
“We want to do one commercial beer, and do it reasonably well. We’re mindful of coming from a cidery to producing beer – it’s a little unheard of, so we don’t want to confuse it with a billion different options.”
That said, he hints at possible options in the future.
“We want to showcase WA at its finest, and we believe that WA produces some of the best malt, but we want to take that and do single varietals like a spelt beer and some ancient varieties as limited releases,” he says. “We’d showcase a slightly alternative different view on farming rather than it all be homogenous.”
In the meantime, Farmers Ale presents as a straightforward beer with creamy malt at its core and community in its heart.
About the author: Guy drinks and writes about beer, goes for a run most mornings and makes his own chilli hot sauce. Find out more on Goodtimes Craft Beer via Facebook and Instagram.
For me, beer writing is about sharing experience with others, most of which is as much about what happens around the glass as what’s in it. It’s why I started a blog in 2014 after years of drinking beer and through quite literally bumping into founder James Smith at Good Beer Week began writing for The Crafty Pint. Many amazing friendships have developed from the love of water, malt, hops, yeast, adjuncts and hype!
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer
Early 90s experience with Dogbolter and bottles of Delirium Tremens at the Sail and Anchor proved that there was more to beer than the cheap stuff I was drinking. A few years later, Chimay Blue once again teased before Little Creatures Pale Ale and Feral Hop Hog set the course for beer with flavour and nuance.
Favourite beer styles
Balance and drinking context are key but a short list includes Brett saisons, super fresh West Coast IPAs, well constructed BA sours, BA imperial stouts and fresh India pale lagers.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
Depending on the beer and circumstance, bitterness and acidity are the hurdles to overcome.
- Right now, Eagle Bay’s IPL is a great modern expression of technique and approachability. The hop presence arrives in soft mango and lime with enough bitterness but it’s the tight carbonation and refreshingly super dry finish that seals the deal.
- Boston Brewing’s Afterglose: Raspberry gose brings a near-perfect fruit / salt / acidity balance to a vibrantly coloured beer. It’s a real talking point which can lead to conversation about the history of beer styles, acidity on the palate or just: "Do you want another one?"
- Any fresh Czech-style pilsner. This has to be fresh in order to pick up the grassy noble hop characters and zippy bitterness on the slightly more biscuity malt body. While familiar to many, a really fresh expression is great starting point for a massive world of beer.
Tell us about a standout beer moment
A favourite beer memory involves spending an afternoon sitting under the dripping eaves of a café in the 5th Arrondissement watching Parisians run in and out of a bakery with fresh baguettes while I drank large goblets of Duvel as the winter rain soaked the tiny cobblestoned square. So much about beer is context!
