Funky Buddha Brewery Turns Three June 11, Takes Over Jaco Pastorius Park

Funky Buddha Brewery has been growing like a teenager since they opened the doors to their Oakland Park production facility in 2013, and the time has come for another birthday celebration.

The South Florida brewery, most famously known for their highly rated and coveted Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (which won a Gold Medal in Specialty Beer at the coveted 2016 World Beer Cup), will be hosting an eight hour festival event at Jaco Pastorius Park across from the tap room from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturday June 11. 

Live music from Miami’s hip-hop funk band The Problem Kids will provide plenty of atmosphere, and a dozen of the best food trucks in South Florida will give nutrition, including crowd favorites such as Chaco’s Chinese Tacos, Sidecar Kitchen, Rolling Chefs, and Spring In Roll Out, and Rhino Doughnuts.

Almost 100 beers will be on tap and including the exclusive release of two new bottled beers: Barrel-Aged Chocwork Orange, an Imperial Milk Porter with real orange peel and cocoa nibs aged for six months in Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels; and Three Years & Brewing Anniversary IPA brewed with Mosaic and Vic Secret hops, mango, and Champagne yeast. Both beers will be sold in 22 oz bottles exclusively at the event.
Funky favorites such as Maple Bacon Coffee Porter, More Moro Blood Orange IPA, and Last Snow will return. New brews will also take center stage, including two collaborations: Salty Buddha, a mash up with Delray Beach’s Saltwater Brewing that combines a sour German-style ale with real sea salt from the South Florida coast, and Tip ta’ Tip, a blend of two ales brewed last year at Short’s Brewing in Michigan and at Funky Buddha, which were barrel aged and combined to resemble a unique take on an old fashioned cocktail.

An $8 cover charge day-of will be the barrier to entry for this event, and $6 beer tickets on a choose-what-you-drink basis.

2015 was a year that has boosted Funk Buddha into a more national spotlight than usual. The brewery became a “regional” facility, a designation defined by the Brewer's Association by producing and selling over 15,000 barrels of beer of which the brewery sold 19,500.

It was the year that Funky Buddha opened its own restaurant, the Craft Food Counter & Kitchen, inside its tap room. They were selected by Sierra Nevada Brewery to head up the Southeast collaboration beer in its national “Beer Camp Across America” release.

“This year has been monumental for us in terms of quality, growth, and maturity as a brewery,” said KC Sentz, Funky Buddha’s co-owner and General Manager. “I’m incredibly proud of our hard working and dedicated team and what we’ve been able to accomplish. Year four is going to be even more exciting.”

“Our festivals are an exciting time for our brew team to showcase the passion they pour into each one of our beers,” says co-owner and head brewer, Ryan Sentz. “With new beers and returning favorites, we’re always trying to one up what we’ve done before. It's something that we take great pride in.”

Complete information about the event is available on the Funky Buddha website.

Jaco Pastorious Park is located at 1098 NE 40th Ct, in Oakland Park. Make sure you find appropriate parking.

Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers. He is a Certified Beer Server and has been a homebrewer since 2009. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.