Funky Fauna Artisan Ales opened its doors in Sisters at the end of 2021, as a small-batch brewery focusing on local ingredients and terroir with its distinctive line of wild ales. The company developed a following for its beer, available only at its Sisters taproom and in cans at various retailers.

The brewery recently announced expansion plans with a new Bend taproom location, The Doom Lounge. It will be located inside The Pantry (1124 NW Newport Ave., in the building that was formerly home to Devore’s Good Food Store).

Details are sparse as of yet, but according to owner and brewer Michal Frith, there will be seven taps pouring Funky beers that will rotate monthly, and the “plan is to be open Friday-Sunday to start with hours (to be determined).” The opening is tentatively slated for later this month.

Before The Doom

Until The Doom Lounge is open, you can visit the taproom in Sisters, but only on the last Saturday of the month during the winter.

All of Funky Fauna’s beers are brewed with Oregon malt and hops and fermented with native wild yeast that Frith cultured from the environment around the brewery in Sisters. Often these include fruits, spices, and other ingredients, sourced as locally as possible.

Many of them begin as a saison fermented with the native house yeast. Saison is a style that traces its lineage to Belgium and the rustic farmhouse ales brewed for the farm laborers, typically with ingredients found on the farm, often including fruit and/or spices. It’s a versatile base upon which Frith builds his beers, most of which are under 5% alcohol by volume.

At the end of the year the brewery released a number of new brews inspired by the harvest season and the holidays. Cans are variously available at a variety of retail locations, and I had picked up two from Newport Avenue Market to try, ike and Gathering of Ghouls.

Forest fruit

Forestlike is one of the brewery’s holiday-inspired ales, starting with the saison base and then conditioned with nectarines, cinnamon and vanilla. I asked about the source of the fruit. “We sourced all of our stone fruit in 2023 from a wonderful orchard in the gorge area bordering Washington,” Frith said via email. With 4.5% ABV it’s sessionable and easy drinking.

It pours something of a taupe-like color with a slight tinge of pink and offers up a complex aroma that starts with a bit of the wild funkiness before highlighting stone fruit and vanilla.

There’s just enough vanilla to evoke a wisp of cream soda, and a touch of the cinnamon brings to mind cinnamon candy.

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The flavor is milder than I was expecting, with a fruit forward profile of sweet-tart nectarine tempered by a touch of acid and a vanilla note. The cinnamon is super subtle, and combined with the fruit gives an impression of cobbler while still being fairly light and mellow.

Secret vineyard, heirloom orchard

Gathering of Ghouls was brewed with cranberries, heirloom apples, and Pinot Noir grapes. According to the company on social media, the grapes were among those harvested from a “secret vineyard” near Smith Rock in Terrebonne, and the apples were picked from a nearby century-old orchard.

“We were humbled by an extremely small and passionate maker that shared access with us to a couple near-abandoned orchards near Smith Rock that they had been single handedly revitalizing and maintaining over the past few years in order to return them to healthy and bountiful plants,” said Frith.

The cranberries and perhaps the grapes give this ale a distinctive purple-pink color, with a light pink head of foam. The aroma brings in a wild funky character with a touch of barnyard, along with notes of grape skin, tart berry, and light apple flesh.

There’s a subtle berry juiciness with some light grape juice on the palate, with a bit of rustic saison character that reminds me of barnyard and hay. A light astringency is reminiscent of underripe apple, and there’s a compote-like quality to the overall flavor.

It’s also 4.5% ABV and along with Forestlike, I would consider these a good introduction to wild and spontaneously-fermented ales for drinkers unfamiliar with them.

You can find these and other cans of Funky Fauna’s beers on retail shelves around the region. And watch the company’s Instagram account (@funkyfaunabeer) for news of when The Doom Lounge opens.