(Fort Collins, CO) – Fans of sour and barrel-aged beers . . . you are on notice.

When I wrote about Funkwerks last week, I failed to reveal that another brewery would be operating there as well under an alternating proprietorship. These hands-on contracts are becoming increasingly popular; Stillwater Ales, (the upcoming) Heretic Brewing and Pretty Things Beer are a few of the examples out there.

So what will this other brewery be?

Meet the Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project.

I caught up with Founder and Brewmaster, Chad Yakobson (formerly of Odell Brewing, worked on Saboteur and others) to see what the scoop is with the new project. Yakobson has been working on the Brettanomyces Project, studying the ins and outs of Brettanomyces and its effect in brewing. The project will heavily influence his work at Crooked Stave.

1) Will your beers be 100% wild/sour/barrel-aged/infected with bugs?

No, we are an Artisan Brewing Project only bound by our own creativity. There are plenty of beers I have in mind which will not be wild/sour/barrel-aged type releases. We will brew whatever we are passionate about at that moment although, in the beginning, it will certainly seem that we are only producing wild/sour/barrel-aged beer.

The first beer to be released will be a 100% Brettanomyces fermented beer and the second will be a “New World” Sour style Wheat beer, which will be a rotating seasonal. It’s not until about October of next year though that we plan to release a Colorado Fresh hop beer. Certain varieties of hops play nicely with some of the Brettanomyces strains I have collected so that could change.

2) What do you mean by “New World” Sour Style Wheat Beer?

I have the utmost respect for old world brewing techniques and the types of beers brewed in various regions throughout Europe. I spent over three years popping in and out of Europe visiting brewing regions and tasting the local beer. American brewing is not based on culture and tradition as the old world is. Instead, we have started our own grassroots culture and continue to innovate on top of the many types of beers traditionally brewed in regions throughout Europe. Specifically England, Belgium and Germany tend to be the best known to all of us here in the USA.

Crooked Stave is firmly planted in Colorado and therefore a New World producer of beer, but our roots and inspiration are drawn from continued worldly travels. A New World Sour-style Wheat Beer is a hybrid of creativity and passion. Using old world brewing techniques like sour mashing with a new age scientific brewing approach, these seasonally released sour wheat beers strive to reach a balance between sour and tart. The yeast used lends subtle spice and fruitiness which is only complimented by the use of seasonally available ingredients. Since this is an entirely new concept and no such beer like it exists in the same form and fashion, we can only be bound by our imagination. Welcome to the New World. Expect to see versions which have minimal barrel-aging and I’m looking forward to unleashing a few new strains of Brettanomyces I have cultured, including a special strain which produces citrusy aromas and flavors.

3) You’ve mentioned that you will be using techniques and blending which has rarely been utilized by brewers if at all. Can you expand on this?

A winemaker’s greatest skill is his sensory ability to blend barrels of wine and create a consistently quality product year after year. The sensory training I went through while studying a post graduate degree in Wine Chemistry was phenomenal as it was some of the most practical knowledge I have received in an academic setting. We were taught that the winemaker has only the grapes that were harvested to with which to work. If it was not a good season the winemaker can’t make a new batch, he must use his knowledge of blending with his winemaking techniques to create a quality wine from an average vintage.

As a small brewer, this is not a skill which is needed. As brewers we brew with high quality ingredients and release batches believing they are at their best. Batch variation is considered acceptable as long as its within a certain parameter. During my studies in Edinburgh, Scotland, for a Master’s degree in Brewing and Distilling we were taught blending was only for the big brewers or when batches are not to specification. I question that dogma.. Why? Why can’t a brewer take beers and blend batches which have specific flavors and aromas to make a superior quality product? If it’s done in wine, then it can be done with even greater fervor in brewing.

Blending is not about taking beer from one single type of barrel which holds beer that has been produced with the same brewing techniques as every other beer produced by the brewery. Blending for barrel-aged beers should involve putting beers which have been brewed with different techniques (turbid mash, step mash, sour mash, spontaneously fermented, various bugs and no bugs) and putting those beers into barrels of varying type (French Oak, Red wine barrels, White wine barrels, Rum Barrels, Virgin Oak, etc.) and then using one’s own sensory skills to distinguish desirable characteristics. Through this technique of choosing the components of each barrel which complete the beer, a quality product, unique to what is currently available can be produced. This is how a winemaker would make beer and this is our philosophy behind our barrel program at Crooked Stave.

4) Will you be bottling at all while at Funkwerks or only doing kegs?

We will definitely be bottling in 750 ml champagne style bottles. We are working on the details of labels and bottle caps now as well as planning to have some of the more limited releases wax dipped. I love the look wax covering gives a bottle sitting waiting to be opened.

As we are sharing a brewhouse with Funkwerks and are using up any excess capacity, we are only brewing a batch every three to four weeks depending on available capacity. We are working out the brewing schedule so that we release a new beer each calendar month. This is very tricky given that no one can say exactly how long a certain batch will barrel-age for, but we have a pretty good idea. Given the extremely limited quantity of each batch, ~90 cases of 750 ml bottles, the rest will be going on tap at Funkwerks. After a few batches have been released, limited quantities of kegs will make their way into the market.

5) When do you anticipate opening?

We are currently awaiting our State and Federal brewing permits. We anticipate getting batches brewed and aging in our barrel program some time in the next month. We are then hoping for an initial beer release sometime around the beginning of May at which time we plan to have a Grand Opening and bottle release party.

As far as sharing a brewhouse with Funkwerks, I am excited by the opportunity to brew batches at their brewery. Both Brad and Gordon have established a sound brewery and are creating some awesome Saisons! I can’t say exactly when we will have finished our expansion into Denver and the build-out of our brewery, but we are anticipating having a location by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012.

In addition to the website linked above, keep up to date with Crooked Stave on Facebook and on Twitter.