Funnell is the head brewer at Sweetwater Tavern in Centreville. Originally from the United Kingdom, he’s been working the United States for 20 years and is now a citizen. His pale ale recently won silver in the 2012 World Beer Cup, a competition with 4,000 beers from around the world.
Tell me about your pale ale.
It’s a beer we’ve been brewing since we opened the first brewery in 1996. Over the years, it’s just been getting better and better. It actually won the gold medal in the Great American Beer Festival in 2010. It’s a popular beer.
How does one become a brewer?
For me it was dumb luck. I studied chemistry in college, and when I was looking for a job, I saw an assistant brewer job advertised. So I applied for the job, and 26 years later I’m still doing it. At school they don’t tell you you can be a brewmaster. I guess it could be oversubscribed if they told people they could make beer for a living.
As a brewer, are you entitled to being snobby? Do you ever drink canned beer?
It’s like asking a chef if he ever eats food. I drink all kinds of beer. I also enjoy wine on occasion, even soft drinks. You have to know what else is out there so that you can check that you’re pleasing the palates of not just yourself but the people who want to buy the beer. It’s great to win a medal in an international competition, but it’s even more important that people in a local area like your beer and keep coming back for it.
What’s you’re favorite beer?
I actually like the pale ale a lot. It’s a beer that really over the years I have created for me. It’s got plenty of flavor; I like hoppiness. That’s my year-round go-to beer.
-Liz Essley
