Funky Fluid

The brewery was co-founded by Michał Langier, Karol Mizielski, and Grzegorz Korcz, and produces its beers at the Browar Błonie contract facility near Warsaw. Funky Fluid built its reputation on the Gelato series, a line of pastry sour beers loaded with large quantities of real fruit puree. An alcohol-free extension of that series, the Free Gelato range, brings the same fruit-forward intensity into the AF space, covering tropical, berry, and stone-fruit profiles. Funky Fluid first entered alcohol-free brewing in 2019 with a hazy IPA at 0.5% ABV, and the alcohol-free range has since expanded to include New England IPAs alongside the Gelato sub-series.

A production detail sits at the heart of the brand's AF identity: rather than brewing at full strength and stripping the alcohol, Funky Fluid uses Saccharomycodes ludwigii, a specialist yeast strain that cannot ferment maltose (the primary sugar found in beer wort). This means very little alcohol is produced during fermentation in the first place, and the residual unfermented sugars contribute to the thick, smoothie-like texture the Free Gelato range is known for.

Funky Fluid exports to more than 30 countries, and the alcohol-free range is available through specialist alcohol-free retailers. Sober-curious drinkers who find most alcohol-free beers too restrained in flavour are the natural audience here, given the intensity of fruit and sweetness across the range.