Brewbound Podcast: Funkytown Brewery on Expanding Craft Communities

The Brewbound team reunited with the founders of Funkytown Brewery, winners of Brewbound Live 2021’s Pitch Slam competition.

Childhood friends Rich Bloomfield, Greg Williams and Zach Day founded Funkytown in Chicago after homebrewing led to meeting other beer-lovers and Black brewery owners at the Fresh Fest (now Barrel and Flow) craft beer festival in Pittsburgh.

“We know that the industry lacks diversity so we got out to Fresh Fest and it just seemed like, I don’t know, diversity wasn’t an issue,” Bloomfield said. “And we got to see so many Black people and women in craft and it was like, this is very inviting.”

Funkytown launched in October 2021 through the Pilot Project – a Chicago-based brewery incubator – and sold out of its initial canned product run (about 100 cases) within two days.

“For us, we’re trying to introduce more Black people into beer, but Chicago doesn’t have the bottle shops or the craft beer shops in the Black neighborhoods,” Bloomfield said. “It’s going to be a process. We’re not here to make money and leave.”

Since its Pitch Slam victory, the brewery has partnered with Whole Foods in Chicago, and is planning new beer releases launching this summer.

Listen to the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify.

Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email podcast@brewbound.com.

This week, the Brewbound team reunited with Rich Bloomfield, Greg Williams and Zach Day, co-founders of Chicago-based Funkytown Brewery and winners of Brewbound Live 2021’s Pitch Slam. The Funkytown Team discussed what they’ve been up to since the Pitch Slam win, what they’ve learned about the brewing industry since launching last year, and the roadblocks they’ve faced trying to bring craft beer to underserved communities in Chicago.