Tucked away in a quiet, shady block on Second Street in the Makers District, adventurous beer drinkers will find Funky Fauna, the home of truly unique brews, owned and operated by Michael Firth and Danielle Burns. The front of the house exudes a cool, dark vibe despite large windows that let in plenty of light. Outside, there are welcoming picnic tables under shade trees, making for a great spot for summer sipping.
Inside, visitors will find a groove of cool tunes playing over the intercom. There’s a large TV screen playing skateboarding videos or classic, kitschy movies rented from the nearby Blockbuster.
For Funky Fauna’s winning sour, Sea Plague, the main ingredients are hops, yeast and malt, all from Oregon, and seaweed and wasabi root from over on the Oregon coast, and ginger, lime and sea salt. Sea Plague was born out of a collaboration with a Portland heavy metal band, Sunrift, that has since disbanded, according to Firth.
The wild ales age from one to four months in bulbous oak barrels called foeders (pronounced FOOD-er). Then they sit on top of fruit for another month before hitting the taps or being canned. By comparison, your typical IPA ages for about two weeks, Firth says.
Funky Fauna has been in business for about five years, the first three years in Sisters before moving to Bend. Before that, Firth says he was a home brewer for about 15 years. He says his main philosophy is producing terroir-driven beers made with all local ingredients that can only be made here. “Keeping it local and supporting local farms” is part of the mission, he adds. “We try to incorporate a little bit of Oregon into every single beer. There’s local agriculture in every beer.” Funky Fauna beers are available around Oregon and with limited self-distribution in Washington, with no plans to expand any further.
While Firth handles the brewing side of the operation, Burns takes care of the marketing and produces the unique graphics that fit so well with the eccentric brews. “I get to do the fun stuff, the non-heavy lifting,” she says.
Beers are made in small batches and are rarely brewed twice. Four to six wild ales are in process at any given time, and the brewery aims to offer four to six new releases each month to keep its 23 taps flowing. The backbone of Funky Fauna’s brews is its native wild yeast. ”We feed it, keeping it happy and active in each of our oak barrels,” says Firth.
Bend and the rest of Central Oregon in general tend to lean heavily toward IPAs, which provides Funky Fauna with a niche outlet offering a completely different tasting experience. But the brewery does offer its own IPAs on a smaller scale. “We try to have something for everybody,” Firth says.
And good brews take time. “I would love to give our beers more time. An extra three months would be awesome,” he says.
But visitors don’t have to wait that long. Funky Fauna is waiting and ready to pour your new favorite wild ale.
Runner-Up: Ching Ching (Bend Brewing Co.)
Funky Fauna
Tue-Fri 3-8pm, Sat 1-9pm, Sun 1-6pm
1125 NE 2nd St, Bend
funkyfaunabeer.com/
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2026 and the Source August 13, 2026.
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