Modern Funk

From the Big Friendly in Oklahoma City, here’s a recipe for the dry-hopped, Brett-fermented saison that won gold at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival.

The Big Friendly in Oklahoma City has won nine Great American Beer Festival medals for its beers over the past four years, including six gold medals. Key to that success has been the team’s thoughtful, patient approach to dry-hopped, oak-aged, mixed-culture saisons.

Inspired by Wallonian farmhouse brewing yet distinct from classic saison, today’s modern, funky, mixed-culture creations—whatever you call them—enjoy a refined niche.