Ryan Sentz always wanted to run his own company.
But a craft beer company? Named Funky Buddha Brewery? That became famous almost overnight?
“There was no grand scheme,” he admits. “I am really incredibly humble to have had this happen.”
The 42-year-old Florida native created one of the largest craft breweries in the state. But, in college, he wasn’t thinking about such an endeavor, even though he dabbled in homebrewing.
“I majored in psychology at the University of Central Florida,” Sentz says. “I thought I would be a therapist.”
That never happened. One of his post-graduation jobs involved selling ad space for the SunSentinel’s alternative newspaper. That’s how he ran into the owner of the R and R Tea Bar and Funky Buddha Lounge in Boca Raton. In 2007, he purchased the business and, in 2010, began selling his own homebrews there. That proved to be a turning point.
Sentz has a knack for incorporating gourmet ingredients and wild flavors into intriguing, tasty brews. One of his first beers – the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter – was so popular that it earned Funky Buddha a presence at the nation’s top beer festivals.
“Our beer was traded all over the world,” he adds.
The brand became so popular that, in 2013, he and his brother, K.C. Sentz, established Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park, comprising a large production facility and taproom. Soon, major beer companies came calling. Finally, in 2017, the brothers sold the business to beer giant Constellation Brands, the maker of Corona.
“We liked the offer because they promised to let us stay on board and continue to run the company,” says Sentz, now director of brewing operations.
That means Sentz – who lives in Parkland with his wife, Giani; son, Lucca, 5; and daughter, Rylee, 12 – can continue to come up with amazing new flavors to follow such best-sellers as the Floridian Hefeweizen and the Hop Gun IPA.
“To me, beer is like an open canvas,” Sentz says. “My favorite part of this business is to be able to create something that hasn’t been done before.”
And that’s exactly what his fans are thirsting for. O