Robin Shepard
The Funk Factory taproom with Kyle Metz.
Kyle Metz will continue making the Saison Botanique series under the new name Black Rose Blending Company.
The local taproom that has been instrumental to fostering appreciation of lambic-style beer in Madison is changing hands. Funk Factory Geuzeria will become Black Rose Blending Company next month.
Owner Levi Funk, who opened the Funk Factory taproom in 2015, says he is selling the bar and brewing equipment to long-time employee Kyle Metz. The sale allows Funk more time to focus on his growing family of four young children.
Fans of Funk Factory’s lambic-style brews should not lose too much sleep over the transition. Those beers will continue to be produced at the location under the creative direction of Funk, and they will be available as they have been in the Madison area. Labels will eventually change to say that Funk Factory beer is brewed and packaged by Black Rose Blending Company. Funk Factory will still be offered in the taproom, just not on dedicated taps, and will have to compete for space as do other guest beers.
The Gilson Street taproom is expected to close for at least two months beginning in January. During that time the building will undergo renovations and Metz will prepare several new beers for release under the Black Rose label.
When the taproom re-opens, Metz intends to have an expanded line of beers, especially in the Saison Botanique series that he created for Funk Factory. Metz, with Funk’s blessing, has been working on a number of new barrel-aged beers for the past year. The sour, acidic beers made in the lambic tradition by Funk and Metz often require months, even years, of cellaring, after which the barrels are blended by taste.
Among the first beers that Metz hopes will be ready in time for the March reopening will be a saison made with rose hips and petals, and another aged with wild apple pomace. His long term goal is to also offer wines, meads and ciders. “I fell in love with doing the funky sours over the years, but I’m more focused on the farmhouse side of things where there is a bit more freedom from styles and the rules of what is called a lambic,” says Metz. “I’m interested in [using] different botanicals, fruits and grains, and I would like to use different spirit barrels.”
Metz chose the name Black Rose to recall the beauty and elegance of the rose, while implying with the adjective black that drinkers should expect non-traditional, experimental beers.
The Funk Factory taproom will be open for normal hours Thursday through Sunday through its holiday party on Dec. 30, after which it will close until renovations are completed.
