Funk Factory Geuzeria now has natural wines on the menu

Funk Factory Geuzeria, known for its lip-puckering beers, recently added natural wines to its drink menu this summer.

After getting a license to sell cider, mead and wine, Funk Factory Geuzeria expanded its menu of rotating beverages at 1602 Gilson St. Head of Operations Kyle Metz says the team is focused on natural and organic wines. In the future, Funk Factory hopes to serve its own wine, Metz says.

Of the current selections, one brand that stands out to Metz is from a winery called Subject to Change. One of that winery’s selections isn’t technically a wine, but is instead sparkling apple cider pressed with a pinot noir to create a delicious drink. There’s also a sparkling carbonic zinfandel, which makes for a good red wine.

“We definitely offer a rotating selection, and we definitely offer wines in the natural wines world,” Metz says.

Natural wines often refer to a “low intervention” through steps during the wine-making process, Metz says. This includes using the natural yeast on fruit skins, like grapes, for fermentation rather than pitching yeast into the batch, he says. It also entails not using added preservatives, he says.

Many of the wines Metz chooses are organically farmed. Funk Factory serves “pure, simple” wine, he says.

“That’s what we love to drink, so that’s what we’ve been focusing on,” Metz says.

Because it takes so long — at times up to four years — to brew beers, this is a way to incorporate more variety, Metz says.

Funk Factory works exclusively with a distributor out of Milwaukee called Chromatic Wine Co., a small family-owned company that specializes in natural wines, Metz says. It’s gaining more presence in Madison, he says.

Because of Funk Factory’s brewing style — which involves using natural yeast and bacteria in addition to relying  heavily on blending — it’s a “natural progression” to start making their own wine, he says.

“It’s just been fun to experiment,” Metz says.