Madison’s newest line of seltzers

As of early July, Untitled Art's Florida Seltzer has three flavors.

It took Untitled Art nearly a year to launch its first seltzer in the Florida Seltzer line.

Prickly Pear Pink Guava launched at the end of April, and two additional flavors — pineapple mango and strawberry kiwi — were introduced in early July.

Untitled Art, which creates experimental craft beer concepts and styles at Octopi, is owned by Levi Funk of Funk Factory Geuzeria and Isaac Showaki of Octopi.

“I had this idea to make these Florida seltzers a year ago, but getting the equipment online and getting the base recipe figured out, all that, it’s taken some time to get it all figured out,” Funk says.

Last summer was considered to be “White Claw Summer,” a period of time where sales of hard seltzer skyrocketed. Funk, like many other brewers, saw the popularity of these seltzers. In Madison, Ale Asylum through its company Stray Forth Craft Hard Seltzer and Karben4 have released lines of seltzers. Sheboygan’s 3 Sheeps Brewing Co. and Waukesha’s Raised Grain Brewing Co. have also created seltzers.

Funk says Octopi got a piece of machinery similar to that of White Claw that can make a clean and pure seltzer. He says seltzer is a new base as opposed to a competitor of the beer world, but it’s the job of craft brewers to innovate and make it a craft product.

“We’re leading the charge of experimenting with the category, not just replicating White Claw,” Funk says. “A lot of breweries are going to be trying to make as neutral of a base that they can and then experimenting on top of it.”

Untitled Art’s Florida Seltzers use natural fruit juice to allow the fruit flavors to shine. All of the drinks are gluten-free, low calorie, vegan and low carb.

There are four more flavors in the works, Funk says. While some of Untitled Art’s beers are only available on a limited time basis, Untitled Art plans to continue making all of the Florida Seltzer flavors. Florida Seltzers can be ordered online for curbside pickup at Octopi and Funk Factory Geuzeria. The drinks are also available at area stores.

madison-magazine