Funk Factory Geuzeria

Off the main drag and tucked in a back road area. Great vibe inside with cozy and quaint feel. Service was very nice with barkeep discussing beers, providing background, and offering suggestions. Nice selection of beers on tap and in bottles to include three years of Four Winters on tap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I so rarely drive to or through Madison when I'm not already on a beer mission or intensely hungover - so it has taken some time for me to make it to Funk Factory. I love gueuzes, wilds, and sours and have managed to snag quite a few bottles over the years, thankfully - and I've been really psyched to stop in. Today was the day!

On my way home from Chicago, Funk Factory made for the perfect stop to break up my trip - and a few sours really took the edge off of my drowsiness, hunger, and boredom. I had pours of Cherry and Cranberry Meerts and the Faro and chatted occasionally with the bartender. Service was friendly and prompt, well-informed about the specifics of the beers, and the overall atmosphere of the place was very relaxed. Music on the stereo was a pleasant mix of indie and other randoms. Plenty of board games to be enjoyed. The place seems quite family friendly, too. No dogs in sight, not sure there. Food looked mostly to be snackies - maybe cheese and crackers, cookies? I wasn't paying much attention.

One of my favorite things about the brewery is that it's not packed - I didn't have to light a trashcan on fire to get a bartender's attention, and seats were readily available. Maybe it's different when it's not Superbowl Sunday, but whatever.

Also: I love the bottles to go list. SO many varieties of Meerts, several wild ales, cans from The Brewing Projekt, etc. Even a few bottles of Jester King for on-site consumption.

I'm a fan of their beer - but FFG's actual tap room is a nice little spot as well. Very much recommended.

Some very tasty sour and funky beers brewed here. Happened in on a Thursday night, when other patrons were eager to share their beers. Thanks guys! Sad that the last Four Winters was gone, but Reid shared his bottle with us. Delicious. Lovely house beers and some fun guest taps. Eagle rock Berliner Swiss’s was tasty and the pineapple milkshake ipa was tasty too. All buttoned up on this cold polar vortex night, would love to come back on a summer day when the garage door is open.

Small brick building with a bar that occupies one half of the room. A few tall table tops, too. Great sour beers on tap or in a bottle. They have several guest taps and bottles, too. Great place to have some sour and wild ales.

 

 

 

full yet only one server on a thursday night. mostly very good beers and big to go bottles and cans. crowded and people kept to themselves.

 

Worth finding amidst a residential/light industrial area. How often to you get to try a meerts style beer on tap let alone four or five different varieties of meerts... and that's just on tap. More than that if you count what's available in bottles. Plus there are three well-chosen guest taps. Draft can be purchased in a 6 oz glass or a 12 or 16oz depending on the variety. The taproom is cosy, recroom-ish and low key (but then again it was a mid-week afternoon). Friendly knowledgeable staff.

 

Cant really be objective here because my love for this brewery runs so deep, also i am a local. if you are in Madison Wisconsin you would be missing out on the best brewing going on in town if you to stop here.

 

 

 

This is a small spot, but a very nicely designed one with a modern feel. The slanted bar has unique seating that may be a little awkward if the person catty-corner to you is not with your party, but it's got a cool vibe and a nice patio.

In addition to maybe one or two limited on-site only Funk Factory bottles, they've also got a nice selection of guest bottles and drafts to supplement the still very minimal draft offerings of their own funky sours.

Service is excellent and knowledgeable, and sometimes willing to join in on a share, and food options are limited to snacks.

Revisiting years later in 2022, the taproom has been upgraded to be slightly more spacious, and of course they utilize quite a bit of outdoor space, particularly when they host a Great Taste of the Midwest pre-party. The biggest improvement, though, is a sizeable draft list offering several of their lambic and gueuze-like ales that have only increased in complexity and deft-handedness over the years. My original 3.86 score is insufficient.

Stopped in before the Great Taste for the pre-party, which was well-run and way more comfortable than last year.

The big news being that the taproom has recently opened. Service at the bar was friendly and chatty despite the crowd. Second year I wasn’t as lucky, it took over 15 min. to get a drink with 3 bartenders and it wasn’t crowded at all.

The space was modern, dark grey walls with edison bulbs above the bar, a cluster of barrel hoops artfully welded as a sculpture on one wall. Towards the back there was a framed print of the Fox & Grapes artwork. The bar itself seated maybe 12 and was comfortable. A dry erase board listed the selection above the bar, and a cooler with bottles to go was visible.

House drafts/bottles were good, also the Untitled Art Florida Weiss collaboration with Forager, which was a pure guava bomb. The meerts variants I tried seemed more like Berliners, but they were good. Astronaut Juice took me back to my Tang drinking childhood. The bottled Framrood had a slightly funky raspberry quality, but was similarly young like the meerts. Will be interested to return and try more stuff during regular taproom hours. Funk Factory is one to watch with a lot of potential.

Visited the brewery when on vacation in Madison. It is a nice little spot off of Park St. The brewery taproom is not that big, but they make the most of it. They had about 8 taps, 6 of which were their beers with 2 guest beers. They do have a little outside seating in the back for a nice little patio. They do also have a cooler of bottles for on-site consumption. There is a little area where all the typical brewery swag is, shirts, sweatshirts, glassware, etc.

Review of the new taproom on Gilson St, Madison. This is based on attendance at the soft opening and several subsequent visits during normal business hours. The space is a small-ish one, smaller than most bars or breweries in the area. It seems to be expecting a particular subset of the adult drinking population in Madison; more specifically those of the beer-interested that enjoy sours. There is seating for probably 20-25 people, with bar stools and several tables. The bar design has a nice layout with a beautiful finished wood counter. Usually seems to be at least two people working the bar, and they are attentive to the needs of customers. I enjoy the vibe here, and it is a good place to go hang out with a friend drinking sours. It's never been horribly loud, and there is plenty of good wild ales on tap and in the bottles. Great mix of wilds, although I'd love to see more diverse styles being bought in on the rotating guest taps to help mix things up. Best thing is that these house beers have tons of flavour and tartness, but a lot of them clock in under 5%, which helps make it more reasonable to drive to the relatively quiet area to have a couple beers. As a whole, the facilities are quite nice, trendy in design with a layout that makes sense.