To most, the UW-Madison Arboretum and local beer production make an unlikely pair.
For Levi Funk, they’re a match made in heaven.
Funk, owner of Funk Factory Geuzeria, was taking a walk through the Arboretum’s Longenecker Horticultural Gardens last fall when he stumbled upon the garden’s osage oranges. Funk immediately thought of his brewery, and considered using the oranges in beer.
“I had interest in finding more fruit and a diversity of fruit especially from a location that’s in our backyard,” Funk said.
While Funk Factory Geuzeria prioritizes working with local farmers for the majority of their fruit, Funk says the partnership with the Arboretum is mutually beneficial for other reasons.
“With this one, it’s more up front and present where the source of the fruit is,” Funk said. “And I think it’s just a natural partnership because there’s a desire to educate people about the agriculture and about the beer in our state.”
David Stevens, the curator of the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens at the UW-Madison Arboretum, said he feels positively about the partnership as it helps accomplish the Arboretum’s goals.
“One of our main goals here is to try to advance knowledge of our natural resources, and I think that this [partnership] really works within that thought in a unique way,” Stevens said.
While many Madisonians may see these fruits in their yards or at the Arboretum, Stevens says they are not widely understood or recognized.
“When people come out [to the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens] and see these unique fruits that they’ve never seen before, they look at them as oddities, and I think by seeing how they can be used in new and unusual ways that don’t hurt the environment and make people more aware of them, that fits in,” he said.
The first two beers out of this collaboration will be on tap at the Funk Factory taproom for a tasting event on Sunday, May 6. The event is part of Craft Beer Week in Madison and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Arboretum. If the event goes well, the team hopes to hold another event of larger scale in following years.
Both Funk and Stevens see the partnership continuing in the future, especially this upcoming summer. Funk hopes to learn more about what’s in the garden, as well as what’s sustainable to remove from the garden.
“I would envision more beers being made and with that, hopefully more events such as the one we’re doing for Craft Beer Week so we can let the community know what the Arboretum’s all about,” Funk said.
