COLUMBUS – Even if you don’t know a dragon fruit from a passion fruit, you can still help support the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens while enjoying an “adult beverage” infused with flavors derived from some of the conservatory’s flora.
Seventh Son Brewing and the conservatory are collaborating to create a new beer for a three-month-long fundraising campaign.
Biome, inspired by dragon fruit from the Conservatory’s Desert Biome, featuring a base of barley, wheat, and oats, hops from New Zealand, dragon fruit puree and dried chamomile flowers, will be available March 2.
One dollar of every draft and six-pack purchased will be donated back to the Conservatory.
In addition, three new Charity Cocktails will be added to Seventh Son, Antiques on High and Getaway Brewing menus and one dollar from the sale of every cocktail will also be added to the donations.
The development of Biome began In November, when Seventh Son’s quality control technician collected samples from various fruits and flowers at the conservatory and isolated microorganisms, hoping to find yeast that could be used for brewing, Seventh Son co-owner Collin Castore explained.
Yeast found living on a dragon fruit managed to ferment beer wort and was then taken to a laboratory at Ohio State for DNA sequencing. It was recreated and used to co-ferment the beer alongside a commercially cultured strain.