Here is a personal
account of last year from great brewer Jon Shari of Little Cottage Brewery.
Whaddup!
Although I can’t roll to the awesome Super Bowl of sours—the Wicked Weed Funkatorium Invitational (formerly, Funk Asheville)—today in Asheville, NC. for year three, I still wanted to give everyone a recount of last years’ experience.
Courtesy of burgeoning brewer Jon Shari of Little Cottage Brewery out of Atlanta, GA, he covered for me in 2015 to provide a great perspective of what he experienced. Besides being a
fantastic brewer who is about to blow the hell up, Jon is a great guy who
happily shared his experience last year. 2016’s promises to be even more
incredible.
Here is what Jon Shari says:'
 |
| Me and Jon taking a brewing break and chillin'. |
Jon says:
My brother and I were very excited to be able to go
to Funk Asheville this year. A beer fest geared toward sour beer
geeks? Heck yeah!
We weren’t exactly sure what to expect beyond knowing some of the breweries that were supposed to be there, so we were excited. Our festival experience started at The Funkatorium (which is where Wicked Weed Brewery creates their sour beers) where we loaded up on a free shuttle over to the festival. After getting our wristbands, we headed to the pouring stations and noticed that there was a line of people waiting at the Lost Abbey booth. Immediately, my brother flipped through the brewery guide to see the different breweries and what they were all pouring, and says, “Oh crap! They’re all in line for Duck Duck Gooze!”
We weren’t exactly sure what to expect beyond knowing some of the breweries that were supposed to be there, so we were excited. Our festival experience started at The Funkatorium (which is where Wicked Weed Brewery creates their sour beers) where we loaded up on a free shuttle over to the festival. After getting our wristbands, we headed to the pouring stations and noticed that there was a line of people waiting at the Lost Abbey booth. Immediately, my brother flipped through the brewery guide to see the different breweries and what they were all pouring, and says, “Oh crap! They’re all in line for Duck Duck Gooze!”
If you know your sour beers, then you know this is one of
the most coveted American sours that you want to get your hands on and it did not disappoint.
From there, we saw Green Man pouring Bootsy & Snozzberry, Wicked Weed was pouring their latest White Angel along with its other variants, and Creature Comforts was serving up one of my favorites of theirs—Southerly Love—along with Curious #3 and Curious #6. Of course it didn’t stop there; we enjoyed a lot more from different breweries there including Jester King’s Montmorency vs Balaton, another all-time favorite of ours.
My favorite local brewpub, Wrecking Bar, was not only there pouring their beers but also serving food along with the chef from Wicked Weed. We thoroughly enjoyed the Grilled PB&J with chicken liver pate and housemade strawberry jelly, beef tartare topped with Indian curry mustard, and heart of palm with grilled corn.
This fest was a hit and is a must for all sour heads out there. Seeing, smelling and tasting some of the best, most unique crafted sours and wild ales from around the country in one setting, plus sharing the same passion as we did with hundreds of others was an experience not to be forgotten.
From there, we saw Green Man pouring Bootsy & Snozzberry, Wicked Weed was pouring their latest White Angel along with its other variants, and Creature Comforts was serving up one of my favorites of theirs—Southerly Love—along with Curious #3 and Curious #6. Of course it didn’t stop there; we enjoyed a lot more from different breweries there including Jester King’s Montmorency vs Balaton, another all-time favorite of ours.
My favorite local brewpub, Wrecking Bar, was not only there pouring their beers but also serving food along with the chef from Wicked Weed. We thoroughly enjoyed the Grilled PB&J with chicken liver pate and housemade strawberry jelly, beef tartare topped with Indian curry mustard, and heart of palm with grilled corn.
This fest was a hit and is a must for all sour heads out there. Seeing, smelling and tasting some of the best, most unique crafted sours and wild ales from around the country in one setting, plus sharing the same passion as we did with hundreds of others was an experience not to be forgotten.
I say Jon summed it up as a dope event, and I hope
everyone enjoys the 2016 version!
Here are the brews being poured this year...
Happy Sippin’!
Ale
