Wicked Weed Brewing launched a second helping of the Funkatorium’s bottled Angel series with the release of the apricot-packed Golden Angel on Sunday, May 24.
Beer fans, their families and pups lined up outside Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium on Coxe Avenue to pick up presold bottles of the highly anticipated sour ale. The fact that the beer was aged for 10 months on a metric ton of apricots may have had something to do with its popularity — all 1,500 units offered for online presale were sold within one minute when they became available on Saturday, May 2, according to Funkatorium staff.
In March, the Funkatorium presold its raspberry-laced Red Angel — the first Angel release — just as quickly, but failed to meet the unanticipated demand. To avoid disappointing fans this time around, Wicked Weed increased the number of bottles individuals could purchase before or at the release to six and has preemptively posted an apology on its website in case some people had to go home empty-handed.
While fans waited outside the brewery to snag their bottles of Golden Angel, the Funkatorium sold branded beer glasses, hats and T-shirts next to the line under a small tent. Inside, servers catered to a full house of beer enthusiasts celebrating the second day of Asheville Beer Week 2015 with the most recent fruit of Wicked Weed’s labor on tap. The brewery also offered old favorites like Black Angel, a sour beer with a cherry twist, and Medora, a wild sour aged on blackberries and raspberries.
