Funkatorium

I just showed up with 13 friends for my 30^th birthday… we were excited and loud coming in… we had all only had 2 – 3 beers each. They told us we were «too rowdy» and «our kind wasn’t invited» I am appalled. Wicked weed is my favorite and I have never been to funkatorium and I am so upset because I was looking forward to having my family experience this place

I’m a huge fan of the Funkatorium and it has played a huge role in helping expand my palate to appreciate the finer points of sour beer. The Funkatorium is part of Wicked Weed and is located just outside the scrum of downtown, but easily walkable to a number of other breweries if you’re up for a beer tour in Beer City.
The location itself is a little hipster-​ish, but again, it’s Asheville and is almost to be expected. The bar area can get crowded in a hurry, but if you can find an open table (seat yourself!), snag a seat and they do have staff who will come along and take your drink order, so you don’t have to fight the hoards at the bar.
The sours here are absolutely wonderful — they have a tremendous range of offerings, but also are mindful to keep a few regular beers on draft for those who haven’t started appreciating a good sour as of yet. If you go, do yourself a favor and try the Black Angel. It’s just outstanding.
For any beer lover, sour or not, I think this is a great stop for your visit to Asheville.

The Funkatorium is a unique stop in Asheville and will be a safe haven and heaven for sour beer drinkers. This is the Brainchild of the people over at Wicked Weed who are more known for their hoppier selections. You won’t find any dry hops at the Funkatorium (aside from a couple offerings from the original Wicked Weed). This place dedicates itself to sours and sours alone, and it is something that I think they have perfected more than anyone else. I’m a bit of a Wicked Weed fanboy. It’s amazing to me that Wicked Weed has concocted some of the best IPA’s coming out of NC and some of the best sours. Everything that they do, they do exceptionally well.
The interior of the place is beautiful. You feel more like you are in a nice wine cellar in France than you do a brewery in NC. They incorporate a lot of natural wood and low lighting to set a nice ambience. If you go towards the back the walls are lined from floor to ceiling with big barrels of sours being aged. It is an impressive sight. They also have a new bottle shop in the back where you can get some souvenirs and most importantly some of their bottled creations.
I have now been to the Funkatorium twice and believe it or not, I think they do almost as good of a job with the food as they do the beer. Almost… Most of their offerings are small plates and appetizers. Their flatbreads are delicious and have some complex ingredients. We also got the Boiled Peanuts, which for $ 4 were a steal. You honestly can’t go wrong. If you come with a large group it is a great chance to order a bunch of plates for the table to share. The food comes out very quickly and the service is very good.
I would highly recommend going to the Funkatorium if you are a fan of sours. It would be worth a trip to Asheville on its own. If sours aren’t your thing, it is still worth checking out the inside and grabbing a quick snack. There are plenty of other breweries in the area. In fact, it is right across the street from Twin Leaf. There is no excuse not to give the Funkatorium a try. Great spot in Asheville!

Wow. I had heard many glowing reviews about Funkatorium, but it was not open the last time I visited Asheville. It was on my must-​do list on a recent visit, and if anything, the raves had undersold the place.
If you’ve been to the original Wicked Weed brewery, you know that they do not do anything halfway. This a mecca for sour and funky beers and is as good at that as anywhere that you’ll find on the East Coast. It’s a beautiful little brewery that makes you feel like you’re in Belgium when you first walk in, as the whole theme is around barrels and wood. Take a walk toward the back and you’ll see the brewing operation — including hundreds of wine and bourbon barrels containing delicious future beers. There’s also an impressive gift and bottle shop where you can stock up on some of these world-​class beverages.
We enjoyed the Black Angel cherry sour and the Cerise Morte. Both were wonderful, and we bought bottles to take home. You can also bring your dog on the side patio.
Even if you think you don’t like sours, you have to come here when in Asheville. This place will change your mind.

The best place to discover that you do in fact, love sour beers! To be able to sample several kinds of sours under one roof is a unique and awesome opportunity you should take advantage of, even if you’re not sure you like sours.
Very cool venue with a great open space outside (no umbrellas which I bet can get a bit rough in the summer.) It feels like a pirate’s hideout, especially when you catch sight of all the barrels in the back room.
Our tour guide was crazy-​knowledgeable, really nice, and clearly in love with what he does.
Took bottles home of the La Bonté (with Plum) after really enjoying the La Bonté (with Pear) on tap inhouse. The Brettaberry was also really good! Enjoyed the place so much we tracked down a Sour Invitational in Philly to get a chance to have more of their beer again before their distribution goes wider.

This place was a good choice for a hot day and to try a bunch of sour beers. The beers were similar to Jesterking outside of Austin. It did not have a significant patio like Jesterking however. The inside bar area was super «hip» but the patio is tiny and it feels crowded inside. They limit what you can try on their beer flights but all were good. They darker, heavier sours were best.
I did not try the food unfortunately.

Being a big fan of the «sour» family of fermented beverages, Funkatorium was the one place I knew I couldn’t miss while visiting Asheville… I was not disappointed!
Great selection, great place and a killer bottle/​gift shop. The only negative I could see is that if you’re into this type of beer and you’re going out with some friends that are unfamiliar, they didn’t have any classic beer styles available. It also helps to do a little research of what’s on tap before heading in. The names and descriptions could be a little daunting to the unfamiliar.
* Favorite drink during visit: Ferme de Grand Pere.
** Bonus: Saw Peter Dinklage while we were here.

I was invited to come along on a tour of Funkatorium, and once I found out it was a sour beer institution, I dreaded it. I hate sour beers — or rather, I thought I did! This was the best possible introduction to quality sour beer I could’ve imagined. Every step in the Wicked Weed process was infused with a genuine love of the product. Our tour guide, Jesse, had an infectious enthusiasm, and by the end of the tour, I tasted the beers with excitement. They were all great. While a lot of brewery tours tend to be the same, a sour beer facility has a totally different process and the tour was second to none in how educational and interesting it was. Additionally, I’ve never seen a better, more well-​considered or delicious food menu at any other brewpub. It’s clear that Asheville deserves its title as a growing destination for beer lovers.

Disneyland for sour beer lovers.
This is Wicked Weed’s sour and funky beer off-​shoot. Still walking distance to everything in Asheville. Beautiful build out with massive foeders and a huge barrel room off to back. The long main bar is all wood with foeder ends caps on the back wall turned into chalkboards. On the board, neatly arranged, is a huge amount of high-​quality sours, saison, and Brett-​focused beers. Some beers were available as bottles only to be consumed on-​premise. However, given the world-​class quality of the beers, the prices are very low compared to other breweries of their caliber.
My only gripe was that tasting flights were a set of pre-​selected four for that day only. A bit annoying if you are hardcore, but truly, most the beers came in smaller pours anyway. After an hour here, it became a non-​issue. They are smart about doing that actually.

Wow, super cool place in a great location. Ended up at Funkatorium twice during our recent time in Asheville and we were not disappointed. TONS of very good quality beer available (on tap and in bottles), good appetizers, easy walkability re: the rest of downtown Asheville and a few other breweries, etc.
We ordered the popcorn on both visits, which I loved. The full blown sours, across the board, I would rate them as good, but not great (relative to their peer group, I’m thinking Upland, Russian River, Cascade, Bruery, etc.). Not a knock, just my personal opinion. The more lightly soured items and saisons, I loved. Drank them like crazy at the primary Wicked Weed location as well.
Can’t say anything bad about this place. Really cool, dark vibe inside and if you head to the bathroom you get an impromptu tour of the barrel warehouse, which is pretty impressive. Good to great quality beers at fair prices in a chill, awesome place. Not much more you can ask for.

So I’m not one for sour beers but this place changed me! Our bar tender was extremely helpful and offered a variety of suggestions-​I enjoyed all of the samples I had and ended up getting two sour beers. The vibe is great and they have other options if you still aren’t convinced that sours are for you but I highly doubt that

I’ve been obsessed with sour beers for a little over a year now, to the point of planning my trips around breweries. As a Californian, I’ve rarely seen Wicked Weed distributed or tapped. I was beyond excited to be able to go to the Funkatorium, and it did not disappoint.
Sours are generally on the more expensive side, so a sampler for just $ 8.50 was incredibly generous! I loved everything we tried, but the standouts were Concurrant and Bramble Barrel. I didn’t dislike it, but Black Angel Cherry Sour wasn’t as unique and (sorry) «funky» as the others.
The inside is cozy, and everyone was quick to help us as soon as we walked in. The snacks sounded good, but as we were on our way to dinner afterward, we only allowed ourselves a pretzel. Beware of the sharp (but delicious) Lusty Monk mustard!

Funkatorium! I had been wanting to visit this place for ages. I always thought it sounded cool but had no idea what it was about. After our last Asheville trip I found out it specialized in only sour beers, which are my favorite. I was dead set of checking it out and I finally got to this weekend! What Ana awesome place. The venue fits a large enough amount of people and is beautifully decorated in a rustic small brewery vibe kind of way. All the beers we tried were great and the bartenders were all very nice about letting us sample a few options and giving suggestions of what we might like. We left and then ended up coming back before calling it a night. 5 stars all the way

My wife and I always joke about this one time we were at a bottle shop in Charlotte and people kept asking what wicked weed do you have on tap. I know they’re good, but it was crazy how many people asked in a row. I always try to avoid the over-​hype of breweries, not to the point of being too cool for the cool, but to the point of wanting to figure it out for myself.
We may have lucked out walking in on a busy night and having a spot open right up at the bar and then ordering some really delicious beer. But couple that with their reputation, and it was a perfect visit. It was a beautiful space, like a sophisticated homey feel somehow. I’m ready to go back. Even if you think you’re not into sours, they’ll be a beer for you and the barkeeps will help you find it.

The Funkatorium was so much fun. We stopped in rather last minute –about an hour– before we were seeing a show at The Orange Peel (easy walking distance between the two, by the way) and we were lucky to grab a couple seats at the bar. The place was packed but it was also about 7pm on a Saturday night. This place specializes in sour beers and has an extensive selection. The small plates are delicious. We tried the cauliflower flatbread and the house made pickles. Both were quick to appear and super yummy.

Really love their sours here! Red Angel is fantastic and I would definitely recommend starting with it.
The staff was nice and attentive, the interior was beautiful and full of wood tones, and had some unique barrel decorations at the bar. My only beef with this place is their seating situation. With such a crowd they definitely need more!
Overall a lovely experience and definitely recommend stopping here for some great sours.

The Funkatorium was a different vibe from Wicked Weed in general. Much less crowded, more laid back, more my style. I ordered a Black Angel cherry sour which is 7.2%. It had a nice flavor. We had pretzel bites with dip for a snack and they were tasty. I will definitely be a returning customer to the Funkatorium.

We stopped in here while attempting as many breweries in one day with wife. I’m more of a pilsner/​hefe/​lighter beer guy, and this bar is abit on the heavier/​dark brew side. The atmosphere is laid back and relatively quiet for a bar setting.
I ordered the pretzels with lusty monk mustard and was pleased with the food. The pretzels were soft and fresh with just the right amount of salt. The mustard had excellent flavor, but did have a nice sting/​bite if you get too much on a bite.
I was happy with the experience and will return with the wife, who loves a heavier type of beer, in the future.

I love Wicked Weed but did not enjoy the Funkatorium as much.
The flight we ordered was preselected: Serenity, La Bonte, Silencio & Medora, which gave you a representation of the styles offered.
This is just not my spot (if you love sours then this is the spot for you), I prefer the Wicked Weed pub instead.

Funkatorium was the least favorite of our beer drinking stops, but that’s probably because I wasn’t into the sours. But the place is Funky indeed and quite comfy with nice tables and a long bar with low lighting and lots and lots of wood.
Beers on the menu had lots of overly descriptive terms and it took me a bit to find something that find into the slices of beers that I prefer. I finally managed to choose the «Bretticent» saison, which was interesting tasting. After a session with Google, I learned that «Brettanomyces» is a type of yeast. Lots more than I needed to know.
Interesting.