Tony Kiss

Just days after winning a gold medal for its honey beer at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, Asheville's Wicked Weed brewery will open its new Funkatorium barrel and sour brewery at 4 p.m. Friday.

The Funkatoriuim, 147 Coxe Ave., will be the 18th craft brewery in Buncombe County, and the latest arrival on the South Slope brewing district, joining the already open Green Man, Twin Leaf, Burial Beer, Asheville Brewing and Hi-Wire Brewing in that downtown district. Still to come on the South Slope is Catawba Brewing's Asheville brewery. And Tasty Beverage of Raleigh is opening a beer specialty store there as well.

Four other breweries are in various stages of construction or planning for Asheville.

The Funkatorium has an old-world Belgian-style tasting room up front with an indoor seating capacity of 149, brewery spokeswoman Abby Dickinson said. There is additional seating outdoors. Much of the 12,000-square-foot building is used as a resting and storage space for Wicked Weed's barrel brews. Beers will also be packaged at the Funkatorium, she said.

On opening night, 16 beers will be on tap including Amorous sour IPA, Black Angel cherry sour, Genesis blond sour, Oblivion red sour, Perzikmorte peach sour, Medora blackberry and raspberry sour, Pompeon pumpkin sour, Berliner Weiss, Serenity 100 percent brett farmhouse ale and more.

The food menu, created by chef Cardiff Creasey, centers on "tasting" items rather than full sit-down dinner entrees, Dickinson said. Items are divided into such categories as sweet, salty, sour, earthy and composed and include house pickles, a cheese board, smoked eel, spiced octopus, sea salt and hop chocolate bar, lemon tart and candied nuts. Each item is designed to pair with a Wicked Weed brew. Items will be changing regularly.

Funkatorium hours will be 4 p.m.-midnight Friday, 1 p.m.-midnight Saturday, 1-10 p.m. Sunday and 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Parking is on the street.

Wicked Weed will continue to operate its main brewery and restaurant 91 Biltmore Ave. and is also building a big production brewery in Candler.