Let me tell you a little bit about my recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina. This wasn’t my first visit, of course, and it won’t be my last. There are certainly more breweries than you can shake a stick at in Asheville, but if I had to choose one as the must-see, don’t miss or you’ll regret it brewery, it would be The Wicked Weed.

The Wicked Weed was the first brewery I hit this time around on my Asheville pub crawl-and it was also the last. Not that I didn’t hit other breweries in between (I did, Hi-Wire and Lexington Avenue). But after stopping it those places, it was back to Wicked Weed for a nightcap.

When you get to Wicked Weed (and I know you will), head downstairs immediately. That’s where all the barrel aged beers are stored and sold. I did just that, bellied up to the bar and ordered a sampler (about $7), and a glass of Wicked Weed Black Angel Black Sour Ale Aged on Tart Cherries in Bourbon Barrels. An order of simply divine calamari with a garlic coriander dipping sauce arrived shortly later.

Black Angel is not a strong beer at 6.6% alcohol by volume. The beer geek sites seem to want to call it an American wild ale, but I think it is closer to a kriek lambic, although it can’t be a lambic of course. It’s still what I think of as a kriek in style, not unlike the sour tart Belgian versions (Boon Kriek and Cantillon Kriek come to mind most immediately).

Black Angel was easily the best beer I tasted at Wicked Weed, and that is saying something. It’s the reason I trekked (or perhaps stumbled is a better word) back to Wicked Weed at the end of the night, just for another half glass. This is a price beer at $5 for a 6-ounce half glass, and even in bottles it’s very expensive: I bought one half liter bottle for $15 at Bruisin’ Ales and two more right at the brewery for $13 each.

Still, this beer is worth it. It’s really and truly amazing and as the brewery says:

Black Angel Cherry Sour is our flagship sour. This sour black ale is brewed with over one pound of sweet and tart cherries per barrel. It is then aged with souring bacteria in bourbon barrels. This sour is always a blend of our best tasting barrels all originating from our very first batch, vintage 2012.

It was worth the hefty price just to pop open a bottle and relive my trip tonight.

Wicked Weed Black Angel Black Sour Ale Aged on Tart Cherries in Bourbon Barrels pours to a reddish black color with a purple creamy head (not unlike that on a glass of grape soda) and a truly sinful tart black cherry nose. Taking a sip, the beer is surprisingly one-dimensional in that it’s all about the cherries. Dark, deep, delicious, sour tart black cherries mind you, and tons and tons of them are all over the palate of this amazingly puckering sour ale. Perhaps a hint of almond. Do I get any of the bourbon aging? Perhaps just a hint of charcoal and vanilla, and boozy bourbon, but just a hint. Really, the sour tartness and cherry provide the main character here, and wonderfully so.

If sourness offends you, you need not apply here: Wicked Weed Black Angel is not the beer for you. If you appreciate this quality, get thee hence to Asheville and hit up Wicked Weed. You’ll be glad you did, and you may just never want to leave.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

 

 

 



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