Stegosaurus
Urban Artifact

 

 

Poured from 6.3-ounce bottle into a tulip glass. This sample was 11.2% ABV, unknown date but probably several years old since I don't remember how long ago I purchased it. Deep purple in color, minimal head, with aromas and flavors of tart cherry with a little of that wild-ale funk. This sample was a bit "wine-y" in character which is not a bad thing, but not quite as intense in flavor as I had hoped. (Balaton and Montmorency rarely disappoint.) I hope to run across this one again so I can revisit it under more, shall we say, stringent conditions.

 

 

 

Pours a slight hazed rusty color with a small light cherry ring.Smell is dank,funky with tart fruits. Taste is tart, fresh cherries musty wood and hay. Mouth feel is sour in a good way its crisp and tart and refreshing, this was great to sip on.

Pours a medium dark red color with a minimal head that disappears quickly. Aroma is fruity, slightly cherry. Tastes of tart cherries; tart and slightly sour. Not sweet at all.

Look - nice clear cherry red
Smell - slightly tart cherry
Taste - tart and sour cherry slightly woody
Feel - medium full slight syrup not much carb
Overall - pretty tasty

Not exactly bringing a beer back from extinction, but the flanders red ale might be considered a dinosaur by newer craft beer standards. The popularity of other more Germanic styled sour ale has pushed the flemish styles to the back burner, but when brewers of Urban Artifact use the familiar oak and cherry attributes of those red ale, its shows that the basics for that ancient sour style is in pretty good hands.

Pale peach and with a twinge of maroon, a combination of murk and rust round out the color while the ale crowns with a dainty trickle of froth. Peppery, fruity with the tart montmorency cherries, and tucked underneath an aura of weathered wood and damp burlap, the nose is decorated with strong suggestions of balsamic savory sourness. Its flavor of hard candy soothes the early palate with a toasted pastry taste along with sangria.

Any suggestion of malt retreats, taking a bulk of sweetness along. Left in its wake is a toasty bread crust flavor that links up with the quick rise of peppery sourness with those balsamic flavors returning once again. Trending cidery, vinous and currant-like, the middle palate shows a swift transition to acidity, dryness and spice. Oak flavors provide a balance of wood spices in the low usage of hops. All the while its the cherry flavors that wrap the entire session in a cobbler-like impression.

The finish comes quick as the medium light ale uses its sourness to wash the thirst from the palate with ease, allowing for a crisp, clean and refreshing aftertaste with hints of sourdough, burlap and cellar-like must returning in a quick retro olfactory action.