Waterbird
Urban Artifact

 

12 ounce can, canned on 10/07/21. Served in an Urban Artifact chalice, the beer pours a cloudy pinkish/orange color with about an inch or so off-white/pink head that stayed around a long time. There's a decent amount of lacing. I like the aroma, it's mostly tropical with guava, vanilla, bready/doughy malt, passionfruit and pear. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some lime-like citrus and earthy flavors noticeable too. Taste starts off fruity and has an earthiness in the finish. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth and a bit coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought it was a unique enjoyable tart brew, worth trying if you get the chance.

 

For the brewery who's not afraid to go anywhere with sour ale, Urban Artifact takes their drinking vessels to the tropics to collect a nearly reckless amount of pink guava to fuel their imperial Midwest fruit tart ale.

Waterbird pours a murky and pastel peachy pink appearance with a creamy, short-lived froth. As a sharp fruit scent rises from the brim, a yeasty, bready and peppery scent soon follows. A general taffy-like sweetness coats the tongue with a creamy pastry flavor with pulled candy and sourdough.

As the fruit-forward flavor broadens across the middle palate, the flavors of pink guava bring an accessorizing taste of orange, passionfruit, pineapple, mango, pawpaw, lime and lemon once the natural acidity makes its way into the beer's acidic balance. Peppery, earthy and somewhat dirty with its fruit additions, there's a nearly smoky, peaty taste that interferes with the beer's otherwise clean and refreshing late palate.

Full bodied for sour ale, the beer finishes rife with creamy, starchy fruit along with those persistent earthen notes that detract from the citrus, cider, tropical and vinous taste that sets up so beautifully before. An aftertaste of pepper and peat allow for echoes of bruised fruit to trail in an off-putting linger.