Urban Artifact BrewingThe folks down in Northside’s Urban Artifact Brewing company are weird.  They were told before they even opened their doors that their brewery was going to fail, that no one in this “less than sophisticated” beer town of Cincinnati would understand what they were doing.  How can you operate a brewery that makes all their beers “wild and tart”?

So, they smiled, and opened their doors anyways, because that’s what you do when you have wild culture running through your blood.

I’ve often watched from the sidelines of a beer fan, and a beer writer of sorts and just smiled.  It’s fascinating to watch how they push the palates of drinkers, gaining new fans daily.  It’s even more interesting to see how they embrace the weirdness, and are so unapologetic for being who they are – case in point… Bewilderfest.

What’s Bewilderfest

What’s Bewilderfest, you ask?  It’s a festival of “different”.  A time to stand up tall, give the middle finger not just to the way things are “supposed to be” but to actually look at who you are when you’re being “normal” and then to turn left.

Be different, and be ok with being different. Push your boundaries, push your limits, and your little bubble of comfort.

More specifically, it’s a beer, music and food festival at Urban Artifact.  But in a world where every brewery now pushes themselves to let their festivals do more than just serve beer to people, Urban Artifact is taking things to a different place when they are sending out invitations to the festival.  They don’t want anyone to just show up.  They want weird beer, music that is different for the artists to play… strange foods.

Of course they do!

It’s a 3 day celebration of Wild Culture!

BeerListWhat Do They Mean, “Weird Beer”

The final list isn’t finalized, and please keep in mind that this festival is three different days, so there is a chance that if you show up looking for something specific – it might not be on.  Also remember, though, that the entire point of this is to push boundaries, including your own.  Try something random, try something weird! (There will be a selection of “core beers” from the breweries that are attending, too… if you’re boring.) The cool stuff, though?

  • MadTree – Ford The Mill, Manhattan inspired beer.
  • Jackie O’s – Oro Blanco – Imperial Amber Ale with Coffee, Cacao and Spices
  • Wolf’s Ridge – Daybreak Clear Sky – Coffee Cream Ale and Link or Patty? Sausage Spiced Ale
  • 5 Rabbit – Ponche, Mexican X-mas Punch.
  • Fibonacci – Smoked Ale with Garlic (Yup… Garlic)
  • Quaff Brothers – ??? TBA – Barrel Aged Goodie.
  • Ei8ht Ball – Brandy Aged Triple with Gorgonzola Cheese…
  • Listermann/Triple Digit – ??? TBA
  • 50W – ??? TBA
  • Rhinegeist – ??? TBA – Something barrel aged and tasty.
  • Sam Adams – Walden Hollow, Wild Cider and Colin Foys Flanders Red Ale.
  • Black Cloister – ??? TBA Firkin
  • Little Fish – Woodthrush, and Smoked Hefe

They’re also going to be pouring some killer international and regional stuff that you don’t see very often – because weird can be rare too…

  • Hitachino – Hinomaru (Pepper Ale)
  • JW Lees – Scotch aged Harvest Ale
  • Wild Beer Co – Modus Vivendi (BA Old Ale with Wild Yeast)
  • Crafted Meads – Codex Combustion (Burnt Mead)
  • Jolly Pumpkin – Gotlandsricka (Smoked Viking Ale)
  • Jolly Pumpkin – Hamajang (Strawberry and Sea Buckthorn Juice Sour)
  • Jopen – Jopen Koyt (Gruit)
  • Mikkeller – 12in Winale (Wine/Beer Hybrid)
  • The Monarchy – Gratzer (Smoke Beer)

Music

It should go without saying at this point, but whenever Urban Artifact is doing something, you should expect a great lineup of music to go along with it.  They aren’t just doing things like normal with their music lineup though.  What they are saying is that the artists performing will be playing something “weird” be it genre bending styles… strange covers… who knows?  But it won’t be “normal”

There are too many bands playing to even begin to name them all… head over to the Bewilderfest Facebook event page and check it all out.  While you’re there…share it with all your friends too.

The Details

This is crazy, right?  Crazy awesome.  You have got to mark your calendar… you need to be at this event.  It’s literally three days of craziness, August 26th through the 28th… BE THERE.

Leave a Comment.