Remember the other day when I got really excited about Urban Artifact’s first bottle release?  You know, the one with their Imperial Amber Lager, bourbon barrel aged, and hit with a dose of Brett to spice things up a bit – Thoroughbred?  Yeah, well, they’re kicking things up a notch with another release, this time of 5 different variants of the beer.  The bottles are all cocktail inspired and start with that same base of Thoroughbred.  They’ll sell for $15.99 a piece and will be available in the Urban Artifact taproom on January 7th.  As for what each one will be – let’s have a look:

Mint Julep Thoroughbred

If I need to explain to you what a mint julep is, you might have some bigger issues that we need to work through.  This beer get’s is signature taste from the addition of spearmint and vanilla beans.

Kentucky Mule Thoroughbred

This beer takes it’s inspiration from the cocktail of the same name.  The cocktail, though is inspired from the Moscow Mule.  Using a nice heaping of ginger beer and lime, the Moscow Mule is refreshing, clean and delicious.  It’s Kentucky Mule variant swaps out the boring vodka for the full character of bourbon.  This personality-rich cocktail then inspires this bottle.  The beer features lime and ginger added to the base beer.

The Devereaux Thoroughbred

I have to admit, this isn’t a cocktail I have yet to try (though it’s now on my list.)  It uses Bourbon as a base, with St. Germain elderflower liqueur, along with lemon, sparkling wine and a mint garnish. What you end up with is a crisp, refreshingly sweet cocktail.  It’s Urban Artifact twist is a bottle of Thoroughbred hit with lemon zest and elderflowers.

King Cake Old Fashioned Thoroughbred

I believe that this cocktail got it’s start in New Orleans at the Sobou, where the drink features rum, cinnamon syrup and chicory bitters.  I’m probably most curious about this bottle, which uses pecans, walnuts, cinnamon and vanilla beans to recreate the flavors of this Mardi Gras favorite.

Corpse Reviver Thoroughbred

Juniper Berries, Lemon Zest, Orange Zest and Grape Must are added to Thoroughbred for this bottle which is meant to replicate the flavors of the classic ‘hair of the dog’ cocktail with the same name.  The drink uses gin, lemon juice, orange curaçao, Lilet, and a dash of absinthe.  This cocktail is a favorite of mine, and makes me curious and excited to see what that variant tastes like, and if it replicates an already extremely complex cocktail.

Details About The Bottle Release

I already touched on the important stuff.  Bottles are going to run $15.99 plus tax, and will be available starting at noon on January 7th.  The taproom will probably be pretty hoppin’, and they aren’t going to have these on tap at all.  So if there is something that you’re dying to try, you’re going to have to plan ahead and make your way down there to snag yourself a bottle, or two… or five.

They also let us know that these are the first five of what is going to be seven total variants of Thoroughbred being released…. so keep your eyes open for the last two to come out in the near future, and as I talked about with the Thoroughbred release, it’s only the start for some of the stuff you’re going to see from the brewery in the future.  They’ve only just started getting their barrel aged beer feet wet.