Why Urban Artifact Got All Tricky in Hard Seltzer Release

Going away from its usual plan of making “Fruit Tart Ales,” Urban Artifact​ is expanding the fun from its Cincinnati taproom ​by releasing even more of its “Trick or Treat” Hard Seltzer variety pack this year. Now, instead of being sold out of its main location, the variety pack will be ​sold regionally. Sales began this week.

That call of the unknown is what the brewery said draws people to the release as every six-pack boasts six unique flavors, each adorned with its own cryptozoological creature.

“I couldn’t be more excited to finally bring this Trick or Treat concept to the larger market,” said CFO Scotty Hunter. “It is something we have honed with small on-site releases over the years and now we get to share it with a larger audience.”​

Launching a unique project in the taproom is a lot different than releasing a wild group of creatures through distribution to stores in several states, explained Chief Brand Officer, Scott Hand.

“We’ve partnered with a group of incredible retailers to ensure that a bigger crowd gets to go Trick or Treating this year, which means cans and boxes traveling much farther,” he said.

Using what they call a “Small Batch Society,” Hand told Brewer it’s been a great crowd to have a little testing/proving ground for flavors, but it’s also a way for the team to hone a process with unique adjuncts or a specific style.

“We’re currently developing Fruit Tarts in a wider variety of intensities and a lot of that iterative process happens in the small batches,” he said. “With Trick or Treat, we’ve done this on a small scale and kept it in the taproom and local release for a few years because it’s a complicated design and brewing endeavor.

“We had folks asking to bring it back and some upset that they missed out on former Trick or Treats, so we spent time in the costume shop figuring out how to launch it to a bigger neighborhood.”

Each six-pack will drop six mystery flavors, with two being “tricks” along with four treats.

The ​Urban Artifact ​team’s ideation brainstorming ran the gamut from intense candy-inspired sweets like red hot cinnamon to nature-inspired like grass clippings​ … ​even ​to chemical creations like mouthwash.

​”​We only limited the Trick or Treat development to our imagination and designed it to be completely contrary to our other projects​,” Hand said. “The typical Urban Artifact creation process starts with unique fruits and builds a balanced Fruit Tart highlighting the unique fermented wonders of whole, natural, real fruit.​”​

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