The Gadget by Urban Artifact is, like its stable mate (Fire Iron), a smoothie in beer form. However, this offering has berries as the star of the show instead of tropical fruit. However, while Fire Iron was evaluated as a Category 34C Experimental Beer simply because it didn’t fit anywhere else, Gadget is being held up to the Category 28C Wild Specialty Beer due to the sour funkiness present
The aroma is a funky, tart raspberry and blackberry juice with a background of vanilla, giving the impression of a slightly sour raspberry milkshake. I get little to no malt or beer character whatsoever. The offering is a turbid opaque deep garnet color with absolutely no head. The overall appearance is of a thick, dark raspberry juice smoothie.
The flavor gives no surprises after the aroma. From start to finish, berry fruit characters dominate, with an intriguing sour funkiness that adds an appreciated level of complexity. As with Fire Iron, the sweetness is quite low, which works well in this brew. The body is full bodied due to the physical thickness of the berry pulp. The carbonation is moderately “zippy.” The 8.3% alcohol in this brew is very well hidden and could very easily sneak up on you!
Overall, this is a great adult berry smoothie. Drinking it fools the brain into thinking you are being a health-conscious individual. Silly brain!! Cheers and enjoy!!