Urban South Brewery-HTX, which just opened on Feb. 29, has developed a beer-to-go game plan.
Urban South-HTX opened its first location outside of its home base of New Orleans on Feb. 29, Leap Day. The grand opening offered a glimpse of the kind of gatherings the brewery envisioned, drawing together lovers of craft beer to the Sawyer Yards development off Washington Avenue near the Heights.
“We got a little taste of what it was going to be like with the business before everything sort of got changed, quickly,” said Dave Ohmer, general manager of Urban South-HTX.
“We had planned on a model of equal parts canned and ‘to-go’ selling and the other half toward draft beer on site,” Ohmer said.
Fewer than three weeks after opening, Harris County officials ordered the closure of bars and restrictions on restaurants to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The taproom, with seating for 110 and patio and beer garden that seats another 70 or 80, remains closed until further notice.
As they made the shift in their sales model, Urban South placed orders for supplies and ingredients along with many other brewers. Some of the orders required some lead time. Also, the stock of beer in kegs planned for sale on-site had to be put into cans.
“There was definitely a lull there for a few weeks for sales as we shifted to the new model of everything to-go,” Ohmer said.
Sales have ramped up since the brewery established a program in which customers purchase beer and merchandise online and pick it up at the brewery. The hours for pick-up are from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Its patio plans to open May 22 for limited seating.
Since closing the taproom, Urban South-HTX has introduced about 30 new beers in small batches. Popular sellers from the “Spilled” series include fruited sours such as Orange Overload, which contains orange puree, orange candy slices and orange Fanta, and a mango IPA called Your Long Lost Pal.
“Experimentation is what we do here,” Ohmer said. “We built this to be an R&D facility for our company. Variety is sort of our game plan anyway.”
Urban South-HTX is now producing 25 to 30 barrels of beer per week. That equates to 6,000 to 7,200 cans.
“The support from the community has been incredible, we have seen tons of people stop by as they make the rounds to other local breweries to support the small businesses here in Houston,” Ohmer said.
Anywhere from four to eight different beers are typically available for purchase, with most of them selling out within 10 days of the release, Ohmer said.
The release of a new beer often generates buzz among customers, many of whom are at home with time to enjoy a drink. On a busy week, the brewery sells up to 6,000 cans.
“We’ve had some long lines; longer because of the social distancing between each person,” Ohmer said.
Urban South has helped other craft brewers by canning their beer so they can sell it to-go. The company has participated in the All Together beer collaboration of craft brewers to support the local hospitality community.
While the shutdown of the Houston taproom has taken a toll on sales, the company has continued to pay the rent at its 14,000-square-foot Sawyer Yards facility without a problem.
The New Orleans Urban South Brewery also made the shift to canning beer and is stocking shelves of grocery stores throughout Louisiana. They’ve also incorporated a line of hand sanitizer and shipped some to sell at Urban South-HTX.