2020, and 2021 so far, haven’t been all doom and gloom. One of our local breweries who seems to have been absolutely thriving during the chaos is Urban Artifact. It’s not just on the back of their amazing beer, either… they are doing as well as they are because of a TON of preplanning for stuff that ended up getting implemented a little earlier than they might have been thinking of doing it.
There’s a lot to unpack here – before I dive into the mixed 12packs (which is the real reason for this post) I want to give you a quick birds eye view of what’s going on with the brewery.
The Great Pivot of 2020
It might have seemed like some kind of magic trick, Urban Artifact’s ability to turn on a dime and launch their online store before almost anyone else was in 2020. But as much as it might have seemed like it – it was actually the result of a ton of work that they had been doing in this realm ahead of time. The brewery knew that they wanted to move into some different spaces eventually – shipping, online sales, deeper integration into larger stores… basically, a whole plethora of fun and exciting ways for their fans to get their beer, that wasn’t just their taproom.
Then Covid happened, and they were forced to look at these ideas in a much more serious light, a lot quicker than they planned.
And to us? It seemed just like they flipped a switch and made it happen. Suddenly, we could get Urban Artifact beer shipped across the country. They launched a subscription club and now unveiled a mixed twelve-pack of beer that’s going to do amazing on the shelves of some bigger grocery stores where people find themselves shopping when they don’t want to make multiple stops in a world that isn’t always comfortable.
The Mixed Pack
Starting the week of February 15th, you’ll start seeing the latest innovation from Urban Artifact hitting shelves around town… though it won’t make it’s way into their entire distribution footprint until early Summer. (of course you’ll be able to order them online for pickup in their carryout taproom, too.)
The mixed twelve packs will feature three cans each of four different beers, two of which are going to be exclusive to the mixed packs, and will run $21.99. What’s in it? I’m glad you asked!
Inside each mixed 12pack:
- Harrow – Traditional Gose **exclusive
- Keypunch – Key Lime Gose
- Spyglass – Lemon Lime Gose
- Pinery – Pineapple Gose **exclusive
Why This Should Matter To You
This is important. The craft beer world has been turned upside down, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Our local spots (and even not so local spots) are forced to look at this business in a completely different way and have found themselves exploring how to do what they do while staying nimble and maintaining the ability to change with the world around them.
That’s not easy to do.
When you look at breweries like Urban Artifact (and there are others here in town, too, that are doing an amazing job) – you’re looking at a place that is incredibly smart about adaptation – and when the dust settles, these are the places that will stand above others.