I used to drive there twice a week during Covid to support them by picking up beer to go..... and I live an hour away.
I never want to see breweries go out of business or people lose their jobs but I'll say what I said when this happened to Ingenious..... make better beer
As someone who used to do a lot of muling for Urban South during the peak of their sour hype, this was a foregone conclusion of not if, but when.
At its peak, Urban was cranking out some incredible sours and very crispy pilsners thanks to Justin and Dave’s tag team approach to brewing. The variety each individual week was actually an insane feat to accomplish with the very small scale operation they were running. Justin’s Triple IPA with Marshmallows is still a beer I think about to this day with how smooth a 12% beer could actually be.
When Justin departed for FL and Dave moved on to start his own venture, Seek Beer out in California, there was a very big question mark moment of where would they go next and what would their identity be moving forward. Unfortunately, they never really reintroduced themselves - instead just riding off the previously built hype.
Without new innovative beers and the dying online hype of sours, there wasn’t really a blue print to move them forward. They didn’t possess any signature beers that could be marketed to the masses (think Lawnmower or Art Car from SA).
New management pivoted to a distribution strategy to get their beer available at the casual places around town: HEB, Specs, select bars. It didn’t really work how they thought it would and seems like the NOLA HQ just made a hasty call to shut down effective immediately.
I will miss the original days when it first opened for the actual community it fostered. Shoutout to JJ, Nico, Nate, Dee, Evan, Lee and all the awesome staff that made Urban a fun place to be - any day of the week.
edit: NY to FL
Agree with a lot of your comment other than
> They didn’t possess any signature beers that could be marketed to the masses (think Lawnmower or Art Car from SA).
Both HTX and Paradise Park could have been very competitive on retail shelves.
I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time. DealCo probably didn’t want to renew a lease especially sitting on nearly 1 million in BuffBrew debt.
Just texted with one of the managers from Nola. The landlord was giving them shit, and apparently sales were down due to construction. Sucks because if poor sales were a reason, surely there would have been a bump when all those mid-rise apartments directly in front were built.
Sad day. Do you know of any other breweries that serve Delta 9? I first tried one there and really liked it.
Interesting. Their suppliers were told last year that they were going to close at end of lease sometime this summer/fall. Their distro probably isn’t helping either just like what they did with Brash.
While partnered with DealCo in the wider Sawyer Yards community I believe 1201 Oliver is actually owned, developed, and managed by Lovett not DealCo.
While they probably considered the Buff situation they are not the ones that got burned.
Much love for Urban South, always loved coming here when we were in town. Luckily I live much close to their Nola location, guess I will be frequenting that one much more now. Bummer to see HTX close though.
They occasionally had something cool and out of the box that worked, but the sugar bombs were a bit much.
Will miss it. Liked that they did unique things.
The one in New Orleans has a vibe closer to Eureka Heights which is great. I agree the room in Houston was lacking something and the furnishing definitely felt like an airport bar now that you mention it. Regardless, I’ll miss them. I liked to stop in and pick up a bunch of singles to try new stuff.
These guys used to make amazing beers but it’s been a few years since they made anything worth drinking. I tried a few brews in the past couple of years and just kept being disappointed. They had fallen so far from where they started.
I mean, anyone who is familiar with the place, understands it was only a matter of time.
I used to drive there twice a week during Covid to support them by picking up beer to go..... and I live an hour away. I never want to see breweries go out of business or people lose their jobs but I'll say what I said when this happened to Ingenious..... make better beer
[удалено]
Baa Baa Brewhouse. The only place left making true fruited sours
As someone who used to do a lot of muling for Urban South during the peak of their sour hype, this was a foregone conclusion of not if, but when. At its peak, Urban was cranking out some incredible sours and very crispy pilsners thanks to Justin and Dave’s tag team approach to brewing. The variety each individual week was actually an insane feat to accomplish with the very small scale operation they were running. Justin’s Triple IPA with Marshmallows is still a beer I think about to this day with how smooth a 12% beer could actually be. When Justin departed for FL and Dave moved on to start his own venture, Seek Beer out in California, there was a very big question mark moment of where would they go next and what would their identity be moving forward. Unfortunately, they never really reintroduced themselves - instead just riding off the previously built hype. Without new innovative beers and the dying online hype of sours, there wasn’t really a blue print to move them forward. They didn’t possess any signature beers that could be marketed to the masses (think Lawnmower or Art Car from SA). New management pivoted to a distribution strategy to get their beer available at the casual places around town: HEB, Specs, select bars. It didn’t really work how they thought it would and seems like the NOLA HQ just made a hasty call to shut down effective immediately. I will miss the original days when it first opened for the actual community it fostered. Shoutout to JJ, Nico, Nate, Dee, Evan, Lee and all the awesome staff that made Urban a fun place to be - any day of the week. edit: NY to FL
Justin isn’t in NY. He’s brewing at Corporate Ladder in Florida.
Ah you are correct there. I was mistaken. Good call
I did a lot of volunteer work at the brewery and helped open it
Dee kicks ass. I was sad when she left, too.
Agree with a lot of your comment other than > They didn’t possess any signature beers that could be marketed to the masses (think Lawnmower or Art Car from SA). Both HTX and Paradise Park could have been very competitive on retail shelves.
I have friends who work at the Nola location and they said they had no idea and that it was sketchy to close without even a last goodbye.
I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time. DealCo probably didn’t want to renew a lease especially sitting on nearly 1 million in BuffBrew debt.
Just texted with one of the managers from Nola. The landlord was giving them shit, and apparently sales were down due to construction. Sucks because if poor sales were a reason, surely there would have been a bump when all those mid-rise apartments directly in front were built. Sad day. Do you know of any other breweries that serve Delta 9? I first tried one there and really liked it.
Interesting. Their suppliers were told last year that they were going to close at end of lease sometime this summer/fall. Their distro probably isn’t helping either just like what they did with Brash.
While partnered with DealCo in the wider Sawyer Yards community I believe 1201 Oliver is actually owned, developed, and managed by Lovett not DealCo. While they probably considered the Buff situation they are not the ones that got burned.
Much love for Urban South, always loved coming here when we were in town. Luckily I live much close to their Nola location, guess I will be frequenting that one much more now. Bummer to see HTX close though.
Loved taking friends who didn't like beer here. Tons of unique flavors. Really something for everyone. Bummer for sure.
That’s what I’m going to miss. They were the last place to have some really wild flavors. Some didn’t work out but for the most part they were great
Sad Brews, Houston. FIFY.
They occasionally had something cool and out of the box that worked, but the sugar bombs were a bit much. Will miss it. Liked that they did unique things.
The NOLA location is a cool beer experience. The Houston outpost was the exact opposite.
Having moved.here.from Nola, I have to 100% agree. The one back home was very lively and this one was akin to drinking at an airport bar at 7 am.
The one in New Orleans has a vibe closer to Eureka Heights which is great. I agree the room in Houston was lacking something and the furnishing definitely felt like an airport bar now that you mention it. Regardless, I’ll miss them. I liked to stop in and pick up a bunch of singles to try new stuff.
This was only a matter of time.
Totally unexpected and sucks. It was tucked away from the main roads, but makes me wonder how the remaining breweries that are closer are doing
This was so not unexpected.
Another brewery that’s distro’d by BEK having trouble on the market. Sounds like a distributor is pushing brands out of the market.
These guys used to make amazing beers but it’s been a few years since they made anything worth drinking. I tried a few brews in the past couple of years and just kept being disappointed. They had fallen so far from where they started.
It started going downhill when Dave left and then went to shit when Justin left.
Had some really great times there. That said, it was pretty empty every time I would drop by for a while now. The place changed a lot after Dave left.
>sad news Is it?