How Urban Artifact Looks to Bridge the Gap Between Fruit Ales & Fruited Sours

Already a brewery brand that fits into many wholesalers’ portfolios for being in the sour/tart realm, Urban Artifact wanted to create an “introduction” to new consumers on the brand without having them have to jump into the tart realm right away. Being a higher-end price point due to the abundance of fruit in the Cincinnati brewery’s beers, it was also a gateway to a wider audience.

So in late January, they introduced Capy Snacks as a way to bridge those gaps.

After making investments into equipment like a tunnel pasteurizer, the brewery created a fruit ale that wasn’t overly sweet, was more price-conscious, and still had a good amount of fruit flavor that the brewery is known for.

“It’s something that fits in a hole in our portfolio,” COO Scotty Hunter told Brewer in a recent podcast. Another key for the Capy Snacks addition was a way to boost keg sales at on-prem retailers.

“When you look at breweries, historically as a brewery matures, you start to see more package sales versus draft sales,” he said. “For craft, pre-pandemic, it would be the opposite of that, but we would see more heavy package sales instead of the draft because of the price point of our kegs and the reception to our styles.”

Capy Snacks has really helped make up ground there because it’s a more affordable keg, Hunter said.

“It’s got a little bit more sweetness and it’s a little bit more sessionable for the newer consumers of our product line,” he said. That led to growth in a lot of states the company distros to with some states up 20% year-over-year in volume sales while seeing an increase of 5% in its home state of Ohio.

“Right now that’s pretty unheard of in terms of craft beer,” Hunter said.

Capy Snacks is its own brand family, and it’s how they said they had planned to develop it.

“We always intended that if it had the success that we thought it would have to add to it,” he said. For now, Capy Snack comes in a Fruit Punch flavor only with a plan for another flavor to debut this month.

“Presuming that it goes well — which we expect — it’ll become a year-round offering next year and be part of our core portfolio,” Hunter said.

Developing fruit flavors that can be unique yet appealing is a main process, Hunter noted.

“We’ve done a lot of trial and error over the last nine-plus years to find out what works well, and then not just what works well in liquid but also what customers respond to,” he said. “For example stone fruits. Peach markets well and sells well. But apricots, I think, taste way better. But they do not market well and do not sell well. Nectarines, same thing. It’s another stone fruit, it’s got great flavor, aroma, and things of that nature. But for the American consumer, it’s a very tough sell.

“We look at ways that we can kind of meet people where they’re at with some of those fruits that maybe might have great flavor but aren’t as well known. So I expect we’ll do some of that with some of our seasonal lines next year, in terms of those fruits, because it’s a shame to really narrow down to just berries and peaches. There’s also a lot of stuff that I think we can expose people to in a way that gets them to take that step.”

The key that this line has versus a traditional Shandy or Radler on the market is more about letting natural fruit shine.

“With Capy Snacks, we made an investment in some equipment that allowed us to back sweeten that product line to get a little bit more intensity of flavor, but also add some additional balance to the acidity that’s already present and kind of soften that for consumers that might be new to the category,” Hunter said. “I think it’s a much better way for a fruit beer to exist.

Bitterness is much more of an acquired sensation, Hunter feels, while acidity is something that people are used to, but not necessarily in beverages or food unless you’re talking lemonade.

“If I get some berries, they’re gonna have some acidity, right? Sour cherries are a common thing,” Hunter said. “There is that association for those aspects of those fruits, and what makes an overall more drinkable beverage.”

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