‘Ür Brewery’ Coming to Downtown Lansdale in May

Keith Heffintrayer•

Lou Farrell, co-owner of Ür Brewery.

As the Borough of Lansdale continues its revitalizing push into the future, one new business seeks to provide flavors from the past.

Ür Brewery, which will be located at 320 Madison Street, is currently under construction with a tentative launch date set for May 1. According to Lou Farrell, who co-owns the business with his partner, Chuck Schroeder, the brewery will feature the standard range of beers, such as bitters, pilsners and pale ales, but on the specialty side, Ür Brewery will focus it’s efforts on bringing historic beers back to life.

The main level of the building will feature a brew house, kitchen, bar, entertainment area and seating for 110 guests across booths and tables. Beneath the main floor lies a large aging cellar with space for a beer walk-in, utility room, office space, multiple open tanks in a clean room and possibly even a private dining room for up to 30 people.

A Taste of Local History

In trying to find the right niche within the craft brewing market, Farrell and his partner decided to look to brewers’ past for inspiration. That decision lead the owners to purchase a number of trademarked beer recipes dating all the way back to 1790 and extending through 1965.

Those trademarks include Robert Hare's Porter, which was the first porter brewed in America at Hare’s brewery near the intersection of North Third and Callowhill streets in Philadelphia. Hare’s Porter was famously imbibed by many of the Founding Fathers, with George Washington frequently requesting more through his letters and correspondence.

Additionally, Ür Brewery also purchased the trademark for Tiger Head Cream Ale, made famous by Robert Smith’s Ale Brewery at 38^th and Girard in Philadelphia.

"It’s a beer that reflects the immigration history of America,” said Farrell. "It was made in an English-style brewery, but aged like a German lager. You can learn a bit about American history by drinking cream ale.”

One challenge that Ür Brewery has faced is that ingredients have changed over time, with some—such as malts—no longer being available. To overcome that challenge, Ür Brewery has enlisted the help of Rich Wagner, who is one of the top beer historians in the area, according to Farrell.

"We want to produce things as authentically as we can,” said Farrell, adding that they have already made the calculations to adjust the ingredients in order to preserve the original, colonial taste.

A Unique Approach

Aside from bring historic beers back to life, Ür Brewery will be utilizing a unique approach to brewing beer.

"Since we’re going to be making a number of kinds of beer—both contemporary and historic—we needed a specific type of brew house,” said Farrell. "I think a lot of people will be surprised—maybe even confused—when they see what we are doing.”

Instead of going with the tried-and-true methodology of closed fermenting, the brewery will brew all of their beers in open fermenters in their basement.This means that they will have to place additional emphasis on following sanity procedures, and the fermenters will have to be housed in a clean-room.

"I argue all the time with other brewers, but I’m convinced that open tanks make better beer,” said Farrell.

Additionally, in an effort to preserve the body of their beers, Ür Brewery will forego filtering their products.

"We’re not going to filter anything,” said Farrell. "Instead, we are going to rely on good brewhouse procedure, boiling and extended cold aging. At its best, filtration can still strip down body.”

Farrell’s 24-year-old son, Patrick, will serve as head brewer for the company. Patrick has years of experience brewing at Iron Hill Brewery and Tower Hill Brewery.

Edibles, Aesthetics and Entertainment

Ür Brewery will feature regularly scheduled live music with no cover, with different styles planned for different nights and occasions. The planned décor for the interior is described as "comfortable,” featuring works from local artists and sound-dampening cloth to keep the noise down.

"We’re going to do a number of different things that make it comfortable and exciting, but not to the extent that people will go deaf from noise,” said Farrell.

Additionally, two big features of the brewery’s aesthetic design include an interior projector that can display anything from public-domain films to slide shows of old breweries, and an external mural that will be painted and repainted by local artists every six months or so.

On the food side of things, Farrell—who did a six-year French culinary apprenticeship—wants to focus on a rotating menu that is heavy on small plates and shareables, with as many ingredients as possible coming from local farms and businesses.

"We want to source our ingredients locally as much as we can. There’s some great folks around here, and I’ve already talked to a number of them who are going to scale up so we can get what we need.” said Farrell. "We’re also going to be concentrating on small plates, rather than entrees. We like the idea of a table of four ordering six or seven different things to share.”

Farrell added that there will still be a handful of entrees on the menu, as well as plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.

"I went through the menu that we prepared, and without any changes, a third of the options were vegan,” said Farrell. "We’re going to make sure that there are vegan and vegetarian options.”

Paying a Living Wage and Paying it Forward

Prior to their launch in May, Farrell said that they will need to hire roughly 40 people to maintain day to day operations at the brewery. Those positions include head chef, general manager, "experts” that can make recommendations and discuss food/beer pairings, and more.

"Since we’re doing things that are significantly different than other places, we need people who know what they’re doing,” said Farrell. "We want to have as many full time people as possible, and we want to pay a living wage. I think that’s really important. We don’t want to do that thing where everyone is working 10 hour shifts and no one has benefits. You can’t make demands of people if you’re not paying them and taking care of them.”

Speaking of taking care of people, Farrell—who is on the board of the Philadelphia-based non-profit The Welcome Church—said that the non-profit will draw a small percentage of Ür Brewery’s profits, paid out each month. Additionally, those who are experiencing homelessness will be considered for employment, and there will also be ongoing opportunities for patrons to show support for a tiny house initiative called Sanctuary Village.