USA, OH: Actual Brewing Co. to open a brewpub in Clintonville in 2017

Fred Lee's Actual Brewing Co. is eccentric, even brewing a beer called Eccentricity, a French ale made with ginger and black pepper, the Columbus Dispatch reported on September 28.

So it shouldn't surprise anyone that the menu at the company's first brewpub will be built around "high-end" sloppy joe sandwiches.

Actual, whose brewery and taproom is folded into an anonymous industrial park, is planning to open a brewpub in Clintonville during the first part of 2017, Lee said.

Actual leased an empty flower shop at 2808 N. High St., next to a post office in a small strip center in front of Lucky's Market. It happens to be owned by the same landlord Actual rents from near John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The 2,200 square foot space will house a restaurant and a 10-barrel brewing system.

"I really like the location because I like the synergy between our brand and Lucky’s," Lee said of the market, which offers organic and specialty items. "Our beer performs well there. There is a good energy."

The location, in a corner that is hard to see from the street, is also a nod to Actual's roots.

"You come out to our taproom, and it's impossible to find," Lee said, laughing. "We’re going to keep that tradition."

Craft beer is booming in central Ohio with more than three dozen local breweries, but only one — Lineage — is currently in Clintonville, one of Columbus' most vibrant neighborhoods.

"That’s a good location," said Bob Welcher, president of Restaurant Consultants Inc. "You get a lot of traffic through there."

Taprooms and brewpubs have become linchpins for most craft brewers' business models, according to Bart Watson, chief economist at the Brewers Association, a trade group for the craft-beer industry. Year-over-year, beer sold in taprooms and brewpubs rose more than 50 percent, Watson wrote in a recent blog post. Selling your own beer at your own taproom or brewpub also produces better margins for brewers, Watson said.

Locally, almost every craft brewer has a taproom or brewpub, or both, except for the city's oldest and largest, Columbus Brewing Co.

Lee hired a chef and plans to open the $400,000 project in late winter or early spring. The brewery at the pub will fill its own taps and compliment the system at Actual's other site, which is operating at capacity.

Adding food to an operation is a logical next step for a brewer who has a taproom, and it can help drive sales and differentiate from breweries who only have taprooms, Welcher said. He added that there's also a risk. If the food isn't as good as the beer, or the service is a let down, it won't attract many repeat customers.

But sloppy joe sandwiches is unique and easy enough to kindle a lot of interest, Welcher said.

"I love it," Welcher said. "It’s clever and fun, but sloppy joes are messy, so maybe not a first-date sort of thing.

"I assume sloppy joes go well with their beer."

Quite well, Lee said.

"It is hard to beat a sloppy joe and beer pairing."

02 October, 2016