Blue Point Brewing Company
Patchogue, NY

A massive creation made specially for the Design, Drink and Be Merry show, designer James McCune calls the piece “a wild-looking ride through the artist’s mind as he created the brand identity of The Blue Point Brewing Company. It shows the logo being created as well as the wildly creative looking Hoptical Illusion.

Bullfrog Brewery
Williamsport, PA

According to designer Shaun Gilmour: “The Beers Gone Wild poster was created to promote a very special, once-a-month release, of refermented beers that the Bullfrog had introduced. My inspiration for the poster was born from a visit to their cellar late one night. I saw all these old casks and dusty old kegs lying around down there and the themes of being buried alive and being reborn started to come to mind. Since the Bullfrog is a very green and organic brewery, I also knew I wanted to somehow incorporate sustainability into the image. What you see are the old kegs, buried like a seed, with pathways to be reborn.”

Dogfish Head
Milton, DE

Dogfish’s series of Limited Release 4-packs of beer feature original art by artist Jon Langford, a founding member of legendary British rock band the Mekons. His multi-layered paintings take imagery from old country music publicity photos and sheet music and envelope them in a haze of ironic nostalgia. He describes his painting technique thusly: "Long process of layering, scraping, minute attention to detail. Basically, I create a very unstable surface with acrylics and pastel on top of each other and work on top of that with Sharpies, felt pens, white out, gunk, snot and whatever comes to hand."

Great Sex Brewing Company
Redding, CA

Doug Gemutliche, of the brewery’s Gemutliche Brothers, got a picture of the painting “The Garden Of  Eden With The Fall of Man” (c. 1615) by Flemish artist Peter Paul Reubens. He thought that part of the painting would be a great idea for a lower body beer label. Says Jeff Gemutliche: “We took what we thought was important, had various friends and artists enhance, color, add and subtract various parts of the picture. Incidentally the Garden of Eden (Iraq) is where beer was first brewed - perfect for our purposes.”

Legacy Brewing Company
Reading, PA

Its hot red packaging depicts characters in what looks almost like an orgy in ancient Egyptian times. The odd looking cartoonish characters are kissing each other and some seem to be fondling each other in a humorous way. Hedonism does mean happiness and pleasure. Said Brewmaster Scott Baver: “I think we have captured that in a very artistic, acceptable way.” Pagoda Media, a local design firm, created the actual bottle label, case and six pack layouts from Deric Hettinger's artwork. “Legacy actually had a contest to create the art. As soon as I heard the word ‘Hedonism,’ I went to work,” said Deric.

Long Trail Brewing Company
Bridgewater Corners, VT

According to Long Trail’s Seth Wyman: “The creative direction is a direct reflection of the natural environment where the brewery is located in the Green Mountains. As the brewery's name is derived from Vermont's famous 'Long Trail' hiking trail (the nation's oldest long distance hiking path), the artwork created for the brewery showcases the mountains, streams and other natural wonders Vermont offers from the hiker's perspective.  Names and design work created specifically for the brewery's beers also reflect natural themes, with the extensive use of characterized animals adding a unique creativity to their overall theme.”

Reaper Ales
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Designer Todd Kendrick of Reaper says: “Our beer names usually start with the beer name first, then I’m tasked with doing a drawing depicting the name. Ritual was perhaps one of the easier labels to draw, as we both had the image of The Reaper performing his ritual of collecting souls for this label. The initial sketch of The Reaper and Victim was done on a sunny day on my patio. Pencil is my favorite medium for illustrating my thoughts. I ended up replacing the Reaper’s face digitally with another image as I felt the face in the sketch was not quite threatening enough.”

River Horse Brewing Company
Lambertville, NJ

According to designer Jennifer Hansen: “TRiP3L HORSE is one of my favorite designs for River Horse. I just had a lot of fun with these monks and thought we were pretty clever with the use of the 3/triple/E. Here I show all the different layouts and colors I go through with the River Horse guys until we settle on something that is different from anything we have done before but still says River Horse.”

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Brooklyn, NY

Designer Matt Polacheck says of his creation for the show: “At Shmaltz Brewing Company, we believe that delicious shtick and delicious beer go hand in hand. I work and rework each individual label, creating all the elements and arranging them in a fun and engaging way. I enjoy seeing the final products living together side by side on the shelf, and thought it would be really great to see them living together within the same piece of artwork. I think combining all these different design elements here not only shows an overall cohesion that has been created within the brand, but also highlights our willingness to break out of traditional package design.”

Ska Brewing Company
Durango, CO

Dorn Roberts, the artist for Ska, describes his process: “The final member of the Robust Reincarnations, the Nefarious Ten Pin Imperial Porter is a double version of our Ten Pin Porter. It is 8% ABV, dark and roasty with notes of black cherries. The label once again depicts the recurring character, Pinstripe, standing before his minions.”

Southern Tier Brewing Company
Jamestown, NY

Designer Nathan Arnone says the art for Gemini began with a question from Phin (Demink, owner of Southern Tier Brewing Company): What if we blend two beers together, what kind of name do you think we can come up with for a blend of Unearthly (Imperial India Pale Ale) and Hoppe (Imperial Extra Pale Ale)? 

The answer: “We're talking about blending two beers, two really big, really tasty beers, blended 50/50 and crammed into one big bottle... Sounds like your twin boys, Phin! Call it Twin, or The Twins. In astronomy there's the constellation Gemini, "the twins"… There's also the Gemini Program from NASA... I can write a story linking all three of these things together-- the beer, the constellation, and the astronauts! Graphics can take elements from Unearthly and Hoppe, add a Gemini astronaut and maybe the zodiac symbol and we're set.”

Stoudt’s Brewing Company
Adamstown, PA

According to designer Carey Stoudt Matson: “The "Smooth Hoperator" was the special beer that our brewers developed to celebrate our 20th anniversary last spring. My father, Ed Stoudt, held a contest to name the beer. Joe McMonagle, one of our brewers who is also a musician, came up with the name. My husband, John Matson, came up with the recipe for the beer. Todd Stewart, who is head of maintenance for our complex did the original sketch of the character for the "Smooth Hoperator." I modified his sketch and added color and layout. I used my hop sketch from our logo. All the color work was done by me. After the design was finished Todd did his Poster for the unveiling of this Anniversary Beer. It was quite a group project.”

Troeg’s Brewing Company
Harrisburg, PA

Troegs Brewery commissioned a series of graffiti-inspired artwork for our 10th anniversary celebration in October 2007. They contacted a Philadelphia Art Collective and asked them to created graffiti inspired by our labels. The Dead Reckoning piece seen here was done by Tim Strazza. According to Troeg’s Ed Yashinsky: “We really think these artists went above and beyond; we gave them free reign and they really nailed it. Creating a look that is uniquely theirs, but still true to what we have created here.”