Label Love

Local brewers put a lot of thought into their beer branding. Check out what we’re sipping (and staring at) this summer.

Revival Brewing Company’s Night Swim’ah
The Brew: The official beer of Block Island’s ConserFest, the Belgian-style wheat ale is flavored with bitter orange peel, coriander, natural raspberries and hopped with Citra hops. The Design: Brewmaster Sean Larkin “spent a lot of his youth working on Block Island, and one of its trademarks is the locals going night swimming in the summer. It's freeing, refreshing and traditional, all which we wanted the beer to represent,” says label designer AJ Paglia. “The colors convey the setting sun on a summer dusk. The subtle shark reference is Sean and me being typical nerds of Jaws.”
 

Grey Sail Brewing of Rhode Island’s Captain’s Daughter Double IPA
The Brew: An Imperial India pale ale brewed with pilsner malt, flaked oats and Mosaic hops with a strong aroma and flavor of tropical and stone fruits.
The Design: “The face of the girl on the ship is modeled after one of our daughters,” says co-owner Jennifer Brinton. “It is a fitting name as we are a family brewery and our branding is nautical…after all, we are in the Ocean State.”
 

Narragansett Beer’s Del’s Shandy
The Brew: A refreshing mash-up of Narragansett’s lager and the tart lemon extract from iconic Del’s Frozen Lemonade.
The Design: “Generations of tourists and locals grew up with Del’s, so there was no better way to communicate what we were doing than with that cup,” says president Mark Hellendrung. “The most authentic thing to do was to stay true to the heritage, and not overcomplicate things.”
 

Foolproof Brewing Company’s Backyahd IPA
The Brew: Backyahd combines an American West Coast IPA with an English-style IPA to produce a balanced brew that’s not too hoppy.
The Design: “The grill icon on the front of the can is an obvious homage to barbecuing, which was the experience we had in mind when we developed the recipe for Backyahd,” says president and founder Nick Garrison.
 

Proclamation Ale Company’s Derivative
The Brew: A Galaxy-hopped pale ale brewed with small amounts of Citra and Columbus hops. “It’s a really good beer, but if you read the copy on the back it’s sort of making fun of itself,” says owner Dave Witham.
The Design: “The design on the front is the same hop cone done over and over again, and it looks slightly different, but essentially it’s the same thing,” says Witham. “It’s a perspective on the brewing scene and how breweries are all brewing with a crap ton of hops because that’s what people are into.”