May 2, 2013

The Best and Worst Beer Art of April, including Star Trek beer, zombies and Elysian's new Oddworld Series

Another month in the bag, beerfriends. A sparse month for design releases, but some cool stuff nonetheless.

In the "Star Trek-Craft Beer overlap news" segment, we have two pieces of news. One is that Stone will produce a beer with Fark and nerdlord Wil Wheaton (formerly the snotnosed kid Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation), called, of course, "Farking Wheaton."
Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout
I actually love the design. I think it looks great, and I love the name (though I could have lived without calling it a "w00tstout;" I don't think this project was in danger of not being precious enough).

Incidentally, if you don't know why Wheaton is a big deal in nerd circles, watch this:
He is kind of lovable.

Not to be outdone, Canadian brewery Cannery Brewing Company has released Vulcan Ale, "a logical choice for a palate pleasing libation." Lots of puns and references that Leonard Nimoy and Tim Russ would appreciate are littered throughout the label:
Cannery Brewing Company Vulcan Ale



Not best or worst, really, but strangest departure of the month belongs to Michigan's Dark Horse Brewing. Inspired by zombies, it appears, they decided to eschew their traditionally awesome woodcut-like work for a more 3Floyds-esque look in their new IPA mix case:

Dark Horse Arctic Dekoorc Eert Label Design
Zombie lumberjacks...

Dark Horse Edacsac Dekoorc Eert Label Design
...and bigfoot truckers...

Dark Horse FF Dekoorc Eert Label Design
...and robot mermaids?
I do not begin to understand these labels. I welcome any and all explanatory feedback or wild speculation as to what fueled this very strange art direction. I can't even find any story behind the "Dekoorc Eert" name.

Best labels of the month go to Almanac Beer Company, who has some really beautiful two-color font and woodcut design:
Almanac Beer Company Pale Ale Label Design

Almanac Beer Company Honey Saison Label Design
I don't think this design is technically new, but these labels are and it's the first time I've seen it, so... Yeah.

Another winner: Elysian Brewing Company, for their announcement of their Oddland series with artist Jim Woodring:

Elysian Brewing Oddland Series

Also good: Avondale Brewing Company, but I'm going to do a full post on them.

The worst of the month is an old favorite. Every year, Bridgeport picks a different fruit to put in its Belgian style sour ale, and every year they call it the Stumptown Tart, which they illustrate with a smiling woman reclining in garters next to some fruit:
Bridgeport Stumptown Tart 2013 Label
Tart! Ha! 'Cuz she likes having sex! GET IT?!

Posted by Greg Heller-LaBelle at 12:05 PM
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3 comments:

  1. Dekoorc Eert is "Crooked Tree" spelled backwards and the beer names are the particular hop spelled backwards (Citra = Artic, Cascade = Edacsac, FF is probably Falconers Flight blend). They're probably single hop IPA's.

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  2. Well, now I feel stupid. Makes perfect sense. Well, the naming makes sense. I still don't get the zombies.

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  3. I don't know what the deal with the zombies is, but I drank my way through that mixed pack and the beers were solid if unremarkable, except for the Citra, which was very good.

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