Labels help craft brewers move their product off the shelf

With the soaring popularity of craft beer, the beer label has undergone something of a renaissance. As more and more new breweries compete for attention on shelves, it can often come down to who has the most eye-catching and attractive label. 

Of course, there is a huge range of how seriously brewers take their labels. In British Columbia, a Vancouver art gallery recently held an exhibition on beer labels as part of the popular Victoria Beer Week. “You have this amazing array of designs that are not only trying to communicate what the beer is about, but maybe tell you a story — build a narrative with a character. You know, it is just an amazing platform for an artist to explore,” explained Chris Long, curator of the beer-label art show to local news. 

For established domestic beers, like Budweiser or Coors, the strength of their label is in customer recognition. Of course, small breweries do not have the millions of dollars necessary to convince TV watchers that their beer will automatically turn their life into a pool party for models. Instead, they take a more creative approach. Edinburgh’s Barney’s Beer recently commissioned celebrated Scottish artist John Byrne to hand-paint 200 bottles of Barney’s Extra Pale, turning a common purchase into a unique collectable. 

Alongside the rise of craft beer came the resurgence of homebrewing. The American Homebrewers’ Association puts estimates on the total number of homebrewers in America around 1.2 million. A large part of homebrewing culture is competitions, where brewers of all skills and experience can enter their home made suds and see how they stack up against the competition. Some contest are extremely competitive, while others focus more on community.

One thing is for certain, and that is that an effective label can greatly help a beer get noticed. With the Afinia R635 Laser Color Label Press from Durafast Labels, you can create your own custom printed labels that set you apart from the competition.