These label releases have been “out in the wild” for a little while now, but I haven’t seen anyone mention something that I thought was worth noting a little bit. It’s a design rebrand. It’s interesting for the beer nerd, and the design geek inside of me to watch as brands grow and spend a little time on shelves. What makes a beer stand out amongst the things around it? What makes a group of six packs obviously different while obviously part of the same brand portfolio. Designs get tweaked over time to make sure that everything is falling in line, especially as a brewery grows the way Taft’s has grown in the last couple of years.

The New Look

Things aren’t going too far off the rails here, it’s a familiar design that still looks fresh and new. I actually see this redesign as an evolution. The can design for “Gustav” (Vienna Lager) and for Taft’s Newest release “Juicy Jubilee” (Double IPA) both are a bit of an in-between from one design to the next.

The new design starts first and foremost with a solid color for each core beer – Nellie’s get’s a green background, Gavel Banger a grey and finally, the Citrus IPA (we’ll talk about that in a minute) gets a bright yellow. From there, the background has a design that alone can tell you exactly what can you’re looking at. For Nellies, it’s that palm tree that you’ll be dreaming of while you drink the key lime deliciousness. Gavel Banger gets a big American flag and Citrus IPA gets (no surprise) a slice of lemon repeating in the background.

The cans have the Taft’s name front and center with each beer’s logo and style written underneath it. The back features just the Taft’s ‘Tub Logo’ that is instantly familiar to anyone here in town. The tub logo is also repeated in the UPC code shape, a fun little design element. The changing of any logo/branding can take a while especially if a complete overhaul is being done. Luckily there are websites out there that can help with new designs, whether it be for a real estate company, or a beer company, people can find out more on how go about this and get the new logo that they require.

Overall – the cans are simple, colorful and boldly tell you exactly where they are from. I can only imagine that this is exactly what the brewery was going for. I can only imagine that this means that much like the new Juicy Jubilee, the core beers are going to start losing the cardboard six-pack holders that they’ve lived in for so long.

Before we take a peek at this new Citrus IPA – let’s have a look at the designs via their label artwork, shall we?

Nellie’s Key Lime Caribbean-Style Ale
Gavel Banger American IPA
Citrus IPA

About That Citrus IPA…

We don’t know much about this beer, other than the fact that it’s an IPA with the addition of Yuzu fruit. I don’t know if it’s a new core beer, or if it’s a seasonal beer for the warmer months. It seems a bit odd to me to not only have two IPAs but two fruited beers as part of the core lineup – but I’ve been wrong before.

Taft’s did brew up a beer that they called ‘Yuzu want an IPA’ late last year – and while the stats from the two aren’t identical, I can only imagine that if you tried that beer you’ll have a good idea at what they’re shooting for with this one.

Stay tuned on this – I’ll update you once more information is available, or you can always follow Taft’s on social media for the latest news straight from the brewery themselves!

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