Anchor Brewing Overhauls Branding for 125th Anniversary
San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing opted to give itself a makeover as a 125th birthday gift.
The Sapporo-owned craft brewery debuted a brand refresh this week that features a “retro-modern aesthetic,” a stark departure from its iconic illustrated label featuring an anchor, grain and hops.
“Anchor’s history is earmarked with moments when we took leaps to chart new territory in the craft beer space,” brewmaster Tom Riley said in a press release. “As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, we’re looking ahead to the next 125 years with a commitment to innovation, while retaining the heritage recipes that are the heart of the brand.”
To complete the redesign, Anchor tapped several agency partners. The San Francisco-based team of global branding firm R/GA designed the logo and core products’ packaging. SWIG, a duo of San Francisco-based designers helped select the colors and packaging for innovation offerings. Artist Nathan Yoder and Steve Noble contributed illustrations for packaging, and integrated marketing agency Rayment & Collins oversaw production.
In addition to new packaging, Anchor will introduce three new beers:
- Little Weekend, a 100-calorie mango golden ale;
- Crisp Pilsner;
- Tropical Hazy IPA.
Anchor pilot brewer Dane Volek led the team that developed the new products, which will roll out in March.
“We are inspired by Anchor’s deep roots to pull out some surprises, introducing Anchor to new audiences in 2021 while laying the groundwork for another 125 years as the brewery that changed the way many Americans experience beer,” Volek said in the release.
To celebrate the brewery’s quasquicentennial anniversary, Anchor is offering 6-packs of its flagship Anchor Steam for $1.25 at its Public Taps location through Sunday, January 31.
Anchor’s production volume has been steadily declining in recent years, and dipped to 67,500 barrels in 2019, less than half of its peak of 140,000 barrels in 2015, according to national not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association.
Ballast Point Redesigns Packaging
Ballast Point has revealed new packaging art that has already begun rolling out to retailers.
For flagship Sculpin IPA, the redesign entails taking the eponymous fish and seascape art from the beer’s outer packaging and wrapping it around its cans in what the brewery has dubbed “Complete Art.”
“Art inside the can. Art outside the can,” a splash page on the brewery’s website read.
Staff artist Paul Elder has sketched and painted artwork for Ballast Point’s labels and packaging since the company’s early days.
“I’ve admired Ballast Point for a long time, and I wouldn’t change what’s made it unique for the past 25 years. In our anniversary year, let’s celebrate it,” CEO Brendan Watters said in a press release. “What we’re doing now is really putting the art front and center. We have this crazy talented, natural-world obsessed artist in Paul Elder who dives into what our brewers dream up.”
Molson Coors-Owned Revolver Brewing Refreshes Portfolio Look
Granbury, Texas-based Revolver Brewing will roll out new artwork for its core offerings this spring.
Included in the packaging refresh are flagship Blood and Honey, Citrus Blonde, Backyard Bee, and Mi Cheve. The Molson Coors-owned craft brewery also teased that “a number of new items” will arrive in 2021.
In July 2020, Revolver’s founders Rhett Keisler and Grant Wood announced they would step down from day-to-day operations at the brewery. James Gleaves, then general manager of Molson Coors’ Clearly Kombucha, took the reins as Revolver president on September 1.
Molson Coors’ Tenth and Blake, the company’s craft division, acquired Revolver in 2016.
A-B-owned Blue Point Unveils New Logo and Packaging
Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned Blue Point Brewing debuted a new logo and branding that will replace art that the Patchogue, New York-based craft brewery has been using for four years.
“When Blue Point went through a logo update and packaging refresh in 2017, we were playing catch up to the craft industry at that time — we were still using the original graphics from 1998,” Blue Point general manager Carrie Shafir said in a press release. “We have always been a company that prides ourselves on being forward-looking and innovative, and with this update that we are rolling out, we are finally getting back to that position.”
Redesigned packaging for flagship Toasted Lager and other core offerings will roll out by mid-February, a Blue Point spokesperson told Brewbound. Shore Thing lager and Pinstripe Pilsner, a collaboration with the New York Yankees, will hit retailers in new packaging in early March.
The brewery, which A-B acquired in 2014, enlisted Brooklyn design studio Bardo Industries to update its branding, which entailed trading Blue Point’s old logo with “weathered textures” for a reimagined buoy with “sharp lines.” The redesign came several years after Blue Point moved into a new brewery on Long Island.
“We moved into our brand new, beautiful brewery in 2018, which was a huge moment for the brand in that it was a major investment in our ability to brew (a lot more) quality beer,” Shafir said. “How we show up on the shelf wasn’t necessarily reflecting that. We needed a packaging system that was consistent and graphics that matched the quality of what is inside each can or bottle.”
In 2021, Blue Point’s first commercial priority will be Toasted Lager, followed by Hoptical Illusion IPA and Imperial Sunshine strong blonde ale, which saw a strong launch in 2020, according to a press release. LIIT, the line of hard tea seltzers Blue Point introduced in July 2020, is not included in the redesign and will maintain its current packaging for its sophomore year.