Ben and Slayde get married

Our friends Ben and Slayde are getting married and our mutual friend has brewed up four different beers for the occasion. As if that weren't enough to be excited about, Ben designed these great labels for the beers. Each one depicts Ben and Slayde in a place that they've spend a considerable amount of time in and what they remember about that place most.

First up is the Oregon Hipster IPA. Yup, "I liked            before it was cool" sounds about right.  

Then we have the Virigina Road Rage Altbier. Anyone that has spent anytime in or around Fairfax County in the past 15 years knows what this is all about.

The DC Impossibly Expensive Dubbel. Ben and Slayde live out in Vienna and commute each morning to Georgetown. Enough said.

Last but not least is the Alaska Biting Insect Amber. I've never been to Alaska so I'll have to take their word for it.

What these lack in commercial appeal, they make up for in taste. Trust me.

Even cooler than Madvillianny

Do you remember when Madlib and MF DOOM collaborated and put out that crazy album? Yeah, me too. Everyone was a little shocked, like, "It happened. They really did it." I think it was a solid year before it left my heavy rotation.

I've commented on collaborations a bunch here recently. I'm usually kind of skeptical where the value add is. Sometimes the result is cool. Sometimes it's just really exciting and you can't wait to taste/listen to it. That's the case with this Sierra Nevada X Anchor Steam collaboration. These are my two favorite brands that have national distribution and I'm pretty excited about this (though I highly doubt this will be available in beer backwater Washington D.C.)

It appears that we are celebrating Sierra Nevada's 30th anniversary with Fritz and Ken's Ale which, I'm told, is a stout. An interesting choice as neither brewery is particularly known for stouts but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Cheers.

vis Cool Hunting 

I Love Guinness But...

Only for the bold?

Listen, I love Guinness.  It's light and creamy with a slightly roasted malt flavor. Yes it is a dark colored beer and it is a stout but let's get something straight once and for all- it's not a big beer. It's low in alcohol content and gravity. Have you ever seen someone pour a black and tan? The Guinness floats on top of a flipping lager! It can do this because it has lower sugar content than a Harp (alcohol is made from the sugar.) We can all appreciate Guinness for what it is but let's not pretend it's a tough guy beer with tons of flavor that packs some secret Irish punch.

 Photo via Brandweek

That's why is drives me a crazy when Americans are always saying things like, "I'm a beer snob. I know all about beer. I only drink dark strong beers like Guinness." Awesome, you have given me all I need to know. Now please leave me alone, I'm trying to enjoy my Makers rocks in peace.

Anyways, Guinness doesn't seem to care if consumers are misguided. It's more than happy to play up the big macho image. It was running some ads encouraging people to be bold and drink Guinness. Most recently it's taken it a step further and been running ads during college football games about how Guinness isn't for people that punt on forth and one. ONLY FOR THE BOLD is the final tagline. I like to roll my eyes when that comes on. I wanted to throw the video up but I think even Guinness is kind of embarrassed by this stateside approach and won't upload it.

Anyhoo, my rant is over. I hope you all have a pleasant day.

Excuse the late pass...

It's tough on this side of the pond to keep up with British adverts. I wanted to post this up though because it is another example of blue-collar alcoholic beverages going white-collar once they get stateside. I went to London once and saw a three liter bottle (I didn't know about the three liter bottle at that point either) for 1.80 quid in a Safeway. The only people I ever saw drinking it were winos and the occasional Brit with a gluten allergy.

Here's an ad that firmly places Strongbow within the trenches, pun intended, of blue collar folk. Please think of this next time you pay 7 bucks for a pint of Strongbow during happy hour in D.C.

Peroni's "Timeless" Look

While other lager brands were busy trying to find ways to create impressions at the World Cup or develop a new gimmick flavor for football season, Peroni was taking the high road. The company enlisted Gabriele Muccino to make this 5 minute video about love and product placement. The short is set in Rome and really succeeds in creating a timeless feel and not beating you over the head with the Peroni brand.

Campari turns 150

Everyone's favorite aperitif is turning 150 this year. To commemorate Campari is rolling out some really slick limited edition labels. It sends a pretty strong message about craft and heritage when you can celebrate 150 years of excellence. I think these labels convey that for sure.

Molson Coors dropping a clear beer

Brandrepublic is reporting that Molson Coors is gearing up to launch a clear beer that will be low in calories and come exclusively in bottles. This comes after extensive market research regarding women's attitudes towards beer and a general interest in achieving higher levels of penetration with the female market. The company tried out a product last year that had green tea and dragon fruit flavoring. Thankfully, this product will taste more like normal beer. If you have a good idea for a name, get at them as they don't have anything nailed down yet.

Spike Jonze Absolute Vodka short film

Spike Jonze directed a 30 minute film for Absolute Vodka. The film, titled "I'm here," is free to view online. It's about a lonely robot living in a society of mixed robot and human denizens. You can view if at imheremovie I haven't had time to watch it yet but I hope it has something close to a happy ending complete with a party scene and Absolute Vodka.

Of course there is some funky social media element to it as well. Absolute has worked out a way for viewers to watch the movie with their facebook friends in a virtual theater. I think that should help with the loneliness that might accompany watching an online film about a lonely robot. All kidding aside, this is way to get your brand some real online exposure while adding value to viewers and consumers. I hope to see more of this kind of thing in the future.

Quilmes Beer Brands

Ads of the world recently posted a great ad made by Saatchi and Saatchi for the Argentine beer brand Andes. It features a new invention call the Telestransporter which is a soundproof booth placed inside of bars so you can talk with your girlfriend/wife on the phone without her know you’re at the bar. They actually mocked them up and put them in bars in Medoza. At the end you get to see guys making excuses to their girls on the phone with fake background noise for extra effect. It’s a great ad so please check it out.

Quilmes is Andes parent brand and has a great approach to managing the demographic diversity that results from the disparate nature of its main geographic markets. The company has three different brands for three different regions of the country but it packages the same beer under these brands (at least I can’t tell the difference and I’ve drunk a lot of each brand.)



•Quilmes- This is sold in and around Buenos Aires. Quilmes is a small city outside of B.A. and is the traditional home to the brewery. It’s bottled with a blue and white label and is typically the brand that is exported to the states. It is the Argentine national beer and riles up the patriotism amongst porteňos.



•Andes- This is sold around the Andean region of Argentina. You’ll find it in Mendoza as well as more southern places like Bariloche and Ushuaia. People in these places really identify much stronger with their mountainous geography than they do with an old brewery outside of B.A. Stepping into Bariloche is a lot like stepping into a Swiss ski village. They even pride themselves on the local chocolate and you can have your photo taken with Saint Bernards with the barrel under their necks. Note the mountains on the label. This is a beer for mountain people and for city people that are on vacation to the mountains.




•Norte- Rolling up into northern Argentina the terrain becomes much more arid. The main city up there is called La Salta and it has a pretty detached and isolated feel to it. Neither the mountainous snowcaps nor the urban porteňo product will fly here. But they are proud of who they are and a beer named for them hits the spot. Still tastes the same though.

By the way, don’t ever tell anyone in La Salta that their beer tastes just like the Quilmes that River Plate fans drink down south.