Beer brand Oskar Blues is one of the earliest craft brewers to can their suds, and it all started with Dale’s Pale Ale back in 2002. While some criticized the move, the packaging caught on in the craft scene, and today, nearly half of craft beer comes in cans.
While the Colorado-based brewery helped change the perception that only swill gets sold in cans, Oskar Blues hadn’t done a significant refresh to the labels for their line of beers in all that time, something it set to rectify for 2020.
“Since the very beginning, we’ve focused on liquid innovation and making the freshest, biggest, most stoke-worthy beers for our fans,” said Oskar Blues Soul-Founder Dale Katechis in a company blog post. “And now the packaging is just as fresh as the beer.”
The refresh also includes a new logo, a badge representing credibility and authority within the craft beer space, and a funky typeface showing that the brand still retains their casual, feel-good vibe. The new logo is front-and-center, with a band of stars-and-stripes wrapping around the cans, applied to each beer, visually unifying the lineup.
Each can sports a unique design based on the brew contained within. Rosé for Daze’s can features flowers and a pink inspired by the spritzy wine-like beer, while Old Chub Scotch Ale wears a bold tartan design and script typeface. Mama’s Little Yella Pils’ easy-drinking nature gets broadcast through the 70s-inspired label, and G’Knight Imperial Red IPA pays tribute to firefighting hero and Oskar Blues friend Gordon Knight with its verdant forest background.
Hoppy beer series Can-O-Bliss IPA gets a swirly, psychedelic treatment, and One-y also gets a similar design, in both cases meant to represent the experimental and hop-forward beers. As for Dale’s Ale, the first canned US craft beer to cause a stir, it still sports a patriotic style in red, white, and blue with the brew’s name in an oval trailed by stripes.
The new packaging began rolling out at the start of the year, and you can find it mostly everywhere.
