Can-do designer beer
BREWERY SAYS WINNING ART IS A PERFECT MATCH FOR ITS CONTENTS
They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a beer by its can? The answer is yes, according to Jason Burton from Cavalier Brewing, who has just taken out a prestigious prize for can design.
The Melbourne brewery was last week awarded the prestigious Orora Golden Can Trophy in the GABS
Can Design Awards for its Bloody Maria Imperial Gose Michelada, ahead of Queensland-based Black Hops’ British India Pale Ale and Buckettys Brewing Co’s Tawny Grogmouth from NSW.
The striking, brightly coloured can – based around a Mexican Day of the Dead style illustration by Seattle artist Alix Branwyn – is a perfect representation of the contents, according to Burton.
“We found Alix’s image online and it said everything about what we were trying to do,” Burton says.
“It’s a celebration of life and death with bright, vibrant colours – the reds, the golds, the greens – all those wonderful flavours we were trying to bring out in the beer we felt would evoke as much emotion on the can itself.”
The beer itself is a collision of cultures and was dreamt up by Cavalier and Tomba Tequlia cofounder James Sherry. Burton had seen attempts to add Bloody Mary ingredients such as tomato, salt and basil into the German sour gose style before, but thought no one had really nailed it. Adding tequila, and some Mexican bite, proved to be the secret weapon.
“We started toying with the idea and came up with a classic Mexican cocktail infused style beer to take to the next level with the Imperial Michelada,” Burton says.
“It’s a Mexican cocktail style with beer in it, with a tomato base and lots of Mexican spices, salt, pepper, chilli. So we took the Bloody Mary style and infused it with tequila to make it a little bit more Mexican.”
Aesthetics aside, there’s also a
practical advantage to eye-catching can design, according to Burton, who has no formal training as a designer but has dabbled for years in everything from nightclub posters to beer cans.
Increasingly, craft beer enthusiasts are paralysed by choice when they wander into their local bottle shops, with weird and wonderful styles and new releases every week vying for
attention and their hard-earned dollar.
“Half the battle is trying to get someone to pick your can up in the first place,” he says.
“So you need an image that is completely evocative, especially in the craft beer world.
“We have 750-odd craft breweries in Australia now and a new one is opening every other week. There is so
much vibrancy and detail in the designs that go on to these cans that your can has to stand out among all the rest.”
STYLE AND SUBSTANCE
Smart Craft Beer Club’s Michael Taberner – part of the GABS Can Design Awards judging panel – picks a selection of this year’s entries that look as good as they taste.