Atwater Brewery Introduces 3 New Beers, Redesigned Labels
DETROIT (WWJ) - Atwater Brewery, one of Detroit's biggest craft beer creators, is starting the New Year off by debuting a brand new look and adding three new brews to their collection.
The new labels were designed by popular Detroit artist Tony Roko -- whose recent accomplishments include commissions for Lady Gaga, Jay Leno and Ford Motor Company -- using the commercial sensibility of Toulouse-Lautrec with a van-Gogh-esque pallet, a couple of Roko's favorite artists.
"Craft beer is an art movement in its own rite," Roko said in a statement. "What started as a single painting for one label for just 40 cases of beer five months ago has turned into designing 26 labels for one of Michigan's most exciting breweries. It's the greatest gig ever."
Roko used an expressive style and tried to match Detroit's colorful characters with individual beer flavors. The brightly colored labels will start showing up in January, concurrent with the introduction of three new Atwater brews – Going Steady IPA, a grapefruit session ale that "rocks any situation while keeping you rock steady;" Corktown Rye IPA, a spicy, sweet, bitter aromatic rye malt with a caramel backbone; and Tunnel Ram, an imperial bock that Atwater calls "the big block of big bock."
"Craft brewing is becoming a big business but it's a business about good times. Brewing it and coming up with these new flavors and personalities is part of the fun," Atwater Brewery owner Mark Rieth said in a statement. "We've been all about Detroit since we brewed our first German-styled lagers 18 years ago and said we wanted to 'bring Detroit everywhere.' We're now doing that with distribution in 27 states and Canada and still growing. Now we're focused on making sure people remember us and think about us first and that's what these new labels are intended to do."
Driven Solutions, a modern communications and branding agency, worked with Atwater and Roko on the theme and its correlating packaging.
"Each beer has its own unique personality and profile, so we proposed the idea of creating a character for each beer in the portfolio," Brian Cusac, Driven's principal and chief creative officer, said in a statement. "The most important thing a craft brewer can offer a customer is authenticity. We feel that Atwater provides this in spades by staying true to the types of beers they like to make and by never forgetting their Detroit roots."
Atwater beers are available at craft brew retailers and at Atwater's two locations in the Detroit area – Atwater in the Park in Grosse Pointe Park and Atwater Biergarten and Tap House in Detroit.
More about Atwater's New Beers:
• Going Steady IPA - Grapefruit Session Ale: Abv 4.60%; Ibu 55; Color, Golden
This citrusy session's got enough cascade hop and grapefruit flavor to go around, with just enough good stuff to make whatever you are doing a little better. Full bodied flavor that balances malt and hop characters and, typically, a clean finish which offers high drinkability without overwhelming the senses.
• Corktown RYE IPA – American IPA: Abv 6.20%; Ibu 68; Color Copper
An IPA heavy on rye malt with a caramel backbone, Corktown is a spicy, sweet, bitter and aromatic rye IPA. Not to be confused with a German Roggenbier, Corktown's bitterness tends to be more moderate to allow the often spicy and sour-like rye characteristics to pull through.
• Tunnel Ram Imperial Bock Abv 7.80%; Ibu 28; Color Light Straw
Crisp with a slight injection of sweetness. This one gets your motor warmed up with a subtle alcohol overtone and hits the finish line with clean, bright lager flavor. It's a perfect balance of sweetness, warming alcohol strength and crisp lager finish.
