The Bar Towel

Side project? Craft Yoga!

pootz wrote: BTW: Love the marketing graphics/concept....ya got a little Magic Hat #9 retro-psychedelia thing going there...and the 'not quite pale ale' - 'Almost pale ale' thing is excellent. I think this break with status quo beer marketing and style experimentation in the local craft industry is over due and quite welcome

I agree. Fewer DWG's on labels & monikers.

Who WANTS to see another "Lord Pasty-face Stuffypants Regal Ale". These mini-history lessons, while they may admirably be the devoted affectation of so many a brewer, will probably bore people much sooner than sell a product.

I am really impressed with this beer. It is well balanced and punches well above its 30 IBU weight. Keep up the good work, I think you're really nailed the recipe.

As a packaging graphics dude, I'd like to point out (to certain other ontario brewers especially) that the quality of printing on both the label and the carton is really good. Really good as in superb. The design may not win a PAC award, but it is eye catching and doesn't look like it was created by Mike-in-shipping's cousin, who has CorelDRAW and PowerPoint and a DVD full of crappy fonts.

Your packaging doesn't tell me how good the beer is inside, but it does tell me you care so much about your beer that even the presentation of it has been given real consideration (and money.)

Now please make us an oatmeal stout!

Vet_Fuel wrote: The design may not win a PAC award, but it is eye catching and doesn't look like it was created by Mike-in-shipping's cousin, who has CorelDRAW and PowerPoint and a DVD full of crappy fonts.

Howling With Laughter...

* cough * Trafalgar * cough *

Vet_Fuel wrote:I am really impressed with this beer. It is well balanced and punches well above its 30 IBU weight. Keep up the good work, I think you're really nailed the recipe.

As a packaging graphics dude, I'd like to point out (to certain other ontario brewers especially) that the quality of printing on both the label and the carton is really good. Really good as in superb. The design may not win a PAC award, but it is eye catching and doesn't look like it was created by Mike-in-shipping's cousin, who has CorelDRAW and PowerPoint and a DVD full of crappy fonts.

Your packaging doesn't tell me how good the beer is inside, but it does tell me you care so much about your beer that even the presentation of it has been given real consideration (and money.)

Now please make us an oatmeal stout!

Hey Vet---Thanks for the comments...I guess I should change the ratebeer description at 18 IBUs.... I do take pride in making this beer as good as I can. I have ADD so being down to the less than 1% tweaking (which I am) is not normal for me - It is way more balanced than the first bottle edition....

So you're a package dude.....The package took about as many permutations as the beer. It literally started as a sketch while my wife went to the grocery store. She took over from there added the words (I can barely speak let alone write coherently) and Bruce our kick-ass illustrator put the whole thing together (He actually is a friend of my sisters). We are the client from hell...revisions, revisions, and revisions.....The night before we burn the plates....more revisions.....

We are starting on the netherworld packaging....Any ideas?

An oatmeal stout, eh? I'm thinking....(evil laughter).

Yours in brewing,

Peter
Unclogger of the overflowing toilets
Flying Monkeys

Peter,

I convinced the LCBO at the Lakeshore/Geneva location to carry the Hoptical Illusion. So I decided to pick 2 sixers of the stuff bottled on Oct. 28 (i think the stamp is really smudged) and again I am impressed at how well this beer is put together. I hope they keep it in stock so I can keep a sixer in my fridge at all times

Keep up the good and work and I would just like to encourage you to expand your beer store distribution. I would love to pick this up by the two-four.

Thanks again for improving the beer scene!

Cheers,
Ken

peterchiodo wrote: Hey Vet---Thanks for the comments...I guess I should change the ratebeer description at 18 IBUs.... I do take pride in making this beer as good as I can. I have ADD so being down to the less than 1% tweaking (which I am) is not normal for me - It is way more balanced than the first bottle edition....

So you're a package dude.....The package took about as many permutations as the beer. It literally started as a sketch while my wife went to the grocery store. She took over from there added the words (I can barely speak let alone write coherently) and Bruce our kick-ass illustrator put the whole thing together (He actually is a friend of my sisters). We are the client from hell...revisions, revisions, and revisions.....The night before we burn the plates....more revisions.....

We are starting on the netherworld packaging....Any ideas?

An oatmeal stout, eh? I'm thinking....(evil laughter).

Yours in brewing,

Peter
Unclogger of the overflowing toilets
Flying Monkeys

My advice would be primarily to simplify your design.

I've had 4 or 5 6-packs now and still haven't read all the minutiae on the carton - and it's my job to notice that stuff. Get your website up, put the URL on every panel and migrate most of the copy on the carton to the website. "If you like the art on this beer, visit flyingmonkeys.com (or whatever it is) and download it for your computer desktop!" Tell your story online, it is a much better way to connect with customers than hoping they spend a lot of time with a folding beer carton on their laps while quaffing your brew.

In marketing parlance, it really helps to enhance the brand experience, if you believe in that sort of thing.

I still have McAuslan label art I downloaded to my computer years ago... editable Illustrator art that I play around with every once in a while. The beer geek and computer geek converge.

BTW, I was piddling around with a beer app on facebook and came across this:




Do great minds think alike? Or just twisted ones?

As for the beer itself, every time I try this one, I like it more. Right now, it's my goto beer. And it's spreading like H1N1. One of the other dads on my kid's hockey team shared a trunkful of it last weekend. Another buddy from Ottawa just told me about some beer from a "great new brewery in Barrie" that he just tried. A (Ratebeer) guy from Quebec just requested some from me in a trade.

It's the perfect time to get the Netherworld out there. Another great beer from this brewery would really increase exposure further and solidify their spot in the Ontario beer market.

so, are any bars in barrie going to be taking kegs of Netherworld?

I would love to know what bars are carrying hoptical in Barrie as well. I know several carry the RS but I have yet to see any Hoptical.

I picked up a case of Hoptical (my new favourite session beer) just last week from my local BS (please no throwing chairs or spitting at me) and was a little let down by the hoptical. I looked at the date stamp and it looks like it's bottled on August 18th!!! (H182009) or something. I'm not sure how well Hoptical stands up to aging but this recent case was lacking in hops and a bit off/watery.

Strange because I seem to enjoy Hoptical more and more as I buy it and then this time not so much.

I need to watch the date stamps or stick with the LCBO I guess but damn them if they think I'm paying 4x6pack prices.

Vet_Fuel wrote:

peterchiodo wrote: Get your website up, put the URL on every panel and migrate most of the copy on the carton to the website. "If you like the art on this beer, visit flyingmonkeys.com (or whatever it is) and download it for your computer desktop!" Tell your story online, it is a much better way to connect with customers than hoping they spend a lot of time with a folding beer carton on their laps while quaffing your brew.

In marketing parlance, it really helps to enhance the brand experience, if you believe in that sort of thing.

?

I have to agree on most points. I don't mind the busy 6 pack. I like that you find new things each time. However a website is a big must IMO. It really connects the customer to the product in this day and age. I would also suggest getting some hats, shirts, sweaters, pint glasses etc. in production as well. I love to support products that I enjoy.

For example I enjoy many of the Mill Street offerings and they have a nice website. However they have no online store!! It frustrates me as a consumer because I waited for over a year to stop in to the brewpub to grab a pint glass and shirt. Its a small thing and really has nothing to do with the beer itself but it helps.

Matty D wrote:[
I have to agree on most points. I don't mind the busy 6 pack. I like that you find new things each time. However a website is a big must IMO. It really connects the customer to the product in this day and age. I would also suggest getting some hats, shirts, sweaters, pint glasses etc. in production as well. I love to support products that I enjoy.

For example I enjoy many of the Mill Street offerings and they have a nice website. However they have no online store!! It frustrates me as a consumer because I waited for over a year to stop in to the brewpub to grab a pint glass and shirt. Its a small thing and really has nothing to do with the beer itself but it helps.

Just bear in mind that having a cool interactive site is one thing, running "e-commerce" via your website is a whole 'nother thing. Being able to buy your favorite brewery's swag is great but it requires inventory, real and digital infrastructure, and possibly big time cash flow, depending on how much you want to sell and whether you have relationships with manufacturers of the stuff you want to sell. It is not a turnkey operation. If you're not good at it, you can lose a ton of dough - all while you're trying to do the thing you're good at: making beer.

E-commerce can be a huge headache for a small brewer.

I'm not saying don't try it, but you can't do it by half measures. And for god's sake if you do, please don't make a t-shirt like that horrendous full-colour Hobgoblin monstrosity of a couple of Xmases ago. It made the previous design (silver ink on black) seem like a Coco Chanel original. It had easily half a pound of ink on it, rendering it useless even for washing your car.

Vet_Fuel wrote:

Matty D wrote:[
I have to agree on most points. I don't mind the busy 6 pack. I like that you find new things each time. However a website is a big must IMO. It really connects the customer to the product in this day and age. I would also suggest getting some hats, shirts, sweaters, pint glasses etc. in production as well. I love to support products that I enjoy.

For example I enjoy many of the Mill Street offerings and they have a nice website. However they have no online store!! It frustrates me as a consumer because I waited for over a year to stop in to the brewpub to grab a pint glass and shirt. Its a small thing and really has nothing to do with the beer itself but it helps.

Just bear in mind that having a cool interactive site is one thing, running "e-commerce" via your website is a whole 'nother thing. Being able to buy your favorite brewery's swag is great but it requires inventory, real and digital infrastructure, and possibly big time cash flow, depending on how much you want to sell and whether you have relationships with manufacturers of the stuff you want to sell. It is not a turnkey operation. If you're not good at it, you can lose a ton of dough - all while you're trying to do the thing you're good at: making beer.

E-commerce can be a huge headache for a small brewer.

I'm not saying don't try it, but you can't do it by half measures. And for god's sake if you do, please don't make a t-shirt like that horrendous full-colour Hobgoblin monstrosity of a couple of Xmases ago. It made the previous design (silver ink on black) seem like a Coco Chanel original. It had easily half a pound of ink on it, rendering it useless even for washing your car.

swag and micros dont mix IMO. glassware i can get behind but t-shirts.....NO

Vet_Fuel wrote:
Just bear in mind that having a cool interactive site is one thing, running "e-commerce" via your website is a whole 'nother thing. Being able to buy your favorite brewery's swag is great but it requires inventory, real and digital infrastructure, and possibly big time cash flow, depending on how much you want to sell and whether you have relationships with manufacturers of the stuff you want to sell. It is not a turnkey operation. If you're not good at it, you can lose a ton of dough - all while you're trying to do the thing you're good at: making beer.

E-commerce can be a huge headache for a small brewer.

I'm not saying don't try it, but you can't do it by half measures. And for god's sake if you do, please don't make a t-shirt like that horrendous full-colour Hobgoblin monstrosity of a couple of Xmases ago. It made the previous design (silver ink on black) seem like a Coco Chanel original. It had easily half a pound of ink on it, rendering it useless even for washing your car.

So what your trying to say is how come Peter, have you not already got an E-commerce site up with an inventory, right?

Well said Vet_Fuel and probably why I don't run a buisness As for swag not going with micro-brewing, I can understand not investing in it to keep from losing money. But I don't see the harm in it, money aside, if it gets your product in the public's eye. As silly as it sounds I don't wear hat's or shirts from a company I don't like or support. You'll never see me in a NASCAR hat, that's for sure (shudder ) But I would proudly wear a Flying Monkey hat or similar.

I guess this it what happens to beer review thread that gets 10 pages long, fahsion and finance are the only things left to discuss

matt7215 wrote:swag and micros dont mix IMO. glassware i can get behind but t-shirts.....NO

Sorry man, but I have to disagree with you. For small & indie companies with little or no marketing budget, shirts/hats/etc. are often their best form of advertising. They're much like indie bands in that regard.