13 brilliant craft beer label designs

01. Sakiskiu Alus

The rubber stamps allow for complete originality when it comes to this branding

Sigitas has done an incredible job with this branding for Sakiskiu Alus beer. It took an unusual approach, designing and producing a kit that includes a rubber stamp for each type of beer; this kit enable the brewer to mark the labels themselves. The combination of rubber stamped labels and hand-made paper design gives off a real craft beer feel and showcases the originality and care of this brilliant brewery.

02. Half Acre

Half Acre produce truly original label designs that stand out from the craft beer crowd

Half Acre describes its beer as "a reflection of those that keep it alive, the people that hoist the beer and the places where it's found" - and that ethos is also reflected within the labels. After each beer is lovingly crafted, the label is designed to reflect the inspiration behind the brew. Ranging from cats and robots to donkeys and daisies, the label designs are just as delicious as you'd expect the beer to be.

03. Yoho Brewing Company

Yoho is known for design as much as it is for beer

Japan's Yoho Brewing Company decided to make American and British style beers in cans. This quirky, colourful illustration really brings this craft label design to life. We love the clever use of colour within the typography, as well as the subtle use of spots and stripes.

04. Russell Brew Co. Angry Scotch Ale

This gorgeous label design is printed directly on to the bottle

Why wrap your beer bottle with a label that can peel off when you can print it right on the bottle? Russell Brewing Co.’s Angry Scotch Ale, brought to you by the people at Atmosphere Design, features ink right on the bottle. It's a good way to save on paper and glue while also creating a striking design.

05. St. Stefanus

Some of the typographical elements of this label go back 700 years

When you look at the label created by Brandhouse for St. Stefanus, you are seeing history. In fact you are seeing almost 700 years of beer brewing tradition, dating back to the Augustijn monks who originated the recipe. Some elements of the font used on the bottle and label even come from songbooks found in the Augustijn’s monastery library.

06. Grimm Brothers Magic Mirror

This label is inspired by fables and fairytales

Inspiration for beer labels, and in this case even a beer’s name, can come from anywhere. The folks at The Tenfold Collective mined fables and fairytales for design and naming ideas to create the labels for the Grimm Brothers series of ales. In the case of Magic Mirror, they incorporated a reflective label in order to conjure up the ghostly figure in the reflection.

07. Cervecería Sagrada

This packaging captures the colourful spirit of Mexican wrestlers

While Corona may be the most recognizable beer exported from Mexico, Cervecería Sagrada is a Mexican craft beer that captures the country's colorful history and spirit in its label. Designer José Guízar was inspired by Lucha Libre wrestlers, who wear colorful masks and have equally colorful personalities. During the 1950s Lucha Libre were considered folk heroes and starred not only in the wrestling ring, but also in comic books and movies in Mexico. Guízar’s labels recreate the masks of some of the most famous and recognisable of them.

08. Camden Town Beer

Individual colours and fonts help differentiate the different types of lager

The creative minds at The Tenfold Collective sure can create some nice looking labels. Their work for Camden Town Brewery uses individual colours and fonts to help differentiate between their series of lagers. The addition of little details like the halo over the word 'lager' on Camden’s Hell lager adds another layer of interest to these designs.

09. Innis & Gunn

These labels invoke both a classic and modern aesthetic

If you haven’t heard of the creative team at Stranger & Stranger then their design for the Innis & Gunn label is great introduction. They do some of the best package design work in the industry, which is easily reflected in the amount of detail you see in this Innis & Gunn label. They manage to invoke both a classic and modern aesthetic with the use of red and gold and classic illustration elements.

10. Lade Gaards Brygghus

Even the typography here is hand-illustrated

Many artists like to illustrate by hand. Anette Kirkeby is no exception, even when it comes to beer labels. Her work for Lade Gaards Brygghus is completely illustrated by hand, even the typography. The effect this creates is a classic feel that helps to capture some of the history of the long tradition of brewing beer.

11. 1295 Brewing Co.

This simple, monochrome design works wonderfully

Sometimes simplicity is the best policy. Tom Hayes and Taylor Pemberton used simple black and white labelling to create a quiet but bold design for Ben Hough’s home brewed beer. The font choice in the case of the larger bottles’ painted-on labels gives the brand a vintage feel that harkens back to the days of bootleggers and prohibition. The name 1295 is actually Ben’s home address number, which is a nice insider detail.

12. Hilliard’s Brewery

This beer can design evokes a rush of '70s nostalgia

We can’t discuss beer labels without throwing in at least one beercan design. Seattle’s latest craft beers from Hilliard’s Brewery are a testament to classic Americana. The can design from Mint explores a feeling of nostalgia for the '70s with its use of font, dominant blue and white colour, and earth tone plaid patterns.

13. Scotts Brewing Co.

This economical design is understated yet effective

Scotts Brewing Co. is yet another great example of understated, but effective beer label design. The designer Penny Dombroski went with a print-on bottle solution that was both economical and easy to read. The label wrap at the bottom is a nice way of allowing Scotts Brewing to differentiate their ales by putting the ale type on a printable surface while the logo on the bottle remains the same.