Beck's Beer Unveils Their 2013 Limited Edition Art Labeled Bottles

After the runaway success of last yearʼs Beckʼs Art Labels project, Beckʼs Beer is upping the tempo even more by bringing together six of todayʼs most exciting artists, each tasked with giving their individual spin on the iconic Beckʼs bottle. Selected by Beckʼs, each artist was chosen on account of their groundbreaking, multi-disciplinary approach to art and music.



Beck’s Beer commissioned Heist for the second year running to create a short film for their 2013 Art Label series featuring the work of William Hundley, TM Sisters, The Date Farmers, Marc Ecko, Willis Earl Beal, and Kid Cudi (more about each artist at the end of the post).



The film takes you on a journey with the six artists, chronicling their creative process and the inspiration that led them to their final art labels, to be printed on 13.2 million bottles worldwide. In addition to producing the film, Heist shot the editorial photography for the 2013 Beck’s Art Label advertising campaign with each artist and their limited edition art label.



Heist collaborated with the featured artists to create one film telling the story of the project. This cinematic documentary explores the inspiration behind their selected artworks and captures elements of their creative practice in breathtaking 5K cinematography. Heist traveled to the sun bleached desert of the Coachella Valley, the expansive pastures of the Texas countryside, the warm waters of Miami Beach, and filmed in our own backyard in New York City to capture the 2013 lineup at work.



From William Hundleyʼs Umberto, a dynamic label that invokes a sense of wonder through a futurist photograph, to Willis Earl Bealʼs black and white sketch Nobody Knows, epitomizing his ethos of “Weʼre each nothing. Weʼre all everything”, Beckʼs gives artists an extraordinary canvas to broadcast their creative vision

Date Farmers:

Kid Cudi:

Marc Ecko:

TM Sisters:

Wiliam Earl Beal:

William Hundley:


To give you an insiderʼs look into each artistʼs journey, Beckʼs chronicled their creative process and the inspiration that led them to their final Art Label design. Watch the reveal of Beckʼs Art Labels 2013 with Kid Cudi, Marc Eckō, Willis Earl Beal, The Date Farmers, TM Sisters, and William Hundley.

MARC ECKō:

WILLIS EARL BEAL:

THE DATE FARMERS:

TM SISTERS:

WILLIAM HUNDLEY:


About the Artists

•Kid Cudi is a Grammy-Award winning, gold-selling musician and actor. Cudi is a leader of the urban alternative movement. His hit single “Day ‘n’ Nite” laid the groundwork for his major album debut.

•Marc Eckō is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur and artist who believes creativity is more about the journey than the destination. His art label features a photograph of an original sculpture that illustrates his process: Unlock, un-label.

•Willis Earl Beal is a musician, songwriter and visual artist who has lived a colorful life, filled with outsider art and a demand to be heard. His art label embodies his music: Understanding how an individual doesn’t represent the whole.

•TM Sisters are a Miami sibling duo who works in digital video performance, collages, VJing, fashion pieces and video games. Their techno, topical aesthetic shines through in an art label that depicts an epic pose of a flying woman shooting beams from her hands.

•William Hundley is an emerging photographer and artist with an original style that captures surreal imagery through simple means. His art label features a dynamic photo that invokes a sense of wonder and encourages questions.

•Date Farmers are an artist team that echoes Mexican-American heritage rooted in California pop culture. Their paintings, collages and sculptures – often featuring the dog – highlight duty and responsibility, keeping as close as they can to the truth.

Dedicated to supporting the best artistic talent, Beckʼs will showcase their artworks on 13.2 million labels, creating the worldʼs largest stage for artists. The bottles will be available at various liquor retailers.

images, info and videos courtesy of Protein, Becks and Heist.

A Holistic Beverage Helps Homeless Dogs Find A Home: Kombucha Dog

You may have heard of Kombucha. It's a fermented sweetened tea beverage said to be a powerful probiotic. Filled with antioxidants, it's a low sugar, carbonated drink that originated centuries ago and controversially claims to 'detoxify the body and energize the mind.'

Whether or not you are a Kombucha-believer, this interesting product/project dreamed up by commercial photographer Michael Faye combines his lifelong love of dogs and his holistic beliefs in one bottle.



After coming up with his own Kombucha brew through much experimentation, he built a factory from the ground up to produce the bottled beverage. He then decided to photograph homeless dogs and put them on the label to try to help them find homes - and voila!  KOMBUCHA DOG was born.





Each dog pictured on their label is available for adoption now at a local no-kill fostering program and can be contacted through their website. The website lists the dogs presently looking for homes, along with lovely multiple portraits of each sweet canine by Michael Faye. I really wish I could take all of them home.





At present Kombucha Dog you can find Kombucha dog here).

And here's a look at some of the beautifully photographed dogs by Michael Faye for the project:

Humphrey Bogart:

Molly:

Mimi:

Donut:

Stewart:

Captain Jack:

Emma:

Chalon:



KOMBUCHADOG

Michael Faye

It's a Treehouse. It's a Brewery. It's The Treehouse Brewing Company.

The other night I was watching Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet and caught an episode where Pete Nelson and his crew from Nelson Treehouse and Supply were constructing a 200 foot treehouse that would function as a brewery tasting site for the craft-beer loving folks who own The Mohican Cabins and The Grand Barn, a popular wedding venue in Ohio.



Nelson's team, along with three Amish Carpenters, took four weeks to construct the 200 square foot treehouse. Suspended 22 feet off the ground, the charming micro-brewery has a 40 foot extension bridge that leads you to the front door.




The treehouse was designed to look like an old Ohio barn from the 1800s, painted bright red and outfitted with a $10,000 Gothic stained glass window.




Inside, a custom bar was designed with old wine barrels, a fully functional brewing set up and a European-style draft system.







The tap pull has a special hand crafted wooden tree house atop it:


And there's even a plumbed outhouse neatly tucked on the side:


This is actually the second treehouse that Pete Nelson and his crew built for property owner Kevin Mooney, the first being a honeymoon cabin suite with with three queen beds, two showers, a full kitchen and satellite TV.

The Treehouse Brewing Company (not to be confused with the Tree House Brewing Company in Massachusetts) will be run by Mooney's son and, in addition to their own craft beer, they have others to taste as well. Check it out next time you're in Ohio.



Catch Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet Friday nights at 10PM  (ET/PT)


some images courtesy of Nelson Treehouse and Supply, other images by Quin Mooney and courtesy of Animal Planet and The Mohican Grand Barn blog.

Game Of Thrones and HBO Unveil Their Second Brew, Take The Black Stout.

If you hadn't already heard, Brewery Ommegang and HBO partnered on a series of beers inspired by the critically-acclaimed drama Game of Thrones.

The first release, the golden amber Iron Throne ale, sold out quickly due to small quantities and great demand. The second, soon to be released "Take The Black Stout", is said to be doubled in volume, so there's enough to go around for avid fans.



Take the Black Stout is a 7% beer, brewed with base, caramel, chocolate and roasted barley malts. Hopping includes Great Northern hops; spices are licorice root and star anise. Hue is black with full tan head. Aromas include chocolate, caramel, and earthy hops, light roastiness, a touch of fruitiness. Tastes include chocolate, coffee, rich malts, and balanced roastiness. Clean hop bitterness joins with slight woody character and spiciness; the finish offers sweet malt character leading to spicy, earthy, hop bitterness.



Take the Black Stout is named for the oath taken by those who stand the Night’s Watch at the Wall, defending Westeros against northern.



above: The label features the Weirwood trees considered sacred by the people of the North. It was designed by a52, the same studio that designed the impressive opening sequence for "Game of Thrones."


above: screengrab of a Weirwood tree from Game of Thrones

Take The Black Stout will be available in limited quantities in 750ml bottles & 1/6 BBL kegs beginning October 2013.

Brewery Ommengang and HBO are said to be releasing four game of Thrones Beers in total.

If you never heard about the first release, Iron Throne Ale, here's some info and pics for you:



Iron Throne is a blonde ale at 6.5% ABV and brewed with a robust amount of pils, honey malt, aroma malts and red wheat. Gentle hopping includes Styrian Golding and Hallertau Spalter Select, appropriately noble hops. Spiced with grains of paradise and lemon peel. Hue is a slightly hazy golden amber. Head is full and fluffy. Finish is crisp, backed by a touch of spice and hops. Aroma is a bit grassy with a hint of lemon fruitiness from the lemon peel. Taste is lightly malty, rounded out by honey malt sweetness.



info and images courtesy of Ommengang Brewery.

As a fun aside, check out this "Beer of Thrones" parody video by Comediva:


Don't miss this post on Geekologie where they share some fun faux beer labels inspired by fantasy drama.

One Step Beyond Beer. Gladness Lager-like Ale From Madness.

The beer from bands trend continues with a new brew from the chart-topping Ska band Madness. The beer, described as "A lager that's an ale" was brewed in conjunction with Growler Brewery (formerly Nethergate) in Essex.



Gladness is 4.2% alcohol and a combination between an ale and a lager- or as the band's publicity calls is “A lager that’s an ale – that’s totally mad.” It is brewed using local Maris Otter malt, a traditional ale variety, and Tettnang and Saaz hops, which are usually associated with European-style lagers. The blonde beer is said to be highly refreshing with a lovely subtle hop flavour and aroma, reminiscent of a pilsner.



above: Paul Gower, left, head brewer at Nethergate's Growler Brewery, Madness frontman Suggs, center, and keyboard player Mike 'Monsieur Barso' Barson celebrate the launch of the band's official beer, Gladness

Named after a line in their well-known song "Madness", the beverage will be stocked at 800 venues, owned by Nicholson's Pubs, across the U.K. for the next three months.

Buy Madness Music