Beer with a Pixburgh Accent

I'm pleased to reveal my label design for the newest limited edition hand-bottled brew from my great neighbors at East End Brewing Company.

East End's owner and brewer Scott Smith explained the idea of Stock Ale to me when we discussed the label design, but I won't try to paraphrase here. The beer world has a particular vocabulary, and the terms all have very specific meanings, and I certainly don't want to get something wrong and upset any beer nerds. I feel safe in saying that British stock ales were historically a strong brew, and the landlord of your local pub would blend it with a milder ale, depending on a customer's preference.

If you're not a Pittsburgher, the word "nebby" might sound odd. It's a regionalism meaning "nosy" or "snoopy," and is generally believed to have come from the Germanic root "neb," meaning "beak."

For this down-to-earth, non-nonsense brew, we decided to go with a label that suggests a beat-up wooden crate. The background texture was scanned from an weathered cigar box, and the main letterforms from a couple of old letterpress prints. The rest of the text is Futura, my standby typeface, digitally distressed and misaligned.

I'm looking forward to tasting this one, and wonder if Scott will suggest blends to his customers.