Glaucus Belgian-style IPA by Pipeworks Brewing Co.

The mythological art on Pipeworks’ Glaucus Belgian-style IPA can be traced all the way back to a map show. “I went to a cartography exhibit at the Field Museum and was smitten with sea monsters for a while after,” says artist Emily Cunningham. She took her new interest to paper with watercolors and acrylics, posted the painting in her online portfolio and forgot about it for a while.

Then Beejay Oslon, co-founder of Pipeworks Brewing Co. in Chicago, stumbled upon it. “Three years ago, when we were putting together plans for the brewery, one of our ideas was to get local artists involved,” says Oslon, who went to high school with Cunningham and is also a painter himself. “I was going through Facebook to probe some of my artist friends, and I found her portfolio. So many of her images were just awesome.”

Those images range from the inspirational (e.g., a picture of a lonely young girl being moved by an elegant jewelry display) to the endearingly absurd (a guy spooning a jack rabbit). But there was something about that merman …

“It just seems so beery, and I knew right away that I had to use that label,” says Oslon. Then he began researching “mermen of lore,” and discovered the myth of Glaucus: a fisherman who “was so in love with the sea that one day, he gets turned into part-fish,” Oslon explains. So when it came time to find a name and label for Pipeworks’ Belgian IPA, Oslon pulled it all together. This isn’t the first time Pipeworks has found label art before even brewing a beer. “What’s important for us is to get a variety of imagery,” Oslon says.

In the Glaucus painting, the light color palate and curvy lines keep things whimsical. Cunningham, who studied illustration and now works in typesetting and design, cites Oslon as having an impact on her modern, graphic aesthetic. “In addition to his brewing prowess, he’s quite a talented painter.”

She may not have painted her mythological merman with a Belgian IPA in mind, but Cunningham knows the value of a beer label. “A label is probably the thing that most people base their decisions to try a new beer on,” she says. “Since most drinking is done in public or at least with company, it›s a sort of self-expression, like a pair of shoes. Part of that is definitely visual.”

Oslon agrees: “This is a fun image, and we’re a fun brewery.” ■