Beer labels: do they affect what you buy?

Rarely buy bottled beer but when I'm away I always take a selection back to thank my neighbours for watering my plants, taking in my mail and generally keeping an eye on the place. I admit to choosing local beers with pretty labels!

 

Scratch that itch. Grab a single. Keep the can.
It mainly fails because it claims to be an "IPA" and it definitely can't convince you that it is one... but it's not DISTASTEFUL. It'll go down easy.

 

I agree to a point, but if you're somewhat new you're not going to know about every beer on the shelf. In 7+ years of drinking craft beer, I just tried my first beer from Weyerbacher two days ago. I passed them up for years because I didn't know anything about their stuff and their labels are awful.

 

Bought Skipping Stone from Uinta the other day just because the package made me feel strangely nostalgic. Hadn't tried it before, it's a pretty decent lager too. Good on them.

Also I bought Canoe Paddler from Leinenkugels a few weeks back just because the name alone got me hype on summer. Also enjoyable.

 

Sure, sometimes. I'm only human, and I can't be a walking beer encyclopedia, as much as would like to be. Sometimes you gotta go with your gut... Or the label.

 

But how about the converse side - instead of avoiding a beer because of a label, buying one because you do like the way it looks?

When I started drinking, there was a store I frequented that had hundreds of brews. I didn't have time to go around researching every single beer and attempt to purchase only the highest rated. Sometimes it was a matter of walking into the store, finding a beer with an entertaining name and/or label (and priced for my budget), and taking a chance.

Never would've discovered Moo Thunder if I hadn't done that. What a fantastic cool weather golf course beer! It's like drinking an iced coffee from a can.

 

Yes. Love Pretty Things, Dieu du Ciel, and Great Divide each for different reasons.

 

I avoided Bell's Two-Hearted because of its label. What a mistake that turned out to be...

 

I traded for Imperial Stout Trooper simply because a couple of my friends would get a kick out of it. Now I want Episode 13... And the storm trooper mask without the goofy glasses.

 

Yea, it definitely is a factor sometimes. Especially when I'm shopping without having done any research or have any recommendations I find myself walking up and down the aisle saying things like "Blaecorn Unidragon.....? That's badass!" And throwing it in the cart. But at the same time some of the best beers I've tried have had very boring/"what-were-they-thinking?" Label design

 

I bought Blaecorn Unidragon to drink during the Game of Thrones finale last year because of the label. It felt so right.

 

Thats stupid I would never do that. I have never ONCE thought to myself "is that part Unicorn and part dragon? I'm buying it".

I bought it.

 

haha damn beat me to it by a second!!!!

 

i tend to avoid overly evil titled iterations and artwork. to each their own but i try to keep my surroundings positive or as close to neutral as possible.

 

I wouldn't avoid a beer due to a bad label but a good label will pique my interest. When Revolution entered distribution, I liked the artwork so I did some research on the company. I probably would have found it eventually but the cool design made me a fan faster.

 

Jester King Wunderkind. It's actually a little holographic, so cool. Thanks to Lookrider for hooking me up with it too.

 

Would you rather date a smart ugly girl, or a hot stupid one?

 

good question. not sure about stupidity but assume that fades too. from what i heard, after enough beers, they all fall into the latter group.

 

when I started out, more so than now. currently, its more indirect. if you scan a shelf and there are 99 white bottles and one red one, and you know nothing about any, the red one stands out. I am more likely now to ask about/ look up the red one. I'm not buying it just because its red, but it has a better shot of ending up in the basket, if I get decent feedback. make sense?

 

For those of us who are just learning about beer, labels do come into play like sparkly little gems - they call to us. And I'm pretty sure that Marketing companies would agree otherwise why would we have so much variety and so many cool labels out there?