Real Ale Brewing Company has been one of the pioneers of Texas’ craft beer industry. Having been around since 1996, Real Ale decided it was time to give its branding a complete overhaul. Updates to the beer labels, packaging, cans, and previous label icons have all been updated. To me, the biggest difference for consumers will be the labels that some have grown to love have been updated to a more solid design; they still keep with the original color scheme and feel to the product. (Read full Press Release here)

The new products will start to ship in the Austin, San Antonio markets around March, but full product update images have been released for fans to check out:

As you can see in the original beer labels, each flavor had its own story to tell on the label, but there wasn’t much consistency between the product line. The Butler Bros. were hired to handle the revamp said, “Firemans #4 was almost more identifiable than the Real Ale brand itself. Without a packaging system to help beer drinkers see the larger picture brand equity was taking a blow.” So enter the new packaging:

The labels now have seamless, consistent design that will make the packaging stand out more to consumers as it is more recognizable on the shelves. The Real Ale label points down towards the product name, and the colors will be associated to the flavor. Still though, aspects from the original labels have been kept as updated icons on the lower portion of the label.

Real Ale’s press release stated, “The new logo includes three components that are meaningful to the company: the hop, the sprocket, and the characters “TX 96”. The hop pays homage to the previous logo, which consisted of the company name and a simple hop graphic for most of the brewery’s history. The sprocket is a nod to the original tap handle and label of its bestselling year-round beer, Firemans #4. The inclusion of “TX 96” around the new hop/sprocket is a reference to the company’s roots and where they come from.”

One of my favorite updates was done to the bottle cap. To me, the bottle cap is the last stitch effort to keep fans of the product engaged in the beer. The simplistic iconography on the bottle cap screams Real Ale to me, and will definitely be one to be admired in my personal bottle cap collection.

You can see the three components in use on the cap, and hopefully can recognize the history behind Real Ale Brewing Company.

Make sure you visit them out in Blanco, TX on Fridays from 2-5 pm when they open up the tasting room, or take a tour that’s available at 3 or 4 pm.

Real Ale is located at: 231 San Saba Court, Blanco, Texas 78606