Cute Names for your Beers (Brewpub)

[InBrewTown]

So, as brewers, do you come up with names for your Seasonals/One-offs?

I've never "named" our beers, rather I tend to call them by their style: Tripel, ESB, Pumpkin Ale, etc. Our house beers all have locally-themed names, and I have noticed that customers will call them by that name.

I'm curious as to whether naming a beer has any effect on it's sales? I can see how this could be a major factor if we were bottling and distributing, but we aren't.

Scott in Milwaukee

[GlacierBrewing]

I'm curious as to whether naming a beer has any effect on it's sales? I can see how this could be a major factor if we were bottling and distributing, but we aren't.

Hi Scott,
When I read your post I immediately thought of beers like; Fat Tire Amber, Arrogant Bastard, The Curse Of The Liquid Brain. Wonderful names that conjure great imagery.
Yes, I do believe the "right" name can increase sales. It is marketing after all ("ya' sell the sizzle, not the steak").
When I named our main beers, I selected monikers that would portray some character and positive imagery of the part of Montana we live and work in. I know our customers like how it sounds when they say, "Lemme have a Griz!" instead of "Lemme have a golden ale" for our Golden Grizzly Ale.
my two cents.....

Prost!
Dave

p.s. ya' don't call your kids (if ya' have any) "Boy" and "Girl", do ya?

[Scott M]

Other examples:

Rogue - Dead Guy, Double Dead Guy, Skull Splitter, Yellow Snow.

Great Basin - Ichthyosaur IPA (Give Me an Icky).

Dogfish Head - Black and Blue, Pangea.

As said, It's all about marketing and name recognition. They may not remember the name of your brewery but the customer will ask in the liquor store for your beer if it has a catchy, memorable name. Eventually they will remember who the brewer is!!

[Laughing Dog]

I will second that an intriguing label on the bottle and a catchy name will really help but not for long if the beer is of inferior quality

our biggest sellers are Alphadog IIPA, DogZilla Black IPA ( and I detest the style name cascadian dark ale ) the DogFather Imperial stout the slower selling products are named just after the Style

Laughing Dog

[Bill Madden]

Names are critical to Sales!

Names can make or break the sales of a product.

When I worked for Capitol City Brewing Company in Arlington, Virginia we had an ASME rated serving tank for doing nitrogenated beers and I decided a dark mild would be perfect for that type of dispense. I put a the beer on and simply called it "mild".

After three weeks of tracking sales and watching this beer stagnate in sales I needed to come up with another name. The thought of changing the name of a beer and fooling the public into thinking it was something different bothered me but the results were asounding. I came up with a name, Nitro Monkey and suddenly 12 or so barrels of it werre gone quicker than the three weeks it sat still. The bartenders hated it bercause it was a slow pour and the had to keep answering the question "so what is a nitro monkey?" and "I'll have one". Poor bartenders.....

Cheers,

Bill Madden
Mad Fox Brewing Company
Falls Church, Virginia

[beermkr]

A couple years ago we were at Floyd Fest in SW VA and had our Heather Ale with us. The first day we barely put a dent in a 5 gallon keg. The next day we changed the sign to say "Purple Flower Power" and killed 9 kegs of it in 2 days.

Names are everything.

R/

[aorrick]

We are a small brewpub in WA state. Only opened about 4 months ago. 7 bbl system, and basically ONLY sell beer in the pub. No outside accounts, and keg sales are rare. We usually keep a rotation of 7 or 8 beers on. We named 4 of them, the blonde, the porter, the IPA, and the winter seasonal (pretty much a scotch ale). Those four outsell anything else at least two to one. Beers that have been slow to sell have been named and have sold well thereafter. I personally do not like selling beer with cute names, but I like seeing beers move...

[Airidini]

A beer in Kentucky produced by a kentucky brewer is aptly named ""Horse Piss Ale" You can imagine the novelty of buying a 6pk of "Horse Piss Ale" and passing that on to your friends......

[Natrat]

It's more than just cute names for beer or selling intrigue...

It conveys a sense of what kind of place they are in...some places use local historical reference or local humor to show that they are "local," and others like clever joke beers to show their colors.

For instance, the guys at Cigar City in Tampa have a beer called "110K+OT" which is a term that they use on ratebeer.com. For sure an in joke, but one that pulls customers in the door, because they get it...and everyone else wants to.

Sometimes the beers are named for ancient techniques and styles. That can be a good educator, too.

Just be sure that your bartenders aren't putting the kaibosh on your carefully planned beer name that opens the beerducation seminar...

That happened to me once...had a great name that really got conversation going, and the bartender got so sick of it that he put another name on it...he called it "the cheap beer" and I didn't find out for weeks that it wasn't selling great guns because of my oh-so-clever title for it.

Phillips Brewery in Canada has some great names...Black Toque, Longboat, Instigator (named after their bottling machine, I'm told), Extra Surly...all good. They have good t shirts, too....and a good beer name goes a long way on a shirt. There's another brewery in BC that has a beer called "The Backhand of God Stout." Who wouldn't try that?

[LuskusDelph]

From a personal perspective, the silly names are just that to me...and even a bit of a turnoff.
But hey...what do I know...
it seems that the "new" beer crowd likes the goofy name thing, and there's no denying the 'curiosity' factor that an interesting name brings.

The bottom line is sales and some brand recognition to fuel local and regional business. If that means calling your beer "Beefsteak Bitter" (or whatever) so be it.
I guess an odd name would almost serve as a mnemonic device.

[Moonlight]

I would venture that a name is about as important a part of a beer as the bittering hops. It is part of the consumer's experience-whether positively, negatively, or neutrally.
I think of good beer as being a good time, not merely the sensory results of one's palate.

[Scott M]

I would venture that a name is about as important a part of a beer as the bittering hops. It is part of the consumer's experience-whether positively, negatively, or neutrally.
I think of good beer as being a good time, not merely the sensory results of one's palate.

Mmmmmmm.....Death and Taxes!!

[Yellowhammer]

While I love some of the names of beers that are out there, I'm not sure I'm a fan of radical naming because of a couple things.

First, for some beers the name often masks what kind of beer it is. And when someone asks me, what's Mumojumbo or Blackbeat, I can't recall what style it is to adequately promote their beer to the person in question. Even though that particular brewery makes some of the best beers in the industry. I have this issue with several local brewers, not because I don't like their beer, but because the whole naming thing is confusing. When you've tried thousands of beers as many of us have, it's hard to remember a million obscure names and their properties. But Billy's Best Brown at least gives me a clue over something like Zombiefreak.

[Natrat]

fer sure

Agreed. The name should incorporate the style.

The best is when you can bring attention to a local phenomenon or historical place/person/event.

Zombiefreak IPA would probably be a pretty good marketing name, though.

I think good taglines can be an important marketing tool, too.
One of the local breweries here has an IPA that is popular. They market a T shirt that reads "The liver is evil. It must be punished."

Good campaign. Popular shirt. And beer.

[fullmoonwinery]

our product is tactical nuclear cider (yes, i kind of stole it from that place in Scotland).

funny story about my first sample bottles. i made a few batches of the cider and gave to my friend's bar to try on the locals and tourists. i didn't filter or anything at that point so the yeast was very much alive in the bottle. a customer was sitting at the bar, reading the label, and just as she asked my friend, 'why is this called tactical nuclear cid...' the bottle literally exploded in her hand, cider and glass everywhere.

fortunately this is Thailand and you can't sue anyone, but it was pretty funny for everyone, except that poor girl.