Do Craft Beer Labels Affect Your Purchasing Decisions?

[olllllo]

Do we like this label?

 

[neovox]

I saw this on popurls this morning. I didn't realize these were that same folks that brew Tokyo. They also have an IPA "Sink the Bismarck" that claims to be 41% ABV. If my math is right, that would be more than 70 proof beer!

 

[carnevoodoo]

I saw this on popurls this morning. I didn't realize these were that same folks that brew Tokyo. They also have an IPA "Sink the Bismarck" that claims to be 41% ABV. If my math is right, that would be more than 70 proof beer!

Your math is sort of right. It'd be 82 proof in the States and a bit over 70 proof in the UK. So it depends on where you are.

 

[neovox]

So, in this case one 12oz beer basically = 12 82-proof shots.

 

[bctdi]

I look for brewery, then style, then abv, then bottling date.......pretty pictures and artwork don`t interest me except that I like breweries to have a distinct difference in their labels for each style because it makes it easier for me to remember which ones i`ve tried and liked or not liked. Flying Dog would be a prime example with their similar artwork for each style I can`t remember anymore which ones I`ve tried, so typically I bypass them alltogether.Avery does a good job of making a clear distinction between styles with their labels.

 

[A4J]

Packaging design plays an important role in most of my purchasing decision - the only exception being beer. I look for style first, then descriptor if any, then brewery. I don't really care what pretty picture there is on the label or the name.

 

[l1ranger]

a good picture might catch my eye and cause me to buy something, but more often than not, I'm looking for somethign I already like, or to try something different, and I'll generally try somethign different regardless of the label. if its good, I"ll come back to it again and again

 

[Zamial]

Do we like this label?

removed images....

so does that 32% and 41% taste decent considering? It does not matter to me if it is 80% ABV if it is awful or has to be "choked down". Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[olllllo]

so does that 32% and 41% taste decent considering? It does not matter to me if it is 80% ABV if it is awful or has to be "choked down". Thanks in advance!!!!

It's not mine. Found a post about it on the net. I don't think I would ever buy a bottle unless several people went in on it. It seems pointless to me.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Labels, while some are eycatching and others not do not influence me.

Blurb does.

If I see a bottle with blurb that mentions how the extreme ( Hoppiness/Maltiness/Dead puppies) will blow you away and leave your senses dangling over a pit of boiling oil.......Then nah. F#ck buying that. I want to buy beer, not a silly marketing tool.

 

[Montanaandy]

I was just in Border's and came across a book that was titled something along the lines of "The Beer Trials" and was a takeoff on "The Wine Trials" (or Judgement In Paris) in which many popular beers were blind tasted. The strange thing was that while each beer was ranked on a 10 point scale, the authors also took pains to voice their pleasure or displeasure with the label on a particular beer (i.e. is it too crowded with info., are the graphics pleasing). Montanaandy

 

[mikebiewer]

Not for me.

My purchasing is usually based first on the style I want, then usually what brewery is it from? Either I am buying a specific beer like Stone's Arrogant Bastard" or "Bell's two hearted" or am looking to expand my pallet within a style. If that's the case it's going to be a brewery's name and whether or not I've heard of it, that's going to be the first deciding factor.

Although I appreciate good label art it's never been a deciding factor in purchasing for me.

If Dogfish Head made their beers look like the one in Repo Men;

As long as I could identify the brewery and the style, I could care less. (But I've never been Advertising driven in anything thing.)

Revvy, I think this is interesting that you mentioned this. My original post or idea was that the label contains information needed to make a decision. Part of the information that is on the label usually consists of which brewery it came from, therefore reputation. At least, that is how I see it.

So the real question is...what kinds of information are you looking for on a label when you make your decision. Forget about the pictures.

Thanks for your comment here!