Nethergate Rebrands as Growler Brewery

The team at Growler Brewery wanted to create a cohesive identity with bags of character…..plus a healthy dose of attitude whilst capturing and communicating its unique Essex location.

The focus for the new identity is the eponymous ‘Old Growler’ – a British bulldog who over the years has become synonymous with the beer and the brewery, having appeared in a number of guises. Now Growler has more personality and a quirky sense of fun appearing as the umbrella icon for the brewery and beers. Throughout all the designs a bowler hat has been introduced which balances gentle British eccentricity with personality and fun.

• The brewery’s 3.9% bitter, which has been renamed Growler Bitter as part of the rebrand, features Growler tossing his bowler hat into the air.

• The best quality Umbel Ale simply features Growler’s bowler hat resting on the last of the letter’s in its name; the simplicity of the image befitting the ale’s connoisseurs status.

• Being a blonde ale, the branding for Growler’s Essex Border depicts a stylised 1940s blonde bombshell, complete with stockings.

• The zesty, refreshing Lemon Head features a cameo of Growler the dog against a background of vivid citrus colours.

• Growler and his bowler hat are also featured on the brewery’s oldest beer IPA, now named in honour of Ian and Paul, the original and current head brewers, and depicted on a vibrant yellow background.

The new branding is being rolled out on both bottled and pump clips over the next month.

“We wanted the new identity to reflect the culture of the brewery, Growler Brewery is a mature business but we are young guys with plenty of energy and imagination. We take the craft of brewing very seriously but not ourselves, we wanted the branding to reflect the coming together of these qualities. We hope our publicans and drinkers like the new identity as much as they seem to like the beers.”