Former Future Brewing Forced To Change All Branding Because of Societe Brewing Cease & Desist Letter

And it was bound to happen…

A letter.  Received unexpectedly from another brewery, asking that we change our branding.

It was kind, thoughtful, and firm.  It was written by a lawyer.  Crap.

Societe Brewing, out of San Diego, California, had discovered us via one of their employees.  And, they discovered a very important and concerning piece of information: two of our beers, and theirs, overlapped in name.  Both the Harlot and the Roustabout share names with Societe.  But beyond that, they too use names of members/occupations in society, much like Former Future has done.

Upon reviewing Societe’s letter, we gave them a call.  They were gracious and understanding.  But really, it boiled down to this:

They’ve been in business for several years now, and have won several awards for those beers with which we share names.  For Former Future, it was a no-brainer.  We had to not only cease the use of the Harlot and the Rousabout… we had to change our entire branding scheme.

Societe sent us beer! And it is delicious.

Crap.

But, we’d rather it be now than later.  We’d rather get this email now, prior to opening, than later, down the road when are open and established and releasing new beers and even further building our brand.  We’d rather think really long and hard about our branding and make it something truly unique to carry forward throughout the life of Former Future.And, we can’t account for every brewery or homebrew supply shop or whatever… but we can try.  Which leads us to now:We are going to be working over the next few weeks to develop a brand that is intriguing, thoughtful, thought-provoking, clever, and fun.  Beyond that, we’ll be working with an illustrator to create a new avatar, rooted strictly in the values and identity that we want to portray.  Which will then lead us into the future…

For now, we’ll leave you with this: We are working every day to build a space for you.  To create beer for you.  To remain true to who we are and what we believe in.

In the next few weeks – TTB permitting – we’ll be opening our doors to you.  At that time we will reveal our new branding.  For now, know that it. is. coming.  SOON.  No one could be more excited than we are.

We’ll see you shortly.

James + Sarah
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