Upland Brews Up a Special Edition Collaboration Supernova

This holiday season, Midwest brewery Upland Brewing Co. and creative agency Young & Laramore joined forces for a one of a kind collaboration and a special edition beer.

After partnering with Y&L for a major rebranding earlier this year, Upland Brewing Co.’s CEO, Doug Dayhoff, decided he wanted to flip the script on Y&L’s usual creative process.

"From the beginning, we worked closely with Y&L to stay true to our roots and capture what makes Upland unique. Our fans have loved the results—and so have we! This year we’ve seen a 39% increase in in-store sales and we attribute that largely to our new look," explains Dayhoff. "They really captured our brand—we wanted to celebrate that."

During the rebranding process, Y&L sat down with the Upland team to immerse themselves in the company spirit, culture and outlook. When developing the new look, these insights were core to staying true to the Upland brand, fans have grown to love.

A similar strategy was used in developing the special edition beer, with Upland turning the tables on the Y&L team, to pull out who they are and how to best capture the agency’s spirit.

The result is a special edition beer, Dayhoff named ‘Collaboration Supernova’ – a Belgian Dubbel complex in flavor, yet relatively easy to drink and share – much like the agency and the relationship that developed between brewers and creatives. 

Y&L will use the special brew of the co-branded, limited-release beer to spread holiday cheer to the agency’s client base and employees. Sorry, Collaboration Supernova will not be available for sale to the public.