By Nick Andrews

Yards Brewing Co. just might be the most recognizable Philly food brand. The Philadelphia brewery presents its beer with old-timey label art that incites a close connection to the American Revolution and to the British empire for consumers.

Philadelphia Pale Ale features revolution era framing, Brawler uses a simple sketch to depict a brawl between a man in revolution era garb and a demon. Yards IPA even features the Union Jack with crossed sabers.

When it comes to label art, Yards keeps it simple and stays on point with Revolutiona-era branding to match their English/British style ales. Except for one specialty brew every year that is wrapped in an unexpected label design.

Each spring Yards gets together with the Franklin Institute to brew a science-themed beer for Philadelphia’s annual science week. Yards landed on a Belgian style Tripel Ale for the 2017 festival.

As a brewery, we’re known more for English-inspired ales, but we feel no need to be pigeon-holed,” Yards Head Brewer Tim Roberts said. “And among the brewers (at Yards), traditional tripels are among the favorite not-Yards beers to drink.”

Roberts particularly mentioned Westmalle Tripel from Belgium. The Westmalle Tripel is widely considered to be the best tripel, and one of the best beers overall, on the planet.

While expanding and moving to a new location, Roberts and Yards enjoyed the opportunity to work with the exact vendor that helped designed the yeast propagation system used by Westmalle.

“It’s sort of been on my mind to do an almost homage with a touch of Yards thrown in,” Roberts said.

The next step was to name the beer and design it’s art.
Naming the yearly collaboration allows for both Yards and the Franklin Institute to have some fun. The two organizations get together and pitch ideas for what the beer should be called. They focused on being “fun, nerdy, bold.” For example, previous beers had names such as Parallel Brewniverse and Cerebral Pourtex (Get it?). They also take the beer’s style into account.

Previously, Yards brewed a Witbier (Belgian White) with orange peels and named it Orang’n of Species.

This year the brewers and scientists came up with some ideas that would be both nerdy and clever. They landed on a few finalists and put it to a vote on social media. The winner: Brewbiks Cube. Perfect. Up next: the label.

Yards tapped Franklin Institute Senior Graphic Designer Brigette Indelicato to design their collaboration label for the fourth consecutive time this year.

“I’d like to think it’s the most fun part of her job,” Yards art and marketing manager Gina Visoli said. “But since she works at the Franklin Institute, it’s probably not.”

Indelicato, who also does freelance design work for board games in her spare time, understands the importance of label art on beer.

“I do think label design impacts the drinking experience,” Indelicato said. “From being drawn to a particular bottle or brand and making the decision to pick it up, to the subconscious influence a product’s packaging can have on the perceived quality of the product itself.”

She enjoys the freedom that Yards gives her with the collaboration brew. That enjoyment is clearly reflected in the reception of her work. Orang’n of Species and Parallel Brewniverse won awards for graphic design and packaging design. However, Indelicato said this year presented a unique challenge. Ultimately, she decided to incorporate and 80’s theme reminiscent of arcades and the classic 80’s movie, Back to The Future. “How can you go wrong with chrome and neon typography,” she said jokingly.

Review

Brewbiks cube faced challenges as a beer. First, the style is outside of the Yards comfort zone. Secondly, some of the best Belgian-style tripels are brewed close to home and finally, because tripels are so complex and subjective that the difference between a masterpiece and an average beer could be extremely subtle in the recipe, but remarkably relevant in the tast.

That being said, Yards absolutely killed in.

Brewbiks Cube poured sunny golden brown with a light, cloudy-white head that lasts for more than the first few sips and the yeast is wild and complex.

The thick mouthfeel meant this beer could be savored for a few seconds and that each sip could be thoroughly enjoyed

Because tripels contain high levels of alcohol, they also contain a filling amount of calories. Drinking a bomber of a tripel with a big meal will make the drinker a little more full and a little more tipsy than they might have guessed. So, tripels tend to work really well as the sole focus of the drinker. This beer worked extremely well with a small portion of roasted almonds, smoked Italian sausage and goat cheese crumbles.

Brewbiks cube was only available for a short amount of time and tracking one down now could be quite difficult. But, as mentioned, this area of the world boasts some of the best Belgian-style tripel ale in the country.