Following on the heels of firmly establishing a fulfilling hobby in homebrewing, I’ve evolved what started out as a “sandbox” for my brewery-related creative endeavors into a notional “pseudo-brewery” with a more fully-formed brand expression.

Reforming an identity and extending it to a microsite/blog and packaging design for updated and refined recipes became a “relaunch” of sorts for my homebrewing efforts, and a more serious approach to what “could be” in the unlikely event that Straw Bale Brewing lived a life beyond our basement.

The concept behind Straw Bale Brewing is centered on the idea that “simple,” “local,” and “quality” can all exist simultaneously in ways that benefit the maker, consumer and ultimately local economies. Straw Bale Brewery (myself, my wife and my son) seek ingredients in our own back yard (seriously, like our own garden – right there in the back yard) and tend to each part of the process with conservation, quality and simplicity.

While we aren’t selling products (yet), Straw Bale Brewing focuses on doing things in ways that would be beneficial to our community if they were being done on a larger scale. We capture all water used for cleaning and brewing and reuse it. We source ingredients from our local farm markets and grow some of them ourselves. We even use spent grain from brewing in homemade breads and soap.

To Straw Bale Brewing, staying locally-focused and making things with care is not only better for us as makers and consumers, but is also more delicious. We’re committed to making sure that people know, understand and appreciate that they do have a choice to make a better decision, and a tasty one, too.

As a brand, Straw Bale Brewing has a rustic personality, with a consistent warm and farm-friendly voice. Each release flirts with concepts that seem to jump from the pages of the Farmers Almanac, with both a nod to tradition and a modern reinterpretation of age-old ideas.

The type figures used in the Straw Bale Brewing mark (and display type on labels) were digitized by our friends at Bearded Studio – straight from their letterpress. These were printed using wood type, which we feel lends a classic and timeless character and an extra layer of interesting texture. Thanks, guys! (check out the Wood Type Revival website to keep up with the Beardeds while they secure the future wood type)