I have a silly brand. @emmanuales is silly

It’s kitsch, it’s quirky, it’s a bit Ned Flanders, it’s fun.

But it expresses my irreverent humour through the eyes of my personal faith (which I never force down people’s throats; only the beer! ). https://www.marketingweek.com/beer-brand-silliness-craft/

My ‘silly’ craft beer brand with its pretentious names and silly pubs has brought joy, light, and a good laugh to many; people have enjoyed the beer, the creativity, the tongue-in-week aspect of it because it is what it is… a bit silly.

However, I brew it wholeheartedly with care and attention, ensuring every beer is as good as it can possibly be because I learned from my dad, if anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing *properly*.

I research, nerd out and obsess over brewing science, sniffing hops, tasting grain, understanding yeast and fermentation, because it’s both what a good brewer does and it helps me as a drinker understand and enjoy what’s in my glads more.

I labour over the tiny details on the artwork to enhance people’s beer drinking experience and because I get a kick out of putting hops in the hands of cherubim or making Saint Peter look like he’s holding a good solid pint because I’m a graphic designer and artist as well.

I put silly amounts of effort into the marketing of it so I can make new craft beer devotees through my brand, which is far from bland or boring.

And every other brewer I know does all these ‘silly’ things - obsessing over ingredients, commissioning eye catching artworks, researching and studying beer styles, thinks through how their brand translates from their…

…own values and then injects their individual personality into the whole thing for the love and satisfaction of beer; not because they’re pretentious, silly, and certainly not because trying to exclude people from discovering craft beers in the first place (quite the opposite).

I tend not to be damning publicly of other businesses or individuals online but this marketing campaign from @fourpurebrewing was ill advised, misjudged, misleading to consumers and, most of all, an insult to those in the industry.

And, if they want to come on the @hopforwardbeers to talk about it, they’d be more than welcome to put their side of the argument across

My DMs are open