East 9th Brewing is an eccentric boutique brewery that likes to pretend it lives in New York but is, in fact, Melburnian.
The range is Doss Blockos Pale Lager, Lick Pier Ginger Beer, Fog City Cloudy Cider and Red Sangria, and the limited edition Doss Blockos Dark Lager, of which just 10,000 numbered 500ml bottles were made. Each comes with a wild and cryptic brand story that starts in the middle and is completely untrue.
This is the brand story for Doss Blockos Pale Lager “…the mole people then joined the search, but they were real. There is no actual manifesto that evolved from the underground New York movement in the late 1990s, which is when we first brewed beneath the city’s discarded railway systems. Our beer surfaced when squats started surfacing all around the Lower East Side before those people came…”
So, yes, the East 9th brewing labels are aptly idiosyncratic, “appealing to those who wish to challenge the social order…East 9th Brewing label artwork is designed to remain open to interpretation by the consumer, fostering imaginative thinking about identity and provide consumers with a means of edgy and unique ‘self-branding’ in social situations.”
This is how the packaging idea came about: “Three and a bit years ago, our keen industry insight exposed an opportunity to create a brewing company that connected with consumers through a philosophical approach, and created products that broke slightly away from the norm…The instantly recognisable East 9th ‘brand-in-hand’ experience opens up pathways to a ‘badge consumer’, conveying the ideas on togetherness, camaraderie and self expression.”
The labels are designed around original artwork by experimental artists found in far flung places throughout the world.
Doss Blockos’ label artwork is by Jak Rapmund: “Jak Rapmund draws on walls, paper and skin, all day, every day. Completely self taught and based in Berlin.”
Fog City’s label artwork is by Mimi Yoon: “For international artist Mimi Yoon, there is no concrete definition for art. To her it is simply that ‘art is’.”
Lick Pier’s label artwork is by Conrad Bizjak: A Tasmanian artist “who explores his observations and freedom of mind with a refined skillset which has been developing since he could walk”.
East Ninth products are sold in more than 4000 restaurants, bars and bottleshops throughout Australia.
If boutique beer is a fashion genre (of course it is), this company is akin to Jean-Paul Gaultier. Gaultier’s first collection was released in 1976. The brand is still strong.
Packaging credits:
Creative agency: Big Dog Creative. Melbourne
Doss Blockos original artwork by Jak Rapmund
Fog City original artwork by Mimi Yoon
Lick Pier original artwork by Conrad Bizjak
Client: East 9th Brewing, Melbourne
