Cascade Brewing

Cascade Brewing is a pioneer of the Northwest sour beer movement with a long history in the Portland beer scene. Their artisanal beers are tart, complex, and inspired by old world brewing practices.

Cascade was in search of a new logo that spoke to their Portland brewing history and their unique beer styles. Inspired by their process, we created a C cut out of a barrel outline. Within the C, the hammer and spigot give a playful nod to Cascade’s revolutionary influence on Portland’s beer scene.

Packaging

Cascade needed new packaging to help customers visually distinguish between their three tiers of sour beer. Murmur came up with a color scheme to differentiate between ingredients, time aged in barrels, and types of barrels used. The new labels combine Cascade’s artisanal Northwest style with old world designs. The highest tier showcases a woodcut inspired label with illustrated flourishes stamped in foil to highlight the sense of value. The second tier labels feature a watermark background, and the first tier bottles feature brighter colors while also communicating to high end beer customers.

“Because Cascade Brewing pioneered sour beer in the Northwest, we wanted the design to reflect that. We used the oak barrel, tap, and spigot to reference their respect for the tradition of sour beer making. The packaging design references historical shipping labels making the connection to Portland as a port town.”

Andrew Bolton

Owner & Exec. Creative Director

The packaging as a whole gives an old world nautical impression that gestures towards Portland’s history as a port town.

We designed the A’s in Cascade to mimic our nearby mountains and the diamond shape of the label to highlight the symmetry of the mark. The impression is one of a regional artisanal beer with a rich history and a sense of fun. It’s Cascade Brewing in a bottle.