CRAFT BEER DREAMIN’
BSR has worked with the founders of Los Angeles Ale Works (LAAW) since their earliest ambitions to build a craft brewery in Southern California. Anyone having experience in this area knows just how long something like this can take, especially when you’re pulling it up by the bootstraps.

SCHEMATIC DESIGN TOOLS
BSR designed the first rounds of branding and brewery designs two years prior to LAAW getting their brewery off the ground. The first designs were schematic; a well developed brand identity and logo, brand pillars, packaging designs for a flagship line of beers and a fully laid out facilities plan. The purpose of these was to create a toolkit with which they could pitch their business plan to backers. The schematic toolkit did its magic and after some hard work and perseverance, the group broke ground on the first-ever craft brewery in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hawthorne, the home of Tesla, SpaceX and The Beach Boys!

TIME TO REFINE!
Now that the project was off the ground BSR sat down with LAAW to review the schematic materials and refine the direction for the brand. We developed their plans for beer service and food service and discussed the initial styles of packaging they’d need developed. The logo underwent some evolution too. A hexagonal shield was developed to encompass the newly designed proprietary logo typography and the original “gear”, a prominent feature of the original logo was moved to a more supportive role as an icon.

PACKAGING MAKES THE BRAND MOBILE
Packaging is a game changer. At retail more than 70% of packaged craft beer sales are design-driven. LAAW would be launching two lines of beers, a lineup of permanent taproom brews and a more free-form line of specialty, seasonal and “experimental” beers. BSR developed a can design style for each line. The taproom lineup would use an identical can design throughout with each beer being identified with a different color and its own icon. And the free-form line of beers would be – well, free form. Each of these cans would be custom designed around the attributes and personality of the beer and BSR along with LAAW partner businesses and local artists would be tapped to create them.

TURNING A BUILDING INTO A CRAFT BREWERY
BSR worked closely with LAAW founders and national and local real estate to find the right location for the new craft brewery and the industrial neighborhood of Hawthorne in south Los Angeles was selected. When we sat down with LAAW’ founders to talk about what the brewery and tasting room design we found that the building was a perfect fit for the look and feel we’d created for the schematic presentation. So after some tucking, fitting, revising and refining, the face forward personality of the brewery and tasting room took on the look and feel we’d all been drawn to when the craft brewery was just a schematic design.

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME
BSR collaborated with the founders of Los Angeles Ale Works to conceive and bring their craft brewery to life. Since its opening only two years ago the brewery has grown, more than tripling their capacity. They have also installed their own canning line and have been invited to create specialty beers for such notables as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Rick and Morty, SpaceX, the LA brewers Guild (a high honor) and many others. Following the success of their Hawthorne facility LAAW will soon be opening a new 2000 s.f.tap room in Los Angeles’ up and coming Arts District. Cheers!