New West Yorkshire Brewery choses eye-catching Beaston Clark bottle

A new West Yorkshire brewery is causing a stir by selling its ales eye-catching Vichy bottles supplied by Beatson Clark.

Located in Hebden Bridge, Vocation Brewery was only established in April and is already attracting lots of attentions with its distinctive branding.

Robot Food, the brewery’s Leeds-based branding agency, chose Beatson Clark’s standard 500ml amber Vichy bottle because its aesthetic appeal suited the brewery’s flamboyant labels.

John Hickling, Vocation director and head brewer, said: “We brew punchy and distinctive beers, and in a crowded market you’ve got to find any way you can to stand out. There are lots of pieces to that jigsaw, and an important component is the shape of the bottle.

“So many breweries use the same shape of bottle for practical reasons, especially if they’re contract bottling which makes it difficult for them to be creative with the bottle design.

“As we bottle our own beer on site there’s an opportunity for us to be a little bit different. I gave Robot Food a selection of bottles which suited our technical requirements and they chose the bottle which best fitted the brand’s aesthetic.

“The look of our bottled beer is very important and I’m trying to tread a fine line by creating a brand that appeals to a younger market without alienating older drinkers.”

Heart & Sound and Pride & Joy are the two beers Vocation Brewery are currently bottling.

John added: “We’ve only been up and running for three months and sales are already going really well.”

Simon Forster, creative director at Robot Food, revealed he recommended Beatson Clark’s Vichy bottle because it is rarely used in the craft beer market. He said: “It suits our designs as it gives us maximum label area, but more importantly it has a unique silhouette.

“There’s really no-one else in the craft beer sector using this type of bottle shape with straight shoulders – it has a traditional colour but at the same time it feels quite unique and contemporary.”

Chris Palmer, business development manager at Beatson Clark, also commented: “The craft brewing sector is a really strong growth area for us at the moment, and now that our new amber furnace is in full production we have additional capacity to meet the extra demand.

“It can be hard for smaller producers to stand out on the shelf, and the key to that is defining your brand through eye-catching packaging. With our extensive standard range and our in-house creative design team we can supply distinctive bottles that really help beers to get noticed.”

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