RebrandPikes Peak Brewing Co.

A Local Favorite, Rebuilt For A Bigger Market.

Pikes Peak Brewing had a strong local following and plans to move into canning and wholesale. We rebuilt the identity, packaging and digital system around Colorado’s parks, landmarks and history, giving the brewery a distinctive face across cans, tap handles, campaigns and its website.

The six-can launch lineup — Ascent Pale Ale, Gold Rush, Little London English Mild, Elephant Rock IPA, Devils Head Red Ale, Summit House Oatmeal Stout — each with its own illustration and color
Client
Pikes Peak Brewing Co.
Restaurant context
Independent craft brewery / Monument, Colorado / Taproom and packaged distribution / Six-beer launch assortment
Role
Market research, rebrand, packaging, illustration, launch campaign, responsive website and ecommerce
Solutions
Marketing
Engagement
Rebrand and growth launch
Primary outcome
More Visible / Scalable

The brewery

A Local Favorite Ready For A Larger Market.

Pikes Peak Brewing built its early following in Monument, Colorado, where classic ales, a comfortable taproom, a patio and live music made the brewery part of the local community. After its first few years, the business was ready to package its beer and reach customers beyond the taproom.

Wholesale changed the context. On a crowded shelf, each can had to introduce the brewery, explain the beer and carry enough recognition to connect a new retail customer back to the place where the brand began.

The Monument taproom, in black and white — regulars at the bar, the room busy behind them

What was happening

The Beer Was Ready For Distribution. The Brand Was Not.

Pikes Peak’s existing logo carried too many colors and details to work effectively across cans, signs and small digital spaces. It also felt dated beside the quality of the beer and the brewery’s plans for growth.

The most obvious visual cue—the mountain—was also common among Colorado breweries. The challenge was to use the brewery’s location without disappearing into the same outdoor language as the rest of the category.

Before and after: the original multi-color roundel beside the new dark park badge

What we saw

The Mountain Was Only The Beginning.

Research across local landmarks and nearby breweries revealed a richer source of distinction. Pikes Peak’s beers were already named for regional places, monuments and events, giving the brand a story that could extend well beyond a generic mountain silhouette.

A vintage national-park language gave that story a useful structure. A ranger-badge mark created recognition for the brewery, while custom illustrations and bold color gave each beer its own piece of Colorado history.

Six circular beer badges, one per variety — an elephant, a lantern, binoculars, a cabin, a pick and shovel — each in its own color

What we changed

An Identity System Built Around Place.

  1. 01 / Market research and positioning

    We toured Monument-area landmarks and craft breweries to understand the local story and the competitive shelf. That research established how place, history and distribution should shape the new brand.

    A tasting flight on the taproom bar, six glasses from pale gold to black

  2. 02 / Brand identity

    We simplified the brewery into a park-inspired badge with Pikes Peak at its center. Heritage typography, a restrained core palette and flexible lockups gave the identity enough character for large signs and enough clarity for cans and screens.

    The Pikes Peak Brewing Co. badge: a dark shield with the mountain at its base, Monument, Colorado above the name

  3. 03 / Illustrated packaging

    Six custom can designs connected individual beers to local landmarks and historical events. Strong color helped each variety stand apart while the badge, typography and illustration style held the assortment together.

    The Elephant Rock IPA can flattened to its three panels — story, illustration and the five-ingredients back

  4. 04 / Launch campaign and digital

    Tap handles, print ads, posters and billboards brought the identity into the market and taproom. A responsive website organized beer information, events, merchandise, ecommerce and local availability within the same visual system.

    The responsive Pikes Peak site on laptop, tablet and phone — the badge over a mountain panorama, a beer and a can in frame

In the market and the taproom

Six tap handles in a row, each topped with its beer’s badge
Devils Head Red Ale and Elephant Rock IPA posters on a wood wall
A billboard against blue sky: Elevating the Craft of Beer, with a can and a pour beside the badge

How the pieces connected

Every Touchpoint Carried The Brewery Farther.

  1. Local history
  2. Brand position
  3. Park badge
  4. Illustrated cans
  5. Campaign + taproom
  6. Wholesale discovery

Local research gave the identity a point of view. The badge made the brewery recognizable, illustrated cans brought that story to the shelf, and campaigns connected retail discovery back to the taproom. The website extended the same system into beer information, events, merchandise and local availability.

The impact

Growth Beyond The Taproom.

In the year after the new brand launched, Westwerk reported a 250% increase in wholesale sales, 37% growth in tasting-room sales and 60,000 cans produced. The work also received recognition from four design-award programs.

  1. Wholesale growth

    250%

    Westwerk reported that wholesale sales increased 250% in the year after the new brand launched.

  2. Tasting-room growth

    37%

    The same historical case study reported a 37% increase in tasting-room sales after launch.

  3. Production scale

    60,000 cans

    Sixty thousand cans carried the new identity and custom illustration system into the brewery’s expanded market.

  4. Creative recognition

    Four award programs

    The work was listed as recognized by AIGA Minnesota, Creativity International, Summit Creative Awards and HOW International Design Awards.

Those gains followed a broader expansion effort. The new system gave that effort a consistent public face across wholesale shelves, the taproom and digital channels.

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Let’s Talk Growth