New label, same Alaskan flavor

CINTHIA RITCHIE

February 22, 2008 at 12:01PM AKST

What will the well-dressed beer bottle be wearing this spring?

A snug fitting red label, that’s what.

And the new Alaskan Amber bottle will be right in step, sporting a sassy red package complete with a lot of foam.

Ooh-la-la!

According to Marcy Larson, co-owner and co-founder of Alaskan Brewing Co., the new look is livelier, brighter and truer to life.

It’s the third rendition of the same basic scene: an Alaska fishing boat heading out of the harbor.

Alaska artist John Fehringer came up with the new design after conferring with owners Marcy and Geoff Larson. They sought something memorable but true to the Alaska fishing lifestyle.

Fehringer decided to keep the boat presently adorning the label, an actual fishing vessel called the Caribou that once anchored in Juneau. Then he dashed it up with splashes of red and an alluring background.

The result is a label that is vivid without being offensive, seductive without being tasteless, Alaskan without being touristy.

"We want to keep it interesting," Larson said.

And it is. The Caribou appears to charge off the label, foam kicking its heels. The accompanying red background is cheerful, the mountains blue-tinted, the sky a peachy shade that speaks of goodwill and benevolent days and a life where nothing bad could ever happen.

This is quit the change from the original 1986 label, which carried a lot of grey.

"It was a typical southeastern day," Larson said with a laugh. "I think there were even clouds in it."

That all changed in 2003, when the present label came out. It’s a nice design, but the boat is distant, and the whole scene gives the feel of something unobtainable, something you can see but not quite touch.

It’s also subdued. It’s kind of shy. It’s like a beer bottle standing in a corner alone at a party.

"If you put one of our bottles on a shelf with other bottles of beer, it doesn’t really pop out," Larson said. "That’s kind of been a little bit of a complaint among our customers. So making it brighter and popping out the art makes it easier to find."

Regardless of the label, the beer is exactly the same.

"That’s one thing you don’t want to mess with," Larson said.

The Alaskan Brewing Co. strives to ensure every label reflects the community.

"We try to put as much of real life Alaska in the scenes as we can," Larson said.

Curtis Turner, daytime bartender at the Yukon Bar in Seward, said that Alaskan Amber is a popular choice, especially in the summer.

"Oh yeah," he said. "It’s like on the big ones we go through."

He hadn’t heard about the new label.

"But I’m sure when it comes out, we’ll all be talking about it," he said.

The new design debuts in early March. Expect it to hit Seward markets by the middle to the end of the month.

Cinthia Ritchie can be reached at (907) 342-2428 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 428.