For the past several weeks the BYO office has been overrun with envelopes and boxes for the annual label contest. This year’s judging was the hardest yet, as competitors definitely brought their “A” game and we had to choose from more entries than ever. Entrants utilized not only the normal label canvas but also expanded into the 3-D realm and hand painting their bottles. We received entries everywhere from as far away as Brazil and New Zealand. Overall, labels were an eclectic mix, drawing inspiration from a wide range of ideas: a musical instrument, the family dog, a prized piece of artwork, a (sometimes) clever pun, and a lost love.

We’d like to thank everyone who entered this year for your dedication to creativity not only in the brew kettle but also on the bottle. The judging process was not easy, but we had a great time choosing this year’s winning designs. Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to our sponsors for providing all of the great prizes. The process doesn’t stop here, either. We hope you’re already working on your best designs for next year!

Grand

John Thompson • Encinitas, California

For his “Don’t Trip” Belgian-style tripel, John felt intimidated by the style’s listing as one of the ten hardest styles to brew by BYO. “I wanted the label for ‘Don’t Trip’ to depict the uneasiness I felt with this batch,” he said. “The mantra ‘don’t trip’ was uttered at each stage of the [brewing] process.” He then spiraled this mantra down the label’s staircase so it can be read at any angle.

Gold

Ron Campbell · Stanfield, North Carolina

Ron designed this label for his neighbor, who owns a music shop called Ron’s Pickin’ Parlor. “I used the sign at his shop as the guide for the label,” Ron said. “The strings were an afterthought!”

Silver

Kevin leDoux • Seattle, Washington

Inspired by the classic movie “A Christmas Story,” Kevin created this label from hand drawn and manipulated images. “Plus, at 9+%, there is a real and present danger of this happening if more than one bottle is consumed,” he wrote.

Bronze

Bronze-Marie-Pier Bouchard

Marie-Pier Bouchard • Carignan, Quebec

Marie-Pier created this label for her boyfriend and his brother’s maple bacon beer. “The title of the beer was a reminder of the actor, so when I did the label, I drew a pig with a little rock star attitude,” she said.