We get asked this question so many times you would not believe! Naming a new beer can be one of the hardest parts of the process, especially if you want to use a name that aligns with your branding and, of course, isn’t already being used by another brewery—at least in the UK.
The beer name seldom matches the style of beer, but there are a few exceptions, such as Black Forest, Black October, and the various versions of Umbra Abyss.
Our Naming Process
The process we follow is quite simple and goes in this order:
- Think of a cool-sounding name that isn’t too long so it fits on our cans and tap badges.
- Do some Google searches to see if any other breweries have a beer with this name.
- Run it through a trademark search to check that no other UK breweries have trademarked it.
- Chat about it in our team so that at least some of us can agree on it!
If our search shows that another UK brewery is already using the name, we stop immediately—this is only fair, and we don’t want to confuse the market. We’ve noticed that at least two breweries have beers named Kaleidoscope, and we’re pretty sure they were released after our Kaleidoscope in 2014. If a search suggests nobody is using the name, we still run it through a trademark check as a second layer of due diligence.
One time, we forgot the trademark search step… Read on!
The Mighty Pegasus Blunder
In 2019, we brewed a brand-new beer called Pegasus, a lovely Rhubarb IPA that received a great response from our fans. However, forgetting to do the trademark search led to a random phone call one afternoon—just weeks after the release—from an angry man representing a brewery we had never heard of.
This brewery had a trademark on a beer called Pegasus, and they were not happy that a brewery from a fair distance away had launched a beer with the same name, even though it was a completely different style. Letters from their solicitor followed, and we decided that the right thing to do was to rename the beer to Barbarella (think rhubarb, not the classic ’60s sci-fi movie!). It’s actually quite unusual to trademark beer names, given the thousands in existence, so we thought we were quite unlucky.
The problem? We had already canned a large batch of Pegasus, and the label referenced the name three or four times. Even if we printed new labels, it wouldn’t be cost-effective to remove hundreds of existing labels and replace them. Instead, some very patient and slightly amused taproom customers volunteered to stick new “Barbarella” labels over the old ones—or just cross them out with a marker pen. Cheers to the volunteers!
Problem solved—many, many hours later. However, condensation in fridges often caused the labels to slide off… but the offended brewery was never going to know that!
We prefer the name Barbarella anyway!
Some Examples of How our Beers Got Their Names
- Flying Saucer – One of the first beers made by our founder, Kev, in his garage. A simple name that people would recognize, with an opportunity for some cool artwork.
- Kaleidoscope – An old but still popular one. Simply a kaleidoscope of flavor and colors, hence the bright branding.
- Pupa – Named after the growth stage of insects, symbolizing the beer’s position between East Coast (soft) and West Coast (bitter) IPA styles.
- Paper Room – One of Kev’s choices, taken from a song title on a Sneaker Pimps album.
- Inaudible – Named by our head brewer, Jon. According to him: “Inaudible is the first track on a Manchester Orchestra album that came out just before we first brewed it. I just kind of liked the sound of it. The fact that it works with a soft style of beer was almost a happy accident!”
- Fenton – Inspired by the famous viral video of the dog chasing a herd of deer in Richmond Park. We think this one was Kev’s idea.
- Summerlands – One of Kev’s first-ever beers. We’re fairly certain it’s a song title from an electronica/ambient artist, but we can’t remember who!
- Good Chat (collab with Brewers Select) – Another of Jon’s ideas. To quote him: “This came about as I was going back and forth on email with Brewers Select about the recipe for ages, and we weren’t getting anywhere solid. Jethro gave me a ring one afternoon, and we ironed out all the details in a matter of minutes. Sometimes all you need is a good chat, innit?”
So, there you have it–the trials, tribulations, and occasional disasters of naming our beers. Next time you crack open a can of Vibrant Forest, you’ll know a little more about the story behind the name. Cheers! 🍻