A single century was enough to radically transform the concept of beer: this made the transition from locally produced beer, by small breweries, with or without a multitude of ingredients, usually by “ale” type fermentation (craft beer), to industrially produced and filtered beer, pasteurized, produced today, in the majority by the fermentation method “Lager” type.
This evolution, however, also meant the uniformity of the taste of beer, as we know it, most of us today. The Belgian notion of diversity in taste has given way to the German standard of purity, and the major Romanian beer producers have unified the recipes, packaging and presentation method.
Today, without seeing the label it is very difficult to distinguish the taste of the Romanian beers present on the shelf. This is also due to the fact that most of the old breweries and famous beer brands in Romania (Azuga, Silva, Harghita, Gambrinus, Ursus, etc.) were absorbed by only 4 large producers who until now have almost no focus on offering variety in taste, type of production or even packaging.
The need for variety, however, was stronger. That is why today, in most places, in addition to the already known beers, craft beers have made their appearance. The generic title of BEER seems to need more and more subcategories in the menus. Specialized establishments have even appeared where only craft beers are offered. The craft beer segment is experiencing rapid development everywhere and is driven by the need for diversity of the beer consumer. His care for less processed products, with simple, natural recipes, brought craft beer back to the attention of small entrepreneurs and helped them create specialized craft beer brands that tell their story differently from mass-market brands.
Disregarding trends, however, there are also enthusiasts of bygone times who collect the labels of beers of yesteryear (such as Oppler, Luther, Silva, Azuga or Ateneu) for authentic and historical beauty and elegance. These were unpasteurized beers, with a very short shelf life, not subjected to the heat process, and people appreciated them for the fresh taste with which they came out of the factory. In high demand were those green, recycled bottles, through which you could see the beer clear and without impurities.
The link between melacolia after bygone times and unpasteurized beer has become an element that more and more brands want to capitalize on. Being also a good rebranding inspiration, thus more and more beer brands appear on the shelf with labels inspired by the aesthetics of those times.
Azuga, Gambrinus, Timișoreana, Ursus — these are just some of the newest unpasteurized appearances in stores. The promised unpasteurized taste is the authentic one, however, at the label design level the retro and vintage clichés appear that want to awaken our memories. The style in which these brands have chosen to express themselves visually, at the level of packaging design, is a natural direction, however, which can be explored with more attention to detail. Some abuse graphic elements inspired by collection labels, however, not all manage to maintain a coherent or temporally correct style. Some reinterpret the period in a modern, contemporary way, while others try clumsily to recreate the atmosphere of the era.
For example, on some labels appear on the edges the days and months of the year. A functional reminder of the times when the shelf life of beer was marked on the label by percolating the month and day. Now, however, this graphic element is used non-functionally, having rather a decorative role. We have not yet seen a large manufacturer using this graphic and functional element. Another noticeable aspect is that the labels are printed with color, motifs, textures that simulate obsolete paper. Could it be possible to choose a type of authentic and textured paper that no longer requires such treatments?
In the past, beer names were often written in gothic, fraktur characters as a reminder of the fact that beer was introduced to Romanians by the Germans. At the same time, cursive letters were used, with flowery motifs and an emphasis on the decorative side, which conveyed a special level of craftsmanship, which seems to have been lost in time.
Due to the technical limitations of those times, the use of colors was quite complicated. Usually one label featured no more than 3 colors, rarely overlapped. There were no possibilities for printing with special processes, folio type, embossing or varnishing as we now see on retro/vintage aspiration labels.
A concrete example is Ursus Retro which promises an authentic story, inspired by the years when the fun was lived alive. However, nothing in the visual identity and design of the label helps us recognize this period. Of course, the classic shape of the beer bottle helps a lot in temporal anchoring, but the use of special shaped stamps is not something characteristic of those times, when, for purely technical reasons, shapes more complicated than rectangle or oval were rarely cut. At the typographic level, the lettering characters used for this assortment evoke much of the Art Deco style characteristic of the 30s, through elegant, well-proportioned round shapes. These letters, however, do not correspond to the reality of the era in terms of labels, where German-inspired characters derived from Gothic calligraphy were used in a high proportion.
The way things were created was a visual delight, where illustrators, calligraphers, graphic designers and typographers managed to overcome technical limitations and produce true masterpieces. Signs, advertisements were often hand-painted, composed with the help of specialized artists who knew that time would provide a particular patina, a performance of these materials. They knew the limitations well and managed to create value by embracing these technical shortcomings. Many of the current coats of arms of Romanian beer brands found their inspiration in the first graphic variants in the history of the brand.
Going back to the past, even in packaging design, presents many opportunities, many sources of inspiration. If these values are so highly valued by the consumer, are they not worth exploring more carefully? Brewers pass the time in search of genuine taste that arouses the interest of melancholic consumers. Why don't they do the same in the way they visually build these brands?
An example from the international market is the Guinness Porter range, which recreates in a faithful and historically correct way, the graphic style of some collection labels. From the shape of the stamp, to the choice of letters, to the simulation of early printing methods, to the color scheme - they are all real.
If on the Romanian market the struggle between beer brands is for authenticity, it is interesting to see how it will evolve at the visual, packaging level. It remains to be seen whether in the future, beer brands, and big producers will manage to pull off a truly authentic label or continue to invent an “innovative retro” style.