Profile: Lauren Grimm & Gretta Johnson of Grimm Artisanal Ales

Behind the gorgeous Grimm Artisanal Ales beer labels are two women artists and illustrators. Lauren Grimm co founder of the brewery and long time friend Greta Johnson. Influenced by the psychedelic hallucinogenic Providence RI style of illustration, the labels showcase a certain beauty not regularly seen in the male dominated craft beer space.

What strikes me the most about Grimm's designs are the choice of color pallet and how that choice psychologically effects the drinking experience. It's as if each design enhances the wild flavor found inside. The gypsy brewery is known for never repeating a recipe twice, leaving plenty of room for design to do the talking. The labels in that respect serve as a time capsule, once the batch has been imbibed to its climax, all that's left is the label art to jog the memory of flavor.

^{Telekinesis
Style: American Wild Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.20%}

^{Super Spruce
Style: Gose
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 4.70%}

^{Rainbow Dome
Style: American Wild Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.40%}

^{Boyson Raspberry Pop
Style: Berliner Weissbier
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 4.80%}

Lauren Grimm tells Mashtun Journal about the process "Once we’ve decided on a name, the label design begins. One of our oldest friends, artist Gretta Johnson, is an integral part of our team. The labels that originate in her drawings tend to have a hand drawn, gestural aesthetic (for example, Purple Prose and Future Perfect). The ones that I design from scratch tend to be more graphic and minimal (for example Magnetic Compass, Vacay). Because we’ve known each other for ten-plus years, our working process is pretty fluid. Most of the time, we just have a series of text messages to develop ideas for imagery.

Even though the final label is a computer file that I’ve worked through in Illustrator, the images usually begin as a drawing with pen and paper that Gretta or myself will draw. I think that’s one reason why our labels stand out so much. You can see the hand in each one, rather than just computer graphics."

Grimm has been working on ridding the gypsy from the equation. They've secured a space in Brooklyn, NY and at some point in 2018 will have a fully functional brick and mortar brewery and tap room.

For now you can find the beer at your favorite local East Coast bottle shop.

Visit Grimm: http://grimmales.com

Check out our profile on Beaverton Brewery designer Nick Dwyer