This content was originally published by The Hop Review, a digital magazine that joined the Hop Culture family in March 2020.
This piece was written by Jack Muldowney.
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Australia’s South East Brewing Company has some great taste. For their line of Kaiju! Beer, they chose to go with Chicago/Ohioan designer Mikey Burton – and with that, embrace a bright and light-hearted aesthetic. The same folks who make the equally bold and fun Golden Axe Cider, South East has carved a playful and quirky niche for its brands with big bold graphics and great use of simple, chunky type.
Why the creatures on the labels? We asked Mikey what the inspiration was behind the illustration, and the naming of the high ABV beers:
“High-gravity beers with monstrous ingredients deserve a suitable name and, unfortunately, ‘Godzilla’ was taken. And so, KAIJU! (the Japanese word for ‘strange creature’) was born.”
So there you have it – the world’s first Japanese-monster-inspired Australian beer. We’ll cheers to that.
“High-gravity beers with monstrous ingredients deserve a suitable name and, unfortunately, ‘Godzilla’ was taken. And so, KAIJU! (the Japanese word for ‘strange creature’) was born.”
Graphics and photography provided by designer and illustrator Mikey Burton. You can see more of Mikey’s work, from his “Food & Art” series, showcased now thru September at DryHop Brewers in Lakeview.