Christian Moerlein Brewing Co.

The Beer that Built Cincinnati

Christian Moerlein Brewing Company has been a staple of the Cincinnati landscape for over 170 years. In fact, before prohibition Moerlein was among the 10 largest American breweries, and its iterations throughout the 1980s formed many of the foundations now represented in the current craft beer market. Christian Moerlein is so ingrained in Cincinnati’s brewing and social culture that you can still find late 1800s Moerlein porcelain jug bottles buried like relics in the tunnels beneath the city’s more modern craft breweries. But fast forward to 2022 and the brewery was facing hard times. To help reinvigorate sales and revitalize the historic brewery, new ownership wanted to reimagine what this legendary brewery meant today.

We rebranded Moerlein as “The Beer That Built Cincinnati,” matching that bold tone with a full suite of revitalized (and optimized) brand marks. From there, the timeless nature of Moerlein was translated to primary packaging concepts, where we featured striking color-blocking techniques that highlighted the profile of each brew. The brand has since been translated to web, merchandise, restaurant environmental, sales collateral, print and digital advertisement, semi truck wraps, and much more.

WINNER: Gold, “Integrated Brand Identity Campaign,” American Advertising Awards, 2024.