We’ve introduced a new look for McColl’s, and here’s why…

McColl’s Brewery is now five years old, and the idea of a rebrand had been swirling around Danny’s head for a while; a positive consequence of the pandemic allowing us time to breathe, reassess and plot a path forward. 

Fast forward 18 months and the team got together for what has now been dubbed ‘Planathon’ – a big meeting where we went through all things McColl’s, ranging from what we’re going to brew for the year ahead to what is and isn’t working. And at the top of all of our lists was a rebrand; our look and what we stood for.

Danny is pretty proud of what has been achieved over the past half-decade with our ‘look’ – all done in-house, with a thread of mild continuity and a simple but fun style, but it became apparent that it showed no real consideration of what McColl’s Brewery stood for. 

However, after rightly focusing on elevating the quality of our beers over the past 12 months – and we do feel we’ve created a great foundation to build on – a consistent and quality look was the next logical step, to now represent the quality of the beer. But we also really felt that we went a little astray from what we set out to do at the start; that is, to produce easy-going, quality beers that everyone can enjoy. A combination of opening the taproom (which grounded us massively due to the support and generosity of Evenwood village here in County Durham), and a greater level of confidence in what we do has helped us regain our initial purpose. Easy-drinking beer.

So, you’ll see a lot less clutter and noise, which will make our beers not just simpler to recognise but, more importantly, accessible to everyone. We know that can possibly come across as fairly bland or mainstream, but a massive pet peeve of ours is the alienating nature of certain brands, excluding not just potential customers but so many communities and walks of life.

And the beers? 

You can expect more classic styles and sessionable beers, executed to perfection so that everyone from your mother to your mates can enjoy them. So when you go out for a beer, it doesn’t get in the way of a great night out or just that moment of relaxation. It’s simply a great accompaniment.

Maybe it’s a sign of the times as our core beer 'Crowded Pilsner' will be leading the way from the start. Crowded embodies everything that we are about – easy drinking, nowhere to hide regarding quality, and everyone can enjoy it – so it makes complete sense to run with it.

We’re also continuing our commitment to Men’s Pie Club as a part of our community (both with the beer, and with the club meet-ups at our taproom), and we’ll be sharing more about plans to do more to help tackle social isolation in upcoming months.

We really hope you enjoy our new look, what we stand for and the beers we produce. If you’ve got any questions or feedback, please feel free to drop us a line!