Long Island breweries use fun can labels to create buzz

Creative names and artwork break out on store shelves

As the number of craft breweries on Long Island more than doubled over the last 10 years, they faced increased competition for shelf space in retail distribution and bars. Many breweries are breaking through the clutter with creative beer labels featuring funny names and artwork.

Sand City Brewing Co., which opened its first brewery and taproom in Northport in 2015, has earned a loyal following for its hoppy IPAs. One of those beers has achieved cult status for using large amounts of Centennial, Mosaic, Citra, and Galaxy hops, and also for its cheeky name – Oops! I Hopped My Pants – and a distinctive label featuring a vintage Volkswagen bus.

The beer’s popularity led to the creation of Sand City’s annual Oops! Fest, which will be held this fall for the 11th year in a row. The festival, held at Sand City South in Lindenhurst, will feature hoppy beers from other local breweries and special variants of Oops! such as Oops! I Mangoed My Pants and Oops! I Doubled My Pants.

1940s Brewing Company, which opened its brewery and taproom in Holbrook in 2016, added capacity in 2020 to expand production, including more canning for retail distribution. Founder Charlie Becker and his oldest son, Charles Becker II, who was then a brewer at 1940s, came up with the idea to name a beer after one of their favorite movies, Happy Gilmore.

“We decided on the name Just Tap It In for our hazy New England IPA and I asked my younger son Joseph, who is a graphic designer, to design a fun label for the cans,” said Becker. “The beer has been our biggest seller in distribution outside the brewery since we introduced it over five years ago. The labels definitely help but it’s also important that you have a great beer to go with it.”

Becker came up with the name for another popular beer, Change at Jamaica, a robust Black IPA made with Simcoe hops. “I spent many years going into and out of Manhattan on the LIRR and wanted to pay tribute to all the workers who make the trains run, and Joseph designed a great label with a cartoon of a train and LIRR map.”

Jones Beach Brewing Co., which was founded in 2017 and opened its taproom in Point Lookout in 2025, has been a leader in developing unique uses for its can labels, including private labels for Stan’s Sports Bar in the Bronx and St. John’s Red Storm.

“We were the first brewery to put a tide chart and the first to put golf course scorecards on our labels,” said Chris Mills, a cofounder and president of Jones Beach. Jones Beach released its first canned beer, Jones Inlet IPA, in 2022, with a tide chart for the inlet, which at the time was badly in need of dredging.

The first golf course scorecard label was launched on Long Island with the canning of Plandome Country Club’s Plandome Pilsner, and can scorecards are now in use at 17 courses across the Northeast. “We’re proud to work with great partners to raise funds for worthwhile causes,” said Mills; a portion of proceeds from the golf course labels are donated to Athletes Against Cancer.

Many of Jones Beach’s beer names and artwork focus on landmarks at the state park, including West End Watermelon, Pencil Pilsner, and Bathhouse Blonde. For this year’s Fourth of July airshow at Jones Beach, the brewery created a special label commemorating the Blue Angels U.S. 250th anniversary air show.

Lunchbox Brewing Company, which opened in Bellmore in 2024, has used dozens of pop culture references for its beer names and labels. Matt Campion, a cofounder of the brewery, said, “One of our objectives this year was to expand off-premise distribution and so we’ve focused on making our branding and can labels stand out.”

Campion said he and the brewery’s other three cofounders keep a running list of ideas for beer names and artwork with inspiration from movies, TV shows, and video games. “Sometimes we think of the name first and come up with a beer style to match it and other times we have a beer and decide on a name that fits.”

To name the brewery’s flagship IPA, the founders decided on the famous quote from Jaws – “Captain, we’re gonna need a bigger boat!” For design work, they turned to Taste Design’s owner Kevin Fegan and artist Siobhan Mullen. “The relationship is especially meaningful since they’re regulars at the brewery and understood our vision from the beginning.”

For another recent beer, the name came first, a quote from the movie The Big Lebowski — “That rug really tied the room together.”

“We decided a West Coast IPA was the perfect beer style to fit the vibe of the movie,” said Campion. Other fun names have included Not My Gumdrop Buttons, an imperial pastry stout inspired by Shrek, and Ready Player 21, an American Pilsner named after a hockey video game, released in collaboration with former Islander Kyle Palmieri and his foundation.

NOTE: This content first appeared in the July issue of the Long Island Press.