"You're Not Worthy."

Those three words on the label of Stone Brewing Company's Arrogant Bastard Ale made me want to try the beer. I took it as a challenge.

Several years ago, I was still in my craft beer drinking infancy. I'd just go to the liquor store and pick out beers that caught my attention, and a beer challenging my worthiness stood out.

As it turned out, Arrogant Bastard was one of the formative beers that turned me into a hop head. However, if the label had not stood out so much, I may not have tried it that day, or for quite awhile after that.

Craft breweries are small and develop their reputations with the quality beer they produce rather than the multi-million-dollar ad campaigns that Budweiser, Miller and Coors can roll out.

But, even in the craft beer world there is competition. A good quality liquor store may have more than 100 (some several hundred) different beers on the shelf and sometimes it is the label that will suck someone in to give a beer a first try.

More info

http://www.dailynewstribune.com/lifestyle/columnists/x104354053/THE-BEER-NUT-Craft-brewers-use-labels-to-attract-attention