Last year, we asked the brew crew about their favorite can designs. Beer Can Appreciation Day celebrates the first time that beer was available in cans, which was 87 years ago this week!

Although we’re currently experiencing major supply chain problems across different industries, and cans in particular have been affected, we’re thankful to still be able to produce new brews in both 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans (thanks to our super resourceful Production team!).

Let’s take a look at some of these beauties, shall we?

Some years ago, we debuted our now-iconic bow-tie can design that’s distinctive across our distributed cans:

And we’ve come a long way from our very first Tasting Room-only releases, which looked a little something like this, as many of our fans will remember:

Of course, how could we forget the phenomenal On the Way to Cape May lineup last year?! The labels for each of these were inspired by the different sizes and colors of yearly beach pass tags.

For the last couple years, though, our Tasting Room-only brews have evolved to have a heavy design focus that lends itself to each unique style:

To get some more perspective on these Tasting Room-only designs, we caught up with Creative & Social Marketing Coordinator Courtney Rosenberg.

“Catch the Drift was the first one we did in 2018,” she says.

“When we had our presentation with Canales & Co. to design those first styles, it was more wallpaper-y, abstract designs. The original basis was almost tropical fish-inspired,” she shares.

“That was the original backdoor template. It wasn’t really icon driven—it was more graphics driven,” she says. “It was more about the simplicity of the typography and what the beer was.”

After a few years enjoying those, we knew we wanted to continue innovating and improving our designs.

“We wanted to refresh the Tasting Room-only designs so that they stayed relevant and top of mind for consumers, and were still different from what you find out on the shelves,” she says.

“You’re never going to find the artwork in the Tasting Room out on the shelves at stores,” she notes. “Because of that, they didn’t all need to be uniform, and we could have more fun with them.”

We released the last of the OG Tasting Room can designs in 2019 with Refresh-zing, Jenna Tesauro’s brew! The first of our current designs came that same year for The Shower, our sweet and sour cranberry ale.

“The kaleidoscope look of our current designs was inspired by quilts, and I remember we initially looked at how the Quaker-style quilts are built out with interconnected designs,” she says.

“Other than ones that are a collaboration beer or feature special ingredients, we usually stick to that kind of style even today,” she says.

As for some of her personal favorites, Courtney points to the mermaid scale look of That Cranberry Good Good and the design of last year’s Down to Fiesta.

“They did an amazing design with that one. I like them all, really. It’s cool to work with Canales and see what they come up with after telling them some of the concepts. They make each one relevant and fun, but you know it’s part of the same series. Canales also does a great job of using the colors of the beer that gets poured,” she says.

“It just creates a nice monochromatic look, which I appreciate. We have a great relationship. They understand and when we’re looking for something, they know how to make it happen,” she says.

We also asked with our other CMBC design extraordinaire, Marketing Director Alicia Grasso, for her favorite design.

It’s a relatively new one: our Cape May Hard Seltzers!

“I obviously love an octopus, but I also love the way these fruited seltzers demonstrate flavor in each unique, colorful design,” Alicia says. “The aluminum substrate of the can plays a role in the final presentation—it feels aquatic and luminescent and bubbly, much like our seltzers are!”

We can’t wait to see what designs to look forward to in the future? Do you have a favorite can design from us? Share it on our social media, CapeMayBrewCo on Facebook or @capemaybrewco on Instagram!