The Glass Jug Beer Lab – Gusto Design Co.

The Glass Jug Beer Lab

SYNOPSIS: A tasty rebrand for a Durham, NC brewery and bottle shop.

OVERVIEW_
The Glass Jug Beer Lab is a bottle shop and microbrewery producing small-batch beers available on-site and at the best craft beer bars, bottle shops, and restaurants across North Carolina. The Durham "Beer Lab" operates at the intersection of art and science—functioning much like a working laboratory, where experimental ingredients and curious minds come together to craft exciting, one-of-a-kind flavors in every batch.

TASK_
Known simply as The Glass Jug before the rebrand, the brewery was transitioning from a bar and bottle shop into a full-fledged brewing operation. They needed a new name, logo, and label system to match their ambitions. The ask: honor the scientists and experimenters of the nearby Research Triangle Park while celebrating the craft and curiosity behind small-batch brewing. The Glass Jug Beer Lab was born.

EXECUTION_
Gusto gave the brand a new logo and identity inspired by the signage of science labratories. This evolved into a distinctive design system for their beer labels—featuring a signature "label turn" that flips one side against the other across a bold center diagonal. One-off labels maintain their own personality while staying grounded in the same symmetrical grid.

Since the rebrand, The Glass Jug Beer Lab has grown into a larger RTP location on NC-55 and later expanded to a second taproom in downtown Durham. With great beer, a recognizable identity, and welcoming family-friendly spaces, they've become thought leaders in North Carolina's ever-growing brewery scene. Like a well-aged stout, they only seem to get better with time.