#NCBeer Label Insanity Opens This Week!
Download your bracket and join us on Instagram & Facebook to cast your vote, opening Monday, March 29th!
North Carolina breweries have some of the most innovative label art in the world. To showcase this creativity, the Guild will host the first annual "Label Insanity" Art Competition! Presented by Wright Creative Branding & Labels, SeaThirst Creative, and Hop Culture, this two-part competition starts off with a panel of 12 judges narrowing down the field of 346 entries submitted from 64 North Carolina Breweries. Then, it's your turn! The first-place winner from each of the 16 beer categories will enter a People's Choice Label Insanity Bracket Tournament. Cast your vote in head-to-head, single-elimination bracket rounds on each of the @ncbrewersguild social media platforms.
Make Your Best Guess...
Join in on the fun by making your own predictions for which labels will win in the Label Insanity Bracket Tournament.
Submit your own Tournament Bracket predictions March 22nd - March 28th. Here's how:
On March 22nd, @ncbrewersguild will announce the Sweet 16 finalists progressing into the Bracket Tournament - check these out!
Download your own copy of the bracket template here.
Fill it out completely and submit to promotions@ncbeer.org to win fun #NCBeer prizes!
Meet our celebrity judges
The week of March 15th, our twelve #NCBeer celebrity judges made their decisions on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place labels graphics within each of the 16 beer style categories! Working in teams of 3, the judges evaluated all entries based on 4 criteria:visual interest(does the design effectively capture interest and engage?),creativity (does the design show innovation & originality?),craftsmanship (is the design technically well-executed?), andoverall Impression (is the design composition clear and appealing?)
The sixteen 1st place winners progressed to the People’s Choice Bracket Tournament.
In the People's Choice Bracket Tournament, label graphics will compete in head-to-head, single-elimination rounds, on the Guild’s @ncbrewersguild social media platforms.
Voting will be conducted using the “poll” function enabled on social media platforms.
Winners will be decided by popular vote - the label receiving the most votes via the poll function will be deemed the winner of that round.
As a “single-elimination style tournament”, the winner of each round’s match-up will progress to the next round, whereas the loser is eliminated from the tournament.
The winner of the final round match-up will become the tournament champion.
WINNERS & PRIZES
EARLY JUDGING:
Each 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place category winner in the Early Judging portion of the competition, will receive a certificate of recognition & be featured in a state-wide press release!
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BRACKET TOURNAMENT:
The "Sweet 16" beer category winners will be featured in a special Hop Culture Digital Publication story about the #NCBeer Label Insanity Competition.??
Each of the “Final Four” breweries will receive:
2,500 complimentary labels, provided by Wright Creative Branding & Labels.
10 custom-designed & produced tap handles, provided by SeaThirst Creative and Hoptown Handles
The Tournament Champion will receive:
The 2021 Label Insanity Championship Award
25 custom-designed & produced tap handles, provided by SeaThirst Creative and Hoptown Handles;
Their winning label design featured on the Guild’s #DrinkNCBeer summer t-shirt
Massive bragging rights!
ENTRANT COMPETITION RULES & REGISTRATION
Entrants must own the rights to the label artwork.
Only federally and NC ABC permitted North Carolina breweries may enter the competition.
All label entries must be ABC approved and registered in North Carolina.
Online registration at NCBeer.org is required prior to uploading your label entry files. (The link to upload graphic entry files will be contained in your registration confirmation email.)
All graphic image files must be a "flat" version of the artwork ( (ie. not photos of the packaging), and one of the following formats: .png, .jpeg, .jpg, or .pdf
Artwork must be for 12oz, 16oz, 22oz, 32oz, or 750ml bottles or cans (ie. no keg collars or case artwork.)
Labels for beers not currently in production, but still held in the production portfolio are eligible for entry (for example, a fall seasonal.) Beers retired from production are not eligible.
Entry fees are $15 per design entry. Credit card payment is collected during the online registration process.
A label entry may only be entered into one of the 16 beer style categories (ie. the same label cannot be entered into more than one category.)