SingleCut Beersmiths, out of Astoria, NY, got its name from a particular guitar body style, so it’s no surprise that their love of music has influenced their beers, both in the beer names—most often referring to famous musicians or allusions to song titles or singular moments in the music scene—and in their striking beer labels. Even the typical use of a hop graphic on their IIPAs looks like something that should be stamped on a massive speaker. And you always get bonus points for creating a beer that demands MORE COWBELLS as they do with their Eric More Cowbells stout. Here are a few of our favorites labels from SingleCut.
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Fuzzbox Wild IIPA
This Wild IIPA adds the funk to their juice imperial IPA with a dose of wild yeast and dry hops to amp the fruity, tropical flavors.
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EL34 Session IPL
Like their other number/letter combo beer names, the EL34 uses the graphic of one of the head brewer's favorite tube/amp parts. Part of their session series, this one clocks in at a very modest 3% ABV with a blast of citrusy hops lying under a base of English malt.
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Is This the Real Life…
The name references the one and only Queen, while the graphic embarks the feel of an old school science illustration. The beer itself? It employs "new-age" Pacific Northwest and some New Zealand hops with a touch of light malt, with 7.2% ABV and 110 IBUs.
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Heavy Boots of Lead
Less musically-inspired and arguably a more literal name for the biggest beer in SingleCut's line-up, this one clocks in a 11.2% ABV. And top marks for the label for the spin-off Kinky Boots of Lead, which adds pink cursive to the graphic to reflect the infusion of lacto.
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Harry Doesn't Mind
The beer title alludes to Dire Straits' song "Sultans of Swing," while the art is lifted from the aesthetic of the band's ground-breaking video for "Money for Nothing." The first in an evolving series of IPAs, each one works with a different ale yeast beyond their typical house strain.
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Workers Are Going
Call it LEGOs merged with old school computer graphics, this IIPA rates at 8% ABV and 124 IBUs, hopped with Euro, Aussie, and PacNW varieties.
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Octavia Brett IIPA
Named after one of the most prominent women in Roman history, this label can suck you into staring at it for a dangerously long time, which should help you appreciate what the brewery describes as a "fruit salad in a pint glass." This IIPA has been buoyed by SingleCut's proprietary brett yeast strain, also affectionally named Octavia.