Garagista Beer Co is for sale. We know this, because their latest beer is named for the fact, For Sale Ale. A rather tasty beer, For Sale Ale is, like the occasion it was brewed for, bittersweet. But if you like the beer, if you really, really like the beer, then you can buy the brewery.
Garagista Beer Co, based in the small town of Riebeek-Kasteel some 2 hours from Cape Town, gained notoriety in 2014 with an extremely successful ad campaign that poked fun at hipsters. The tongue-in-cheek campaign went viral and got exposure far beyond South Africa’s borders too. Think of the beer what you will, but names like Tears of a Hipster and Bat Piss, the labels and ad campaigns are memorable.
Keeping things memorable until the very end Garagista Beer Co owner, Steve Miller, is selling his brewery in an equally creative and unusual way.
“He is moving on and is looking for a buyer who can carry on the spirit of the brewery”, said Dominique Krause from the ad agency DUKE that was tasked with this unusual marketing approach. DUKE created a classified ad for an actual old-school newspaper advertisement and that ad also became the label design for the bottles and the limited-edition bottle wrap.
The bittersweet For Sale Ale, a red IPA they say, was specifically created for the occasion. What better way to sell a brewery than by literally giving potential buyers a taste of the beer and the spirit of the brand?
If you’re in the market for a brewery, but feel like you should taste the possibilities first, For Sale Ale is available at selected beer specialists in the Western Cape and, of course, at Garagista in Riebeek-Kasteel too.
In the meantime, walk down memory lane for a glimpse of how it started for Garagista…
