68 Good and Bad Craft Brewery Brand Name Ideas

The value of a distinct craft brewery name can’t be overstated. At the time of writing there are over 7,400 breweries operating in the United States. There’s probably entrenched competition in your area making it more difficult stand out from the herd even with a catchy name.

If you’re reading this you likely have a passion for brewing. I’d bet you’ve been imagining what it will be like dumping hops into a fermentation tank, popping kegs and pouring happy patrons a glass of your signature double IPA. And all that passion for the industry is great!

But we encourage you to take the same time and careful planning you put toward brewing to create an awesome brand too. Branding can’t be an afterthought and you don’t want to make the mistake of letting the beer speak for itself as an excuse to avoid this step. The reality is there’s plenty of people making good beer at this point. The brand name you create will capture attention and encourage drinkers to sample (or overlook) a brew based on the name alone. It may not be fair, but that’s the reality of the business.

In this post, we’ve organized a list of available business name ideas and strategies you can use to establish a winning brand. So crack a lager and let’s dive in.

Good Craft Brewery Name Ideas

Take time to develop your beer brand.

These ideas will work well for any type of small brewery, no matter your style. We recommend offering a variety of popular beer styles in your brewery like a blonde, IPA, and a lager in the United States. From a creativity standpoint, you may not get excited about this, but it makes good business sense. Many customers, especially if they’re visiting your establishment with friends may only want a regular beer. Give these folks that option. Their money spends just the same and you’ve got overhead.

Audio Lesson: How I Started a Craft Brewery for $50,000 and How You Can Do the Same. 

• Good works brewing
• Glee in a glass
• Raise’em Up Brewing
• Honkey Tonk Beer Company
• Juke Box Brewery
• The Hoppy Hick
• Red Ale Redneck
• The Hefty Hop
• Canoe Brewing Company
• Tipsy Taps
• Bonkers Beer
• Imperial Awesome
• Stout Brewing Factory
• Fancy Beer LLC
• Busty Brewer’s
• Pretty Girl Pints
• Office Beer
• The Beer Investor
• Landmark Brewing Co.
• Hoppy Frontier
• Lighting Lagers
• Back Alley Brewing
• American Nostalgia
• The Collaborative Keg
• Healing Brews
• Hashtag Beers
• The Oracle of Hops
• The Brew Chick
• Big and Barley
• Viper Brew
• The Pump-house Brewers
• Slow Days Beer Company

Bad Craft Brewery Name Ideas

So many beers… So little time.

Stay away from these ideas at all costs. We beg of you. You’ve been warned!

• Flat beer LLC
• Rattlesnake bait
• Lickin’ Lagers
• Beer Themed Names
• Dink and Drunk
• Black Plaque Brewing
• Toxic Tickler
• Under 21 Brewing Co.
• Never Been Sicker
• Pint or Puke
• Bathtub Brew

Funny Names

Good beer… Good cheer!

Coming up with a clever name is an effective way to capture the attention of a new customer. If a new customer tries and enjoys your beverage, they’ll could keep coming back. But be careful when trying to be “funny” with your brand name. Not everyone has the same sense of humor and you don’t want to offend too many people. Here are a handful of suggestions that might crack a smile and a beer.

Drink It Up: 59 Craft Brewing Industry Statistics and Consumption Trends

• Beer Pong Champions
• Afternoon Delight Beverage Company
• The Drunk Clown
• Buzzed Barber Brewing
• Hillbilly Hangover
• Hell’s Hot Spot
• Hell’s Watering Hole
• Boring Beer Company (BBC)
• Backyard Brewers
• Freedom Unlimited Beer (AKA: FU Beer)
• Hipity Hop Beer Co.
• Kissing Kegs
• Hop in the Dark

Personal Names

• George’s Pint Glass
• Peter’s Pastime
• Matt Brewing Company 
• Brett’s Big Beers
• Freddy’s Fermentations
• Frank’s Flights
• Maxed Out ABV
• Larry’s Lakeland
• Anderson Brewing Corporation
• Johnson’s Lager Co.

Beer Name Ideation and Strategy

Not too keen of any of the suggestions listed above? Not to worry! There are all sorts of time tested methods of coming up with a name for your business… even if you aren’t the creative type. Here are a few approaches branding agencies use to come up with something memorable and marketable:

Geographic Region: Your city, state, country, body of water or famous landmark can all be utilized to build a brand. This is an extremely popular approach to naming a beer brand. Using this approach also helps to establish yourself as “local.” According to reports, customers desire product with a local story they can support, especially in the beverage space. This survey also says 89% of global companies are finding ways to pursue localization. There’s good money in staying small… Embrace where you are from!

Be Prepared: Inspiration rarely strikes when you’re actively thinking of a brand name. It usually happens when you’re in the shower, exercising at the gym, or driving to the grocery store. Be prepared to document your ideas as they happen and build a running list.

You can accomplish this simply by carrying around a notepad or having your iPhone on hand. After a few days or a couple weeks of recording names, you should have a list of 20 – 30 ideas to choose from.

What’s Your Story: Behind every great local brand is usually a story of why you started. As you think back on your own personal journey to starting a brewery, what images or ideas come to mind? Did you start brewing after your day-job? Night-Shift Brewing could be your brand. Reflect on your personal story and journey to identify something that resonates.

Open Beer Database: Playing around with the style, category, or name of beer could spark the right idea for your brand. One way to get a list of different styles is to look at the Open Beer Database. This is a really cool open source project that gives you information about the different names, styles, categories and lists the breweries that have produce each beer.

Here are a few ideas pulled from this database and paired with some basic naming ideas mentioned above: Idaho Oatmeal Stouts, American Badass IPA, Belgian in Texas. By pairing different styles with regional names or other modifiers you’ve got an almost infinite selection of names to pull from.

We hope this little guides has given you a few ideas you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of for your craft brewery. If you’re curious about starting a brewpub of your own, check our out podcast called How I Started a Craft Brewery for $50,000 and How You Can do the Same.