It’s been less than one calendar year since we sat down with the team at Evanton’s Sketchbook Brewing Co. to kick off a rebrand. And since the project wrapped, Sketchbook has done a phenomenal job at continuing the intent of their new visual identity. It's been heartening to watch.

That being said, we did miss these guys. So we got the band back together, in a way, with a collaboration beer to celebrate the success of the new brand system that's helping them expand distribution beyond their hyper-local realm, and deepen their ties to their community. That includes GBH!

When we met in Sketchbook’s taproom in mid-May, Chicago's hot, humid summer was looming. We wanted to make—and in all truthfulness, we wanted to selfishly drink—something spritzy, lightly fruited, and what would be widely considered a ‘patio pounder.’ We wanted a beer that Chicagoans could enjoy in our tiny urban backyards, feet in kiddie pools, in a desperate attempt to relieve the relentless heat of a lazy summer Sunday. And one of Cesar's talents as a brewer is his abiity to balance delicate flavors in a lighter profile—he first made his name with a Grodziskie after all.

“Bubbles in Paradise" is a low ABV strawberry mint gose, that goes "pop."

Combining a series of escapist tropical illustrations, Bubbles communicates “summer,” “fruity,” and “playful.” Vivid colors and illustrations capture that summer intensity of light. Several "digital watercolor" pieces are overlaid with Sketchbook’s new brand template in several layers, creating a depth of field between the main logo, knocked out in white. A saturated pink background hints at the strawberry notes in the beer, attempting to capture an communicate the bright burst of flavor in the beer. But honestly, it'll still surprise you.

Bubbles in Paradise is essentially a metaphor for GBH’s friendship with Sketchbook: It’s fun, light-hearted, and easy-going (or in this case easy-drinking). We’re breaking open a bunch of cases on August 16 at Longman and Eagle’s OSB in Chicago. We hope you can celebrate this new look, and summer forever.