Most loved beer label contest: Underdogs to watch
Voting for the Most Loved Label of 2015 is now live.
The contest features breweries of all sizes. On Monday, CNBC looked at some of the larger players in the contest that will be tough to beat. Now, here are three potential Cinderella labels that could make some noise in the brackets this year. What these breweries may lack in size, they make up for in label flair.
Read More Vote: Most Loved beer labels
While Prairie Artisan's current production capacity may not be as large as some other Most Loved Label entrants, there is no slowing this brewery's fast-growing reputation for high quality beer.
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, brewery, started in 2012 by brothers Chase and Colin Healey, is also making a name for its label artwork, drawn by Colin. You can check out more of the brewery's beer and labels on its website, while keeping an eye on its Christmas Bomb! submission in the label contest.
Plainville, Connecticut-based Relic Brewing might be one of the smallest breweries in the contest, but this brewery's lack of size didn't stop it from winning its first round match-up in CNBC's original most loved label contest.
Relic lost a tight second-round contest to the eventual winner, Troegs Nugget Nectar, from Troegs Craft Brewery in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Still it was a surprising performance by the small-batch brewer. This time around Relic is going with a beach theme for its Tropicale, an ale brewed with honey.
As the craft beer industry grows at a rapid rate, finding unique names for breweries and beers is becoming a challenge for the more than 3,400 breweries in operation . As a result, trademark battles are occurring with increasing frequency.
Massachusetts-based Clown Shoes Beer found itself on the wrong end of a trademark dispute after wanting to name a beer Vampire Slayer Imperial Stout. After hearing from a trademark attorney for another company with a product of a similar name, Clown Shoes decided the appropriate action would be to name the beer after trademark attorneys everywhere: Undead Party Crasher. The label is the latest in a long line of offbeat and eye-catching labels by the brewery. (You can see more here.)
Will Clown Shoes' homage to the "forces of darkness" at work in the legal system crash the Most Loved Label contest? Time will tell.
Read More Most loved beer label field is set: 4 beers to watch
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