Arcade Festus Rotgut Label

Arcade Brewery and the Adventures of Festus Rotgut

In Beer News by Ryan

Every Wednesday we post beer labels approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, submitted by Illinois brewers. Normally the labels below from Arcade Brewery would be lumped in with the others that posted today — but this series of labels were so unique they warranted a post of their own as they tell a story that has been years in the making.

(Click the images below to scroll through the story of Festus Rotgut, Zombie Cowboy)

In fact, Arcade has been talking about its planned “6 Pack Stories” since 2012. Two years later the first release, Festus Rotgut — a dark wheat ale clocking in at 8% ABV — will finally hit store shelves.

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“6 Pack Stories,” a yearly release, will feature artwork and writing from people in the comic book industry. Festus Rotgut was written by Jason Aaron and the illustrations were done by Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead. Delicious Design League did the overall label design.

Arcade co-founder Lance Curran tells Guys Drinking Beer the idea was to tell a story first and then brew a beer to match the story. Co-founder Chris Tourre brewed that beer and tells us he chose a dark wheat ale because it seemed to fit perfectly with the tale of Festus Rotgut. “Since there are zombies I immediately thought something dark,” said Tourre. “Driving a heard of cattle across the dusty landscape also made me immediately go to a dry wheat beer.”

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Tourre says he used some specialty roasts to create marshmallow and caramel flavors. He dry hopped the beer too, which Tourre says gives it a spicy finish.

Arcade is planning to release the beer later this year.

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Ryan

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Equal parts beer nerd and policy geek, Ryan is now the curator of the Guys Drinking Beer cellar. The skills he once used to dig through the annals of state government as a political reporter are now put to use offering unique takes on barrel-aged stouts, years-old barleywines and 10 + year verticals.

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