"What's the story behind the beer name?" This is a question we are often asked in the taproom. At the time of this writing we have brewed over 70 batches of beer, and over 50 of those batches have been unique batches with unique beer names. In less than 3 years that's a lot of children to name. So how do we come up with the names? There is little magic, but some method to our madness.
Most of our beer names that become fan-favorites tend to come from "inside" jokes. Usually this happens during a funny or interesting interaction between the staff or customers. Here are some examples,
"Party Possum" Coffee Porter - came from a possum that was found in a trash can that was accidentally left outside after a night's shift. Taylor, the Brewer, was a bit startled by the little guy when he came into work the next day, and we joked that the possum must've partied a little too hard last night as he was out cold in the trash can during broad daylight. As we know, possums are nocturnal but also play dead, so which was it? We don't know exactly, but we certainly know that possum partied too hard that night.
"Lot Lizard" Hazy Pale Ale - we drew quite a crowd on St Patty's Day 2024, and it overflowed into our gravel lot. I walked out, saw a crowd of "cool kids" drinking their beers and having fun, and proceeded to say, "look at these bunch of lot lizards." Admittedly, I didn't really know what that term meant, it just came out. Caleb, a bartender at the time (and super cool kid), came inside a few minutes and disturbingly said, "did you just call me a trucker [escort]?" After not knowing if he was actually mad, which I think he was, I laughed and decided that the next beer would be called Lot Lizard. The staff did not approve but we went with it anyway, and people loved the name, and the beer became one of our fastest sellers at the time.
"Lawn Lizard" West Coast IPA - a local friend & regular of ours (Nick) lives across the street and likes to drink beers on his lawn. Piggybacking off the Lot Lizard success, Caleb, the staff member from the Lot Lizard story, called him the Lawn Lizard. We were unsure what to name our upcoming WC IPA, and well, Lawn Lizard just felt right. This created confusion at the time as the staff struggled to understand whether someone was ordering a Lot or Lawn Lizard. But it also created a welcomed contrast between the Lot (Hazy) and Lawn (West Coast) versions of the beer which had similar juicy flavors and malt bills.
"Tubby Time" Pale Ale - this was our sixth batch of beer and people loved ordering a Tubby Time. The name comes from two friends having super deep introspective discussions in a hot tub, which led to a comment being made, "ah you were having a little tubby time," which drew a laugh and a beer name born from it. No, we weren't calling anyone "tubby," we just wanted to share that comradery & friendship and it started us down the path of some silly beer names.
"Il Piccolo Dio" Italian Pilsner - the tiny god was a nickname given to one of the brewer's longtime friend. Not sure the story behind it, so we'll leave that for another day.
Pop-culture is prevalent throughout our beer names. Some of them are deep cuts while others are more readily recognizable. Examples,
"Something Completely Different" English Best Bitter - Monty Python reference
"Leggy Blonde" Fruited Blonde Ale - Flight of the Concords reference
"Great Gam Gam" Hefe-witbier - Beerfest reference
"Stoop Kidz" Hazy Pale Ale - Hey Arnold! reference
"Wait for All this to Blow Over" English Pale Ale - Shaun of the Dead reference
"Bangarang!" Hazy Pale Ale - Hook reference
Music references are found throughout our beer names. Taylor, the Brewer, is a massive music nut. Examples,
"Under a Blood Red Sky" Irish Red Ale - U2 reference
"Jam Session" Fruited Gose - blueberry sour depicting a fun summer jam out
"Lecker Bierchen" Kolsch - a super deep cut German meme, but a funny music video nonetheless
"Admiral Halsey" Extra Special Bitter - Paul McCartney (and WWII) reference
We also have our more reverent beer names. Examples,
"How You Doin'" American Lager - fun to say but in memory of a close family friend who passed away from cancer
"Devet" Czech Pilsner - Czech for the word "nine," it is tradition in the Czech Republic to name your beer after numbers (starting gravity for the beer nerds out there)
"Dunkel" Munich-style Dunkel - because what else do you name such a traditional and beautiful beer style?
"Fink" Kellerbier - named after the original owner and builder of the house we operate in
"Shadow Self" Cold Black IPA - google to find out the deep meaning meant to offset our staple cold IPA, "BRRR."
"Quantum Immortality" Hazy IPA - another deep and insightful theory discussed at late hours of the night
"Das Brauhaus" Marzen, "Parlor Pils" German Pilsner, & "Terrasse" Hefeweizen - named in honor of our historic and unique building and setting in downtown Williamsport
Lastly, we have our catch all. A lot of the time we are looking for something timely and catchy. I am big on not being overly pretentious from a beer perspective. We want to be welcoming and fun, while also putting out excellent and thoughtful beers. Examples,
"BRRR" Cold IPA - I mean, it's a cold IPA, it is BRRR
"Big League Brew" Hazy IPA & "Pinch Hitter" Hazy Pale Ale - released in the summer before the Little League World Series. Baseball related, and Pinch Hitter was truly created in a last minute pinch
"Una Mas" Mexican-style lager - "one more!"
"Crimson Suspenders" Kettle Sour - this was meant to portray an image of jolly old Santa Claus, and while we have gotten much better at the timing of things, we released it a tad too late so we kinda lost the reference at the time. It was still a well liked & objectively great beer!
"Beer League" Canadian-style Pilsener - I'm a big ice hockey guy and still play adult league to this day. While we brag to our partners how good we used to be, we are really there to hang out with our buddies and drink beers, hence the name Beer League.
It is our goal to keep our beer names sounding "catchy" and 2-6 syllables. We also love alliteration, if you can't tell. While we don't stick to one specific strategy or naming convention, I believe that's what keeps us interesting and fun. Our beer names are often a reflection of ourselves personally, and our personality as a brewery. We are a collection of people from many different backgrounds and interests and we strive to capture an appreciative, yet unpretentious beer community.
What are some of your favorite Rosko's beer names?
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