Sydney-based Rocks Brewing Co. has unveiled its new brand identity which illustrates a new chapter for the brewery.
The contemporary refresh sees changes made to the logo, can design, colour schemes and product names. Together, these changes seek to move the brewery away from its past connected to the suburb of The Rocks in Sydney, where the brand initially began in 2008.
Fonts and the logo have been updated to have a more sleek look, with bright colours replacing a largely black colour scheme, cans replacing any bottles in the range, and product names updated from colonial character references to simply note the style of the beer. These changes remove the connection to the history of The Rocks, especially since it moved to its current brewery and tap house home in Alexandria in 2014, and establish Rocks Brewing Co. as a competitive craft brand for both a domestic and international market.
After moving across Sydney in 2014, another big change for the business happened in 2018, when current Managing Director, Simon Osborn, officially took over ownership of the brand with wife Rachel.
The Osborn family as a whole is now heavily involved with the business from all angles, with Rachel managing the financial side of things, while daughter Monica handles marketing. Other immediate and extended family members are also involved in a variety of ways at the tap house.
This connection to family combines with a celebration of the brand’s independence and its refreshed values to form the new identity of Rocks Brewing Co.
“We’ve jumped on the tagline – real people, real brewery, real good times. It’s very much about supporting independence, and supporting our family (that being our staff, customers, suppliers too),” explained Monica.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Rocks Brewing Co. identified the opportunity for change, especially when seeking international partnerships in areas where the current historically influenced beer names from The Rocks itself didn’t translate well.
Simon said: “We needed to be more contemporary, because let’s be honest – The Rocks is all about The Rocks. And having names like ‘The Hangman’ and ‘The Convict’ , that worked well for us when we were based in The Rocks. But we’re now in Alexandria… so we needed to adjust.”
The Rocks Brewing Co. name is now no longer a link to the suburb, but is a trademarked name like any other brand would have. And as Monica said, this will help them: “be a little bit more competitive with the big dogs in the industry.”
Another change of the past couple of years that the new identity seeks to celebrate is the work of current Head Brewer, Adreac Fitter.
As Simon said: “He’s up and coming in the world of brewing, and has been with us for about two years now… I reckon this brewery is now punching out some of the best beer it’s ever had.”
Alongside Scott Morgan, original Head Brewer of Rocks Brewing Co. who now consults for the brewery, Fitter has supported the move into cases and specially brewed limited release 500ml cans. He has also been on board throughout significant investments in the brewery itself, with a capacity to now brew up to one million litres a year, which means especially incredible things for the contact brewing potential of Rocks Brewing Co.
In terms of messages to the industry about the next chapter for Rocks Brewing Co., the Osborn family wants to celebrate its independence by working with other independent partners.
“We’re very big supporters of independent businesses,” Monica said.
“We’d like to work with other families – pubs and retailers – we love to wine and dine them here, so they get a taste of us and then we can go visit them.”
The Rocks Brewing Co. team is open to all trade enquiries while they work on their goal of being in more venues and stores as the industry recovers from pandemic disruptions.