Branding a Brewing Publication — Top Crop

Top cropping in beer brewing refers to the process of harvesting yeast from the top of fermenting beer during active fermentation. This was the inspiration behind the name of an educational engine behind the curious minds at Omega Yeast. Top Crop delivers relevant, informative content for brewers and fermentation enthusiasts in a way that’s engaging, sometimes entertaining, and always easy to digest.

“I had the pleasure of working with Kyle. I was on the research and development side making very sciencey products for craft breweries. His work was instrumental in the launch and success of our educational newsprint and online publication, Top Crop. His visual design elements helped make complex topics very approachable. He also was a huge help with the design elements for our educational presentations. Outside of his talents in design and branding, Kyle's professional approach to everything including project management and cross-department communications made everyone's life a little easier.”

Laura Burns — Director of R&D, Omega Yeast

The brand identity was inspired by the concept of dialing in an experimental recipe. While most beer brands were focused on skulls, flames, and beards, we found a new world full of whimsy, color, and experimentation. The responsive website is a hub for educational information, designed in Figma and custom-built on a Craft CMS.

We also wanted to give the project an analog element so we printed broadsheet newspapers for distribution at industry events in a refurbished newspaper dispenser machine. After the event, we sold copies for old-school price of 50¢ on the website. The papers were so popular they sold out and we had to reprint a second run.