Beer Paintings - Paying tribute to fine beer with fine art.

St. Bernardus Crowns

2012-02-15T02:26:00.000-08:00

St. Bernardus crowns in ink and paint on panel
$100

SOLD

This original painting contains the crowns of the great Belgian brewery, St. Bernardus, the Prior 8, Tripel, Abt 12, and Pater 6. The painting is also an attempt on our part to make beer art that is a bit more economical, without sacrificing quality.

Adolphe Sax and Brasserie Caracole's Saxo

2012-02-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

Commission
24x18in

Oil on Canvas

This is definitely one of the more interesting beer-related paintings we've done. The commissioned painting pays tribute to the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax and the tasty Belgian ale named after him - Saxo. We made an original bust of Sax for the painting to go along with the cork, cage, bottle, and glass from Brasserie Caracole's Saxo.

Stille Nacht

2012-01-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

Stille Nacht Reserva Commission
24x16in
Ink and Paint on Canvas

A Few Christmas Commissions

2011-12-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

The Trailblazers of Craft Beer

2011-12-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

This is a series of paintings we had the privilege of doing for our friends at The Brew Shop, to be displayed on the walls of their veritable beer cathedral. All ink and paint on 23x15in canvases, these paintings pay tribute to the many of the great individuals behind the craft beer movement. From top to bottom: Fred Eckhardt, Jack McAuliffe, Charlie Papazian, Fritz Maytag, Don Younger, and, of course, the great Michael Jackson.

Russian River & Hops

2011-11-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

An oil painting of Russian River crowns with fresh hops

Oil on Panel
16x24in
$225
Sold

Orval crowns on panel

2011-11-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Oil on Panel
16x24in
$225
Buy on Etsy

This is the second beer painting we've done on panel, the first being the Westvleteren crowns. We're able to price these works a wee bit lower than their canvas counterparts, as the preparations required for painting on a panel are far less time consuming than that of building and stretching a canvas. Quite like their canvas counterparts, these paintings on panel have cleanly painted sides, a varnished surface, and come with a hanging wire on the back.

Rochefort 10 in Spray Paint

2011-11-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

The third in a limited series of five.

16x30in

Spray Paint on Canvas

$175

Buy on Etsy

This is the third "print" in a limited series of five, from original, handmade Rochefort stencils. This piece of beer art is solely a tribute to the great Rochefort 10, with the Rochefort 10 crown emerging from the dark. While this painting may look relatively straight-forward, in actuality, each successive crown in the sequence has more dimensional rendering than the last. This rendering, peaking at the rightmost crown, is achieved by delicate application of a range of spray-paints.

Westvleteren Blonde and 12

2011-11-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

Oil on Panel

16x24in

$225

Sold

It seems to be an ongoing tradition for us to paint Westvleteren caps every few months. It is the first thing beer-related we decided to paint and we still love the way the caps look. This is also the first large-scale cap painting we've done with the Blonde, which, in our opinion, is a phenomenal example of the style.

The Making of the 2011 Jubelale Artwork

2011-11-01T04:51:00.001-07:00

The 7 Trappist Breweries

2011-10-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

20x35.5in

Oil on Canvas

Commission

A commissioned oil painting of the seven Trappist breweries - the six in Belgium - Achel, Orval, Westvleteren, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Chimay - and the one in the Netherlands - La Trappe. This may be the ultimate beer painting, at least that we'll ever produce.

Supplication, Darkness, and Matt

2011-09-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

A commissioned painting of Russian River Supplication, Surly Darkness, and Hair of the Dog Matt - - all phenomenal beers, in our opinion.

Deschutes Jubelale Party at the Bend Pub

2011-09-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

This upcoming Tuesday (the 20th) at 6pm, Deschutes Brewery is tapping the 2011 Jubelale and revealing the artwork we did for the label at the Deschutes Public House in downtown Bend, Oregon. We will present at the event, signing poster prints of the art. We've already consumed several bottles of this years Jubelale and it is drinking wonderfully... perhaps the tastiest vintage so far.

Trappist Rochefort crowns 2 of 5

2011-09-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

16x30in
Artist Grade Spray Paint on Canvas
Limited Series of Five
$175
SOLD

The second in a limited series of five.

Shades of green - An oil painting of hops

2011-09-09T02:41:00.000-07:00

16x14in
Oil Paint on Canvas

$170
SOLD

When our friends at Lone Pine Coffee Roasters invited us to their house recently, they showed us a beautiful sight - a giant mass of hops growing in their backyard. As you can see, we couldn't resist painting them.

Great Breweries of Belgium

2011-09-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

Impressionistic Oil on Canvas
16x30in

$360
SOLD

This is an original oil painting of some (maybe most, but not all) of Belgium's great breweries. This painting includes crowns (and cork and cage tops) from Rochefort, Rodenbach, d'Achouffe, Saison Dupont, Westvleteren, Gulden Draak, St. Bernardus, Westmalle, Chimay, Orval, Duvel, and De Struise. Okay, we'll admit - De Struise has blank crowns and we had to make a fake one, but we feel they are too goddamn good to not include. "But why did you not include Fantome, then?" We don't know, we're sorry. In any case, we're very happy with how this painting came out. Much like the painting of California caps that we did, this one is more painterly than our regular work.

A Work In Progress...

2011-09-03T02:17:00.000-07:00

Framboise with Raspberries

2011-08-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

Impressionistic Oil Paint on Canvas
14x16in
$170
SOLD

Paintings for The Hopry

2011-08-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

We frequent a lot of beer sites and beer blogs, but one of our favorite sites for beer reviews has to be The Hopry. Mark Starr and his small crew manage to make the video beer review format highly watchable, with good production values and very engaging beer talk. We recently did a few small paintings for The Hopry and Mark was cool enough to make a video of him seeing the paintings for the first time. It is a neat thing for us to see our paintings outside the context of our little paint-splattered work den and it may be worth a view for anyone interested in our work. Check it out here! And if you aren't already a fan, be sure to hit TheHopry.com!

Christmas Commissions

2011-08-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

It may be a little strange to post about Christmas this early, but last year we received several commission requests in a fairly narrow window of time before Christmas. We did get them all done and shipped out in time, but it required a ridiculously frantic pace and we had to ignore nearly everything else in our life. This year, we would love to do many custom pieces for people to give as presents, but we would also love to have the time to do the paintings and do them right. Because of the nature of using oil paintings, it is ideal for us to have at least a month to complete a piece.

Long story short: Christmas is still far off, but if you're interested in commissioning a painting for a friend or loved one, now would be a good time to get in contact with us!

Cheers!
Cara & Louie

Lagunitas and Hops

2011-08-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

14x16in
Impressionistic Oil Paint on Canvas
$170
SOLD

A Room Full of Beer Art

2011-08-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

2011-08-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

2000 - 2011

We lost our dog Timber yesterday. Actually, we didn't lose her - she died. She wasn't the biggest fan of beer, but she was a great dog. This evening, we are going to be drinking out of our dog-branded Lagunitas jar. More new work coming soon (although, our studio is getting a bit full)...

Beer & Cigars

2011-08-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

Impressionistic Oil Paint on Canvas

16x20in

$240
SOLD

This is an original oil painting of an Imperial Stout poured in a snifter, along with two La Gloria Cubana Serie R cigars. Much like the painting of the California crowns we recently did, this painting is a bit more impressionistic.

Deschutes Jubelale 2011

2011-08-03T00:22:00.000-07:00

Every year, Deschutes Brewery chooses a local artist to do the artwork for their great winter warmer, Jubelale. Earlier today, Deschutes Brewery posted a preview of this years Jubelale art, which happens to have been painted by us!

Needless to say, it was a huge honor for us to get the chance to do the art for a beer that we have a lot of love for. The funny thing is that despite the fact we make a lot of original beer art, we were actually chosen because of our regular artwork, which is becoming somewhat well-known here in Central Oregon.

The 2011 Jubeale will be hitting stores this fall - so keep your eyes peeled.

Edit (8/12): They posted a photo of the bottles coming off the line - very cool!

The Great Breweries of California

2011-07-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Like much of our other work, this painting is oil on canvas. It differs in that it is far more painterly and loosely impressionistic in construction. This painting contains crowns from what we consider the great breweries of California - North Coast, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker, The Bruery, Stone, Bear Republic, Pizza Port, Anchor, Russian River, Moylan's, and Sierra Nevada.

Oil on Canvas

16x30in
$360

SOLD

Special Request

2011-07-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

If you bought a painting in the past, we would love to hear from you! Please comment on this post (or drop us an email) and let us know how you feel about the work you own. Thanks in advance!

New work coming soon - some a bit different from what we've done so far.

Regarding our work

2011-07-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Cara and I have been doing these paintings for about a year now. We've sold a lot of work and we've had the pleasure of doing a lot of commissions for people. We have been working as full-time artists for a few years now and the works on this site have been a great side-project for us.

The reality of this work is that it is not sustainable. That is to say, for the amount of time that goes into each piece, we are making a bit below minimum wage. Another reality of this work is that it is very likely that in the near future, we will no longer be producing paintings of this sort. (That said, we do plan to keep making new works at least through the end of this year.)

Despite those factors, we love doing these works as we really, truly love craft beer. We very much appreciate all of the people who have spent hard-earned money on these pieces, as they have enabled us to continue scraping by as artists for another year. While this may go without saying, this has never been a cynical attempt at making money for us. There are some fundamental contradictions in creating fine art of this sort, as we are pricing the works as low as possible, but to the average person - that "low price" is still a significant amount of money.

All of that said, it has recently come to our attention that someone is attempting to imitate our work in bulk, by farming the painting out to artists in the Philippines and offering to pay the artists what would amount to something like 50 cents an hour to create "40 to 50" paintings (see Craigslist ad here - imgur link if ad is gone). It would appear that this person saw what we are doing and saw that there was money in it, without thinking about how much work and passion was involved. We don't mind a bit of competition and if someone could do what we are doing better and cheaper, so be it. But this clearly is not that. I attempted to contact the person who posted the ad to see if I was mistaken, but received no response. It is our opinion that if these farmed-out works are produced, they would be a cynical exploitation of second-world artists and would very likely be a bad, insincere facsimile of the works we produce.

Thanks again to everyone that has supported and promoted our work, especially those that have bought and commissioned paintings to put in their home, brewery, or pub.

Cheers!
Cara & Louie

Trappist Orval crowns in Spray Paint

2011-07-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

Spray paint on a rustic wood

11.75x24in
$120SOLD

Bell's Hopslam and Two Hearted Ale

2011-07-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

16x30in
Oil on Canvas
$360

Buy Now

This is an original oil painting of the great Bell's Brewery's standard crown, along with those of Hopslam and Two Hearted. While Two Hearted and Hopslam are very different beers, they are both hop-centric and wonderfully unique examples of the IPA and DIPA. Of course, living in Oregon, we've only had these beers a handful of times - curse you lucky Michiganders!

In any case, if you love Hopslam and Two Hearted and you are lacking home decor that combines fine art with your favorite beer, this painting is for you. We shouldn't have it in our house, because clearly we are not worthy.

As with our other beer art, this painting is on a hand-built canvas and ships with a varnished surface and a hanging wire on the back. This painting will last a lifetime, so long as you love it and don't shoot your Red Ryder at it and if you buy this painting, you will be investing in real art that shows your love for the art of craft beer.

Current Inventory

2011-07-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

[dog not included]

The Crowns of Rochefort Spray-Painting

2011-07-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Artist Grade Spray Paint on Canvas
Limited Series of Five
16x30in
$175

This is a different breed of beer painting. While we are primarily oil painters, we started our collaborative art practice with spray paint and stencils. This piece is done from original stencils and after a series of five, those stencils will be no more.

Spray paint beer art

2011-07-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Coming soon...

Pelican - Mother of All Storms

2011-07-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Oil on canvas
24x18in
$325
Traded

Traquair House

2011-06-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Mixed Media on Canvas

18x24in
NFS

Thomas Hardy's Ale illustration

2011-06-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thomas Hardy's Ale was first produced at Eldridge Pope Brewery in 1968, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of English author and poet Thomas Hardy. Now decades later, Thomas Hardy's Ale has been proven to be one of the great cellar-worthy beers. After Eldridge Pope folded, O'Hanlon's Brewery briefly produced it, but as of now - no one is producing this great beer.

This fine art illustration is overflowing with history, containing Hardy himself, the now abandoned Dorchester Brewery the ale was produced at, the first vintage and the last vintage of Thomas Hardy's Ale, along with a map of England with a dot for Dorchester.

Mixed Media on Canvas
24x20in

$180

Buy Now

The Brew Shop & Platypus Pub in Bend, Oregon

2011-06-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

This is a bit off-topic as far as this blog is concerned, but it is something we are very excited about as beer enthusiasts. Here in Bend, Oregon, the locally-owned Brew Shop is very clearly the best place to buy your beer. This summer, they are moving their business (and opening a pub) to 1203 NE 3rd St - a very prime location, right in the middle of town. This is somewhat art-related, as we had the privilege of reworking the existing logo for The Brew Shop and creating a logo for the brand-new Platypus Pub (see graphic above). We may have the opportunity to do some interior artwork, which we will definitely post here.

If you ever visit Bend (or just pass through), be sure to stop by The Brew Shop and tell them Louie & Cara sent you, but leave some of the rare beer for us!

EDIT (SEPT 16th): The Brew Shop and the Platypus Pub are now open!

They have new websites in the works, but until then, it seems a lot of the google searches will go here. Right now, the Platypus Pub has a bunch of great stuff on tap and the Brew Shop is restocking and expanding their bottle selection (but somehow they still have Abacus, Parabola, and FW 14 in stock!!). I would highly recommend stopping in for a few beers and a Platypus Burger - tasty!

EDIT (NOV 14th): The Brew Shop website and the Platypus Pub website are now live!

Trappist Rochefort 10

2011-06-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Oil on Canvas
26x22in
$400
SOLD

What can we say about Rochefort 10? It is one of the best beers in the world, that also happens to be available just about everywhere.

So, why an oil painting of Rochefort 10? This is a question that we should have answered months ago. While these larger-than-life oil paintings approach photorealism, we feel that they possess a physicality that a photo simply does not. The transparent, permeable layers of color work in conjunction with impermeable, visceral strokes of paint to create a light-reactive, dimensional surface.

Being full-time artists, we live a fairly spartan lifestyle. Beer is our luxury. We do not have a furnished bar, a beer cellar that isn't a closet, or a living room to hang the very artwork we do. Basically, we make the beer art we would like to have on our imaginary walls.

Original oil painting of Russian River sours

2011-05-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Oil on Canvas

16x32in

SOLD

Russian River Brewing, based out of Santa Rosa, CA, is well-known for making incredible beers inoculated (or willfully infected, if you will) with brettanomyces, a wild yeast that is often feared in winemaking and brewing circles. This painting pays tribute to Temptation and Supplication, two wonderfully nuanced wild ales. Along with being made with brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus, and saccharomyces, these two in particular are also barrel-aged for a year. If you've never had a wild ale, we highly recommend trying one of these. If your cellar is already loaded with Russian River sours, then this painting may be just the thing your walls need.

With this beer painting, we did a little something special and took process photos along the way. We left out the boring stuff like going to the wood shop and building the canvas frame, stretching the canvas, and triple-priming (not to be confused with Miller Lite's "triple-hopping") and sanding the canvas.

Girardin Nouveau

2011-05-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

18x24in

Mixed Media

Commission

Short's & Russian River, Lost Abbey, and Dogfish Head

2011-05-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Commissions

Michael Jackson - The Beer Hunter

2011-04-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

18x24in

Mixed Media on Canvas

$160
SOLD

An ink and paint rendering of the late, great, hugely influential beer writer Michael Jackson.

Cantillon Fou' Foune Nouveau

2011-04-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

20x24in

Mixed Media on Canvas

SOLD

Westvleteren Nouveau

2011-04-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

This isn't the first piece of Westvleteren-inspired art we've done and it probably won't be the last. We love the mystique surrounding this Trappist brewery and the three great beers that come from it. With these paintings and illustrations we are always trying to pay tribute to beers and breweries we love. Beyond that, we like the idea of elevating beer art beyond tin signs and neon lights. With Westvleteren, it is about filling a void, as there is virtually no way for those that love Westvleteren to show it beyond saving a few caps.

As with the other illustrations we've done, this illustration is priced quite a bit lower than our regular oil paintings. Despite the fact that this is an illustration, it is still drawn, inked, and painted on canvas with a hanging wire on the back and a varnished surface for protection.

20x24in

Mixed Media on Canvas

SOLD

Firestone Walker Brewery

2011-04-21T20:29:00.001-07:00

Oil on canvas

18x20in

$250

Buy Now

Masters of the barrel, Firestone Walker brews out of Paso Robles, California. We are huge fans of Firestone Walker and can't resist picking up at least one six pack of Union Jack IPA every week. From their great regular line-up, to the incredible Abacus barleywine we recently tried, we're pretty convinced this brewery can do no wrong, which is why we wanted to pay tribute to them with this painting.

Trappist Nouveau

2011-04-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

14x36in

Mixed Media on Canvas

SOLD

This is an original Art Nouveau-inspired illustration of the six Trappist breweries of Belgium - Westvleteren, Chimay, Achel, Westmalle, Rochefort, and Orval. Each brewery is represented in its proper location on the map of Belgium, along with having a cork or crown in the composition (except Achel, which have plain crowns). While some many debate which brewery produces the best beer, it is undeniable that all the Trappist breweries of Belgium have a rich history of producing world-class beers. The incredibly unique Orval, the highly-sought after Westvleteren 12, the style-defining Westmalle Tripel, the ubiquitous, yet great Chimay Grande Reserve, and our personal favorite, the Rochefort 8 are all worth celebrating on their own - - and together in this illustration.

Samuel Smith & Westmalle Nouveau

2011-04-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Commissions

Thomas Hardy's Ale

2011-03-27T06:37:00.001-07:00

Commission

The quintessential age-worthy beer, Thomas Hardy's Ale. This immortal brew is no longer produced, rendering every remaining bottle precious.

2011-03-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

22x28in

Commission

Dogfish Head Commission

2011-03-14T12:25:00.001-07:00

18x40in

Commission

Orval Nouveau

2011-03-05T17:59:00.001-08:00

20x24in

SOLD

This is an original Art Nouveau-inspired illustration of Orval, the iconic and very unique Belgian Trappist ale. This illustration depicts the also very unique bottle and glassware of Orval, as well as the legend of the trout returning the lost ring. According to Wikipedia, the legend of Orval is as follows:

There is a legend of the abbey's foundation, purporting to explain the name '"Orval" and the coat of arms. According to this, the widowed Mathilda of Tuscany was visiting the site, when she lost her wedding ring in a spring, to her great distress. When she prayed for the return of the ring, a trout appeared on the surface of the water with the ring in its mouth. She exclaimed "Truly this place is a Val d'Or(Golden Valley)", from which the name "Orval" is derived, and in gratitude made available the funds for the foundation of the monastery here. The abbey arms show the trout and ring. The spring still supplies water to the monastery and its brewery.

This illustration is priced significantly lower than our regular work, but still comes with a hanging wire on the back - no framing is necessary.

Cantillon Nouveau

2011-02-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

22x18in

SOLD

This is an original Art Nouveau-inspired illustration of the highly sought-after Cantillon Blåbær Lambik with blueberries and the barrels the lambic ferments in. This illustration is priced significantly lower than our regular work, but still comes with a hanging wire on the back - no framing is necessary.

Breweries of Pennsylvania

2011-02-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

14x36in

Commission

New Belgium La Folie & Surly Smoke

2011-02-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas

Commission

Rochefort Nouveau

2011-01-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

18x24x.75in

SOLD

This is an original illustration of Brasserie de Rochefort with barley and the three Rochefort crowns. Priced lower than our regular work, it has a thinner canvas profile - however, it still comes with a hanging wire attached to the back.

This is our first attempt at an Art Nouveau-inspired illustration. It is not quite as Art Nouveau as we originally intended, but that should change with each piece we do. Up next: Brasserie d'Orval and Cantillon Blåbær Lambik.

Art Nouveau

2011-01-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Coming soon - Art Nouveau-inspired works! These will be very different from our regular body of work - stay tuned.

Just hops

2011-01-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas

18x40in

Commission

Bell's Hopslam

2011-01-19T12:22:00.001-08:00

Oil on canvas

14x24in

SOLD

Twitter

2011-01-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

We are finally on twitter - @beerpaintings

Check us out!

Draft Picks - Beer on canvas

2011-01-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

Mark Spivey, writer of the great weekly beer column "Draft Picks" in New Jersey, was kind enough to do a write-up on our work. See it here!

Dogfish Head Crowns and Hops

2011-01-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas

14x36in

SOLD

We are huge fans of Dogfish Head, especially Palo Santo Marron, World Wide Stout, and Burton Baton - if you love Dogfish Head as much as we do, this painting is for you.

Tröegs Brewery

2011-01-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

Commission

This commissioned painting of beers from Tröegs Brewery (based out of Harrisburg, PA) is the first brewery-centric bottle line-up with branded glassware that we've had the pleasure of doing. The beer was just as fun to drink - we especially loved the Flying Mouflan. Unfortunately, we had to paint the Nugget Nectar (arguably their most critically-acclaimed beer) from an empty bottle.

Recent Commissions

2010-12-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

14x36in

14x18in

2010-12-24T00:13:00.000-08:00

We're coming back very soon with several new pieces. In the meantime, guess what is in our glass. Happy holidays!

2010-11-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas
Commission

This commission is a bit of a call-back to the first beer painting we did and it is just as chock-full of great beers, with many different styles being represented.

2010-11-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas
Commission

This commissioned beer painting was particularly interesting to do, as each beer was specifically chosen to represent something special to the owners of the painting (beyond their love of the beers). It was great to finally get a Ten Fidy in the sea of bottle paintings, especially with two of best imperial stouts on the market.

2010-11-10T21:36:00.001-08:00

Hello!
We are still hard at work on paintings that pay tribute to craft beer, but right now our workload is solely comprised of commissions. We will post new paintings as they are finished, but it may be a little while before we get to any non-commissioned work. If you would like to commission something or make any suggestions - please email us! If you want something by Christmas, let us know and there may be enough time to make it happen!

In the meantime, here are some behind-the-scenes photos and - for those of you who are wondering who it is behind these paintings - a local article about us.

KBS commission

2010-10-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Oil on canvas
25x28in
Commission

Russian River crowns and hops

2010-10-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Oil on canvas
14x36in
SOLD!

Unibroue cork and cage

2010-10-11T14:18:00.001-07:00

Oil on canvas
11.5x18.75in
SOLD

Bell's Expedition Stout

2010-10-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

25x22in
Oil on canvas
Commission

This painting of Bell's Expedition Stout came out looking really architectural. It was a lot of fun to paint and it may very well be our favorite painting to date.

Rochefort 8 crown

2010-09-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Oil on canvas
14x18in

Trappist Rochefort 8, an incredible beer we find superior to Westvleteren 8, St. Bernardus Prior 8, and Rochefort 10, which are all really great beers in their own right.

Up next: some commissions, a unique Unibroue still-life, and maybe something a bit interesting with a Russian River crown.

Gulden Draak crown

2010-09-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

14x18in

Oil on canvas

One of my all-time favorite beers - Brouwerij Van Steenberge's Gulden Draak. This beer comes in a unique bottle coated pure white. The Gulden Draak crown is an equally iconic black and gold, featuring the namesake of the beer, which is based on the golden dragon at the top of the belfry in the Belgian city of Ghent.

Up next: a Rochefort 8 crown.

Thomas Hardy on Art

2010-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Art is the secret of how to produce by a false thing the effect of a true.

- Thomas Hardy, 1891

Westvleteren 8 & 12 crowns

2010-09-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

14x36x1.5in
Oil on canvas
SOLD

This painting celebrates Trappist Westvlereten 8 and 12 from the St. Sixtus abbey in Westvleteren in the West Flanders region of Belgium. This bold, atmospheric oil painting is 3-feet-wide - a substantial centerpiece for any basement bar, mancave, or beer cellar.

Have a Westvleteren collection in your cellar? It's a shame that without this painting, photographs of your collection will only yield murky fields of plain brown bottles. Oh you say you have your bottles in the Westvleteren-branded crates? Well, Mr. (or Ms.) Fancypants, do you really think that this painting won't look awesome above your crates?

The Beers of Three Floyds Brewery

2010-09-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

28x21x1.75in
Commission

With some of the most wildly graphical labels in the industry, it is quite the adventure to paint Three Floyds bottles. With this painting, we worked with a bit of optical blurring as the bottles recede into the background.

Painting in context

2010-09-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

This photo illustrates how much larger-than-life some of our paintings are - of course the crown paintings are even more proportionally larger. Many people (myself included) keep empty bottles of their favorite beers on display, but as empty bottles take up a lot of space and are essentially vessels for dust, these paintings may be a welcome alternative for some.

Coming soon: A composition of four Westvleteren crowns and a Gulden Draak crown.

Pliny the Elder

2010-08-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Commission

Lagunitas & Sierra Nevada

2010-08-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Commission
16x21x1.5

2010-08-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Commission

While we were already huge fans of Pliny and Palo Santo prior to doing this painting, we had not tried a Hop Rod Rye yet. We have since changed that - what a great beer.

Brookston Beer Bulletin

2010-08-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

The great, prolific beer site Brookston Beer Bulletin did a feature on our art this week. Check it out for some insight into our process and stick around for a really wonderful site with up-to-date beer news, beer art, and great articles.

Three Floyds Brewery Oil Painting

2010-08-17T18:36:00.001-07:00

16x20x1.5in
SOLD

The bold brewery based in Munster, Indiana. While widely-known for their giant Russian Imperial Stout, Dark Lord, Three Floyds makes many wonderful, unique beers.

We recently had their Blackheart English IPA and we absolutely loved it.

The first beer painting

2010-08-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is the first beer painting we did - for our friends at The Brew Shop here in Bend, Oregon. We have a few more commissioned paintings like this coming down the pipeline and we'd always love to do more.

Hitachino Nest Oil Painting

2010-08-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

14x18in
Commission

Japan's Kiuchi Brewery - Hitachino Nest. Love their Espresso Stout.

Kulmbacher Brauerei EKU Oil Painting

2010-08-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

16x20in
Commission

Solid German brewery - we really like their EKU 28 doppelbock and its sherry-like characteristics.

Deschutes Brewery Oil Painting

2010-07-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

14x18
Commission

As we live in Bend, Oregon, Deschutes Brewery is our drinking standard. We absolutely love their beers, from the regulars like Obsidian Stout and Black Butte Porter to the big barrel-aged Reserve Series.

St. Bernardus Abt. 12 Oil Painting

2010-07-25T19:22:00.001-07:00

14x18in
SOLD

There may be superior Belgian quadruples out there, but this is the one we keep coming back to.

Trappist Rochefort 10 Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

14x18in
SOLD

North Coast Old Rasputin Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:40:00.000-07:00

22x11.75in
SOLD

North Coast's Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. A world-class stout branded with one of our favorite people in history.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:37:00.000-07:00

18.75x11.5in
SOLD

Who says beer in a can can't be classy? This is an oil painting of Ten Fidy, the excellent imperial stout made by Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado.

Trappist Orval Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

16x20in
SOLD

The classic, incredibly unique Orval ale, a Belgian Trappist with brettanomyces yeast.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:31:00.000-07:00

24x12in
NFS

One of our favorite beers, Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout. A wonderful bourbon barrel-aged stout, perhaps the best.

Three Floyds Dark Lord Imperial Stout Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:28:00.001-07:00

24x12in
SOLD

The great, limited release imperial stout by Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana. The oil painting is of the 2010 release with the dark green wax.

Trappist Westvleteren 12 Oil Painting

2010-07-23T01:13:00.000-07:00

16x20in
SOLD

Trappist Westvleteren 12, the prestigious Belgian quadruple with no label. This is the beer that originally inspired us to start painting caps, as it was a necessity in this case. Luckily, it is a beautifully intricate cap.

Introduction to Our Beer Art

2010-06-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Of the beer paintings we've done in the last few years, these are some of our favorites. It has been a lot of fun paying tribute to many of the great beers of the world, from the utter insanity that is painting the bottles of Three Floyds, to the simple, elegant compositions like the Bell's Expedition Stout and the Rochefort 10, as well as more ambitious endeavors, such as doing a painted representation of the seven Trappist breweries and these cap-filled compositions of the great breweries of Belgium and California.

We've tried to include brewing ingredients (chiefly hops), but the components that go into making beer are not inherently visual, at least not in the way that a beer crown, bottle, or branded glass are. As the majority of our works communicate, our favorite objects to paint are beer caps. The beer cap is such an immediately identifiable and essential object and the really great ones communicate so much about the beer and where it is made. Part of the fun in painting them comes from the massive scale shift between the actual object and the painted version.

From 2012 on, we won't be able to produce the volume of beer art that we did in 2010-2011, but we'll still do commissions and maybe the occasional non-commissioned piece. The cap-filled compositions below are great for commissions, as we can paint the caps of your favorite beers/breweries. We have be resistant to doing prints in the past, but it is something we are considering in the future, as the prices of our paintings will have to go up for any kind of sustainability. Should we do prints, they will only be from a few select original pieces.

Thank you for looking at our work, if you have any questions, comments, or ideas for a commission, feel free to email us at the link on the left sidebar. Cheers! Cara & Louie