As Los Angeles Ale Works grew from a brewery into a collection of neighborhood gathering places, they needed a hospitality brand that could connect it all. We created a flexible brand identity system that captured the spirit of Los Angeles while supporting growth across multiple locations.
Los Angeles Ale Works
The Challenge
Los Angeles Ale Works had built a loyal following and expanded to multiple locations throughout Los Angeles County, but the brand wasn’t keeping pace with the growth of the business. As Los Angeles Ale Works expanded from its Hawthorne roots into new neighborhoods, the brand needed a more scalable identity system—one that could celebrate each location’s unique character while remaining unmistakably LA Ale Works.
The existing logo relied heavily on a popular and overused typeface commonly seen throughout the craft beer industry, making it difficult to stand apart from competitors. Beyond the logo, there was no cohesive brand system connecting the brewery, taprooms, merchandise, packaging, and marketing efforts. While the beer, atmosphere, and customer experience were exceptional, the brand itself wasn’t communicating what made Los Angeles Ale Works unique.
With locations in Hawthorne, Culver City, and the newly opened Hermosa Beach taproom, the team needed a brand identity that could unify the company while allowing each location to maintain its own personality and connection to the community it served.
Our Approach
We began with a comprehensive brand strategy process designed to uncover what truly made Los Angeles Ale Works different. Through workshops, customer research, and positioning exercises, we identified the core elements that defined the brand: world-class beer, community, fun, and authentic Los Angeles culture.
From there, we developed a flexible hospitality branding system built for growth. Rather than creating a single logo, we designed a complete brand identity ecosystem that could adapt across multiple locations, packaging applications, merchandise, signage, and digital touchpoints.
Inspired by the diversity of Los Angeles itself, the identity was designed to feel distinctly local while giving each location its own expression.
At the center of the rebrand was a completely custom logo and wordmark system. Unlike the previous identity, this mark wasn’t built from a trendy typeface that anyone could download. It became a proprietary brand asset—distinctive, recognizable, and uniquely Los Angeles Ale Works.
The Result
The result was more than a new logo. It was a brand people could feel.
Today, Los Angeles Ale Works has a cohesive identity that moves seamlessly across locations while allowing each taproom to maintain its own character. The new brand system creates consistency across guest experiences, merchandise, packaging, signage, and marketing, strengthening recognition at every touchpoint.
Most importantly, the brand now reflects the quality of the business behind it. It feels unmistakably Los Angeles, rooted in community, and built to support future growth. What was once a collection of locations is now a unified hospitality brand with a clear identity, a proprietary visual language, and a foundation designed to scale for years to come.
Words From Our Client
“Stellen Design gave us more than a rebrand, they gave us a brand we can actually grow with. From our core identity to location-specific applications, every piece feels intentional, authentic, and unmistakably Los Angeles. We finally have a brand system that matches the quality of the experience we’re creating.”
— Andrew Fowler, Co-Founder, Los Angeles Ale Works
