Methow Valley artist Bethany Wray designed the labeling for Icicle Brewing Company’s Deep Days IPA.
With Old Schoolhouse Brewery in town, you might not find yourself often tipping up a glass of any other beer. But should you find yourself with a frosty Icicle Brewing Company can in hand, you might notice it wrapped in original artwork by Methow Valley watercolorist Bethany Wray.
Bethany used to live in Leavenworth and she worked for Icicle Brewing Company while she was establishing herself as an artist. She showed some of her work on the walls of the brewery and her partner, Ryan, skied with some members of the marketing team. So when Icicle Brewing Company was looking for its next artist to create can designs for their limited release series, Bethany naturally came to mind.
The marketing team reached out to Bethany in the fall of 2021 after seeing one of her paintings that featured a pastel scene of two skiers crossing a snowy alpine meadow. After some negotiations, Bethany agreed to paint designs for the Icicle Brewing Company’s Enchantments Hazy IPA series, with a different scene for each of the four seasons.
Bethany started last winter with the Deep Days IPA, which was made from Azacca, Citra, Mosaic, and Idaho 7 hops (“big on citrus, pineapple, and stonefruit notes and aromas,” according to the website) — $1 of each four-pack of the Deep Days IPA is donated to Protect Our Winters (POW), a nonprofit that focuses on legislation regarding climate change.
In spring 2022, Icicle Brewing Company released the Tanglewood, which features Bethany’s arrowleaf balsamroot in the foreground and a snowy peak in the background. The Tanglewood is “brewed with an ample amount of experimental HBC630 and HBC638 in addition to Mosaic and Citra hops [and] delights the senses with notes and aromas of citrus, tropical fruit, pineapple, and stonefruit.” The summer beer will be released in June.
The entire Enchantments Hazy IPA series is inspired by the magnificent (and, unfortunately, overly popular) Enchantments area in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Bethany hiked and backcountry skied in the Enchantments when she lived in Leavenworth, but to create the designs for the beer cans she relied not just on her memories and photos of the area, but also brainstorming with Icicle Brewing Company’s marketing team to settle on the look. “We considered images from the Enchantments,” Bethany said. “Not just the iconic areas like Prussic Peak and Colchuck Lake, but also those places that aren’t typically seen.”
Once the team settled on a general look, Bethany considered the color scheme and placement of trees, plants, mountains and flowers. Because the brewery and beer names both need to fit harmoniously on the can, the design must be strategically located to showcase the artwork while giving the words visibility.
Bethany earned her BFA at Biola University and her MFA at Otis College of Arts & Sciences. As an employee of Methow Arts, she instructs the Youth Arts Initiative program at Methow Valley Elementary School. For more information about Bethany and her art, visit her at arrowleafstudio.com.
