New name, same beer at Arcana Brewing Company

Nanobrewery owner and fermentationist Daniel Guy admits to being a bit scared. But his apprehensions are all based on the fact that, due to the initial success of his Carlsbad brewing company, he is now working full time in his brewhouse, sinking all of this energy and resources into making the business all it can be.

Such clarification needs to be made for anyone who read an article I wrote last month and might mistakenly think he’s afraid of The Boston Beer Co. (the makers of the Samuel Adams line of beers) who recently contacted him with an order that he change the name of his company from Fezziwig’s Brewing Company so as not to take away from their long-time winter seasonal, Old Fezziwig Ale.

Though he’s open about failing to see how his tiny operation possesses the sway to deter from the BBC’s holiday porter, Guy took this development in stride. Instead of wasting money battling the country’s largest craft brewing company in court or whining about being bullied (which few would have blamed him for), he reached out to friends and fans of his beers, asking them for suggestions for a new name and, soon, had roughly a dozen to pick from.

That name is Arcana Brewing Company (5621 Palmer Way, Carlsbad), and it will be celebrated during a two-day naming celebration Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1. It’s all the same. Only the name will change. The rest of the logo, a steam punk-inspired display with clockwork gears, bird’s wings and a top hat, will stay in place. This was an essential step for Guy as he went back and forth on other names.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/28/46436/

When the simple handle Steam Punk Brewing was introduced to him, he saw merit but it turns out it was off the table as the domain name was already owned by another party. I even threw a suggestion in the top hat. Though it wasn’t selected, Arcana seems a good choice. It works for all that Guy has established so far and, bonus, it puts his company toward the top of the ever-growing list of local breweries, alphabetically. And ABC's a nice, easy-to-remember acronym!