Bread & Butter
Peace Tree’s Des Moines taproom opened in January 2017. Britt Fowler / Little Village
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Peace Tree Brewing Company 107 W Main St, Knoxville; 317 E Court Ave, Des Moines peacetreebrewing.com
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t’s a familiar sight in an Iowa beer cooler: squat brown bottles, leaves imprinted in the glass, each with an orange bottle cap and a whimsically illustrated label. But after 12 years of brewing craft beer—and two years weathering a global pandemic—Peace Tree Brewing owner and CEO Megan McKay decided it was time for a refresh.
Earlier this year, Peace Tree, brewers of Blonde Fatale and Red Rambler, announced they would be updating their branding, complete with new labels and, can you believe it, cans. The new design moves away from Peace Tree’s previous illustrative style and into a sleeker, cleaner look that McKay hopes will work together more cohesively as a family of brews.
“We’re rooted in a small town and really what started the company was the desire to build and grow that small community,” McKay said. Peace Tree is headquartered in Knoxville, Iowa, a Marion County town of roughly 7,600. “Having something that represents that for our brand is really exciting.” Each of the beers’ labels now features an organic, rippling pattern in a different colorway. McKay says that the firm Peace Tree worked with drew inspiration for the design from the business’s roots, quite literally. The brewery was named for the historic Peace Tree, a more than 500-year-old sycamore tree estimated to be the second largest in North America, that once stood in the ebbing waters of nearby Lake Red Rock. Peace Tree’s new look was inspired by that history, with labels that look like both rippling water and the rings of a tree. McKay said customers have commented that the design looks like a fingerprint or a topographical map, both of which feel aligned with how the brewery has grown and made its mark. Peace Tree Brewing is one of Iowa’s first modern microbreweries. When it opened in 2009, it was also the state’s first 100 percent woman-owned brewery. Today, the state’s brewscape has changed—there are now more than 100 craft breweries across the state—but the fan base around Peace Tree has remained loyal. This loyalty facilitated the opening of a second taproom in Des Moines’ East Village in January 2017. (Their East Village IPA was named in honor of
Peace Tree Brewing Company
Blonde Fatale
Get a Little Hazy
Belgian-Style
Hazy India
Blonde Ale - 8.5% ABV
Pale Ale - 6% ABV
28 April 2022 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LVDSM1
Britt Fowler / Little Village
