i'm really not too shaken up about the name change. i don't buy the beer for a name, and honestly if Hugh and the crew are looking to break into the regional, possibly national market, i think the new branding is a good change. i will be sad to see the Mc Henry go though. but i'm veeery happy that this might mean a larger availability of Big DIPA.

I dont mind the name change or the Siren-Noire label, but those standard labels are straight up BORING and Amaturish. They won't stand out at all outside of baltimore, they look like they are from a brewery with NO marketing staff.

If they were aiming for genereic, they hit the nail on the head.

When I look at them, I see a disney pirate themed restaurant with "pirate beers", and those are the tap handles. Completely lacking any character.

Great Beers, Great Brewery, Terrible Labels.

I think with a lot of recent rebrandings, this one just seems ill advised.

When I think of "Heavy Seas" I think of getting seasick. Great marketing to associate vomiting with beer a potential buyer hasn't tried.

sadly, i agree with Anonymous. between the Pirates of the Caribbean and that played-out pirates/ninjas internet meme, the new Heavy Seas marketing feels dated and amateurish.

I'll third that.

I am usually all in favor of Pirates, but If you are going to keep the pirate/nautical theme, why the hell would you ditch McHenry?

They say it's just a label change, but c'mon...it won't be the same. I'm a fan of the beers, and a fan of the bottles, but I'd say with the launch of mutiny, the jig should be up - see the definition of "mutiny."

Just like when Boh moved out of town and you could tell the difference between the gold tops and the silver tops.

The MarzHon was a dumb name. Now good luck getting anyone in Balmur to pronounce Marzen properly.

It looks like a tattoo by an artist of medium talent who's read way too many comic books.

It just doesn't look like a first rate illustration, which could lead to this beer being assumed as second rate ergo by passed and unsampled.

For such a good beer, presentation does play a role to some extent, and honestly it looks generic, boring, bland, and does not stand out at all. At least have some tie into your home city were the beer is brewed. The pirate thing is soo played out, and feels forced.

Some guy with no checks and balances thought pirates was probably a good idea, and he was probably surrounded by yes men who just shake their head yes in agreement to their boss without offering their true opinion.

Such promise for this beer..now it has lost it's niche and will slide on down into mediocrity.

I'm not sure some of you realize how much love there is for the Heavy Seas beers (Mutiny Fleet included) outside of the state of MD. I talk to hundreds of people from the 20+ states which Clipper City distributes and they can't get enough of the stuff. I get Twitter messages daily from people asking me when they'll be seeing Yule Tide on their shelves and have been trying to even contact people in states that have other Heavy Seas beers, trying to set up trades. BIG market for CC's beers and very passionate fans.

P.S: full 2010 release schedule (with some surprises) just posted:

http://beerinbaltimore.com/2009/12/29/heavy-seas-2010-release-schedule/