In 2014 Breakside’s Suburban Farmhouse Ale trolled The Commons
12 Years Ago we designed a fake label for a real beer. At the time The Commons Brewery was one of the hottest Oregon breweries around, beloved for their farmhouse Ales and innovative experiments, and their Urban Farmhouse Ale was a flagship. Breakside Brewery was a new up-and-coming brewery at the time as well, only a couple of years old, and making a lot of playful and experimental beers before they embraced classic styles and IPA.
What followed was basically a friendly April Fool’s joke made in February that was actually real.
The Commons was originally known as Beetje Brewery, a tiny garage-based nano brewery from creator Mike Wright. As craft brewing surged in the early aughts’ so did farmhouse ales popular styles like Saison. The Commons, along with Upright Brewing and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, were leaders in this category and expanded to a warehouse space with a taproom and an influential team of creatives that included Sean Burke and Josh Grgas. The Commons closed in 2017 but remains a well respected and often lamented contemporary classic.
Commons’ Urban Farmhouse Ale was a flagship beers and one of their two first releases in bottles. Urban Farmhouse was a light , crisp and refreshing farmhouse ale. Golden to light orange in color with a floral nose and a dry finish. The beer was named Willamette Week’s Beer of the Year in 2013 and went on to win a Silver medal at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival in the French-Belgian style saison category later that year.
In February of 2014 Breakside Brewery decided to have a little fun with The Commons and brewed their own version of a Saison with a name that nodded to the original: Suburban Farmhouse Ale. The beer was a limited small batch draft-only beer release, no labels were necessary but the opportunity to spoof the original Urban Farmhouse Ale with a label was too good to pass up. Yours truly (Ezra Johnson-Greenoug) designed the label and wrote the press release announcing the beers release from Breakside Brewery and subtly skewering the seemingly contradictory concepts of rustic farmhouse beers brewed in a metropolitan city in industrial settings.
“Harkening back to the American brewing traditions of the 90’s and inspired by afternoons spent at barbecues in the immaculately manicured backyards of Suburban America. This fresh copper hued ale is a classic simple, refreshing example of suburban ale.”
The label on the 750ml bottles of the original Commons Urban Farmhouse Ale read the following:
“Traditionally, Farmhouse Ales were brewed on farms in the French and Flemish regions of Belgium. These beers were born out of necessity as most water was not potable and the farmers needed a refreshing beverage to offer the hardworking farmhands. Our rendition was developed in the spirit of that tradition. The beer pours golden with a floral nose and a soft underlying hop bitterness with a crisp finish.
The Commons Brewery is a small artisan brewery located in southeast Portland, Oregon. We are inspired by European brewing tradition and northwest grown ingredients.”
Breakside’s Surburban Farmhouse label text was a subtle rewording of The Commons label text:
“Traditionally, Suburban Ales were brewed in garages and backyards in urban middle-class neighborhoods of America. These beers were born out of expendable income and free time as good commercial beer was readily available and affordable. Our rendition was developed in the spirit of that noble tradition. The beer pours with a copper hue and an aroma of freshly mown grass and old copies of Willamette Week Beer Guides.
The Breakside Brewery is located in Portland and Milwaukie, Oregon. We are inspired by Affluent American tradition and imported ingredients.”
There was even a tongue-in-cheek guide to suggested food pairings for the Breakside Suburban Farmhouse Ale which at the time were often included in press releases and had descriptive, elevated pairings you might find with a fancy wine:
“Suburban-style saisons make a wonderful accompaniment to many foods, as they have a beautiful balance of dryness, natural acid, and gentle yeast aromatics. Breakside recommends pairing this beer with a wide range of dishes, including takeout pizza or any dish from the neighborhood association’s annual potluck.”
The Suburban Farmhouse Ale was always meant as a loving homage or tribute to The Commons original, but some people were confused by the concept and took it as either a jab or straight up IP theft:
“Umm. What? Commons label? I don't get it. I got the reference - I just wasn't clear it was a joke.” - wrote Dave Selden of 33 Beers, then of BS Brewing beer blog.
“Is there a reason why this looks exactly like a Commons label? Love the disc golf logo...” wrote Warren Wills aka Craft Beer Scribe.
“Should we lookout for bourbon little step-brother, biere royale with cheese” wrote Dave Flores, beertender from Bridgetown Beerhouse, Everywhere Beer, etc. who was referencing Commons other flagship beers Little Brother and Biere Royale.
Willamette Week was one of the few media publications that immediately got the joke and publishing a short story about it.
“Today, we get word that Northeast Portland's Breakside is sending their friends off with a fitting tribute/spoof of Portland's go-to saison, which went on to win a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival last year.” - wrote Martin Cizmar for WIllamette Week.
I am biased, but the Breakside Suburban Farmhouse Ale remains one of my favorite April Fool’s style inside jokes made in the craft beer community that was made better because it was in fact a real thing that happened. Let’s hope for more of this fun and good-natured trolling in 2026!