Gainesville's first brewery trading in 'Left Nut' for more inclusive title
May 20—What's in a name?
For Left Nut Brewing Co. founder Pap Datta, the eyebrow-raising moniker of his 6-year-old business connotes "what you're willing to give up to do something you really love."
It's served the brewery well, Datta said, but the time has come to retire the name in favor of one that represents a broader, more inclusive point of view.
From May 2022 onward, the Atlanta Highway enterprise will be formally known as Liquid Nation Brewing Co.
The rebrand follows reflection and dialogue on the brewery's journey thus far as well as the direction of its future, Datta said. As the LNB team tossed around ideas that aptly convey those sentiments, one theme took prevalence above the rest: resilience.
"Our resiliency through thick and thin, our adaptability, our ability to withstand barriers over time and move past that — what's synonymous with those three facets? Really, liquid," Datta said. "It's adaptable ... and at the same time it retains its own identity as it moves forward. We thought it was a good symbol for our journey as liquid flows from point A to point B."
The proceeding "Nation" symbolizes a group composed of different backgrounds and ideals working together toward a common vision and purpose.
Over the next month, the brewery will update its signage, website and social media to reflect its new identity and, as it heads into 2023, will do a redesign of its label artwork. In the meantime, craft beer devotees may find cans bearing both the old and new names at their local grocery store, et cetera.
The red "LNB" trademark, however, isn't going anywhere.
"That acronym has become sort of a trademark for us and brand recognition on the shelf," Datta said. "A lot of people have automatically referred to us as 'LNB' over time, so we needed to keep LNB. But at the same time, we didn't want to just force-fit letters."
For Datta, Left Nut held a more "internal focus" as a title. He wanted more people to be able "to see themselves in our brand" and believes changing the brewery's name will facilitate its next level of growth.
"It's not just giving up what Pap holds of value; it's all of us uniting, persevering and working together toward a broader, common agenda," he said. "And I think that makes people feel more included versus, 'I can't really relate to that.' As a consumer product, you want to be able to relate to more people than less people."
The name Left Nut was often met with raised eyebrows and required an extra layer of explanation in order to resonate with people, Datta said. With a more straightforward label in Liquid Nation, he's hoping to simplify customers' introduction to the brewery.
"I don't think we're going to lose the old crowd; I think what we're going to do is gain a more diverse and more dynamic crowd that can engage with us and not just, at face value, discount us by our name," Datta said.
Datta added the brewery will retain the same personnel, taproom and core values, reiterating that the only change taking place is the name it answers to.
Acolytes attached to the original name need not worry — Left Nut's legacy will live on through merchandise available exclusively at the brewery for those who wish to salute the name and the history behind it.
"We're not shying away from it — it was our identity for a long time ... and will always be a core (part) of what we are," Datta said. "We came into craft brewing, which was supposed to be edgy (and) breaking the mold, which was supposed to not take the safety route. Even with our brand, we took that approach. I think we epitomize what craft brewing was about beyond just the passion and creation of beer. I think initially it benefitted us, as a small player, to get more attention than we would have if we had some other name before. A name change isn't changing us, but it will help us reach the heights that we want to reach."
