CINCINNATI, OH—How do the visually impaired pick out a can of beer from other canned non-alcoholic beverages? This is a question that started between one West Side Brewing salesperson and a friend who works as a development specialist for the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. These questions are why CABVi exists, and its mission to empower blind and visually impaired people of Cincinnati to lead more independent lives quickly became a shared goal with the neighborhood brewery.
The two decided to create a new collaborative beer, the Braille Ale, a raspberry gose that needed a unique label. The idea to design a beer can label with braille made the most sense, so they started with West Side’s current supplier, Steinhauser. The local custom label printer for consumer packaged goods located in nearby Newport, KY, quickly stepped up to the plate to take on the challenge. 
Many moving parts had to come together, including a printing screen from Germany and printing supplier donations from Rotometics, EC Shaw, Avery Dennison and Flint in order to make this vision a reality. Erin Dickman, senior account executive at Steinhauser, was determined to see the project through and deliver a final printed label that would support CABVi and West Side Brewing.
“At Steinhauser, we are always eager to partner with our customers on their philanthropic packaging endeavors. This project was so unique and supported a special local non-profit so we knew we had to do whatever we could to bring this label to life. Our Operations team quickly arranged all necessary components to create the braille and we are so grateful to our supplier partners who generously donated.”
West Side Brewing launched this one-of-a-kind Gose on Aug. 27 with cans and growlers in the taproom. The distribution of six-packs to local retail outlets started on Aug. 28. A portion of each sale will be donated to CABVi’s services to help people of all ages adapt to severe vision loss.
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