KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — Michigan is home to many craft breweries and popular IPAs. From Founders Brewing Company to New Holland Brewing Company, the state is home to some of the most creative minds in the brewing industry. Yet one particular question was at the minds of filmmakers Bret Miller and Rory McHarg after a Dave Chapelle set in Kalamazoo, MI.
13 ON YOUR SIDE spoke with them about what they discovered after they asked each other a burning question.
"Why the hell did they put a fish on the label the Two Hearted Ale?" asked McHarg.
He and Miller's question piqued their interest, and just like any filmmaker would, they set out to find an answer.
And just like that, Miller and McHarg set out on their journey which would eventually take the form of a documentary titled A Two Hearted Tale, following the history and development of Bell's Two Hearted Ale IPA along with that fish you can find on every can and bottle.
After some preliminary research on their question, Miller and McHarg made an early discovery.
"We might not know for sure [that] Bell's was the first brewery to put this kind of unique, interesting individual label onto a beer label," Miller said. "We do know it was the first in Michigan."
So with their hypothesis prepared and the subject of discussion being the unique artwork the Two Hearted Ale sported, both Miller and McHarg knew the label had to come from somewhere or someone.
"We thought that he might have just been a really wild artist that was too random to edit into a film," McHarg said.
The artist in question? Ladislav Hanka, the man behind the fish.
"Ladislav is eccentric," Miller said. "Very smart, very together. He's just got so many great ideas. And you can see it through his art."
Ladislav's most iconic design became the trout which wraps around every can and bottle from Bell's, eventually causing a change in beer culture that can be traced right back to Kalamazoo.
"Every label was monotonous. People were just so bored of it," McHarg said. "To actually put an artist on the label and just go about it a completely different way. It changed the way we thought about what a beer label could be, a piece of art."
Miller also recognized the uniqueness around the execution of this concept, and why it makes Ladislav's story so endearing in the world of not only beer, but art.
"[Bell's] thought it was natural and the right thing to do. They didn't have a boardroom of people talking about it, [or] a marketing team that covered every little thing. They just jumped out and said 'we're not chasing money. We're doing it because we like it; we think it's cool,'" Miller said.
Miller and McHarg's documentary A Two Hearted Tale will have a screening in Kalamazoo at the KP Cinema on May 2, and a screening at Grand Rapids' Wealthy Theatre on May 29.
Tickets are available on each theater's respective website.
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