Blue Mountain Brewery became Nelson County’s original brewery back in 2007. In 2018, they approached us to help give their website an updated look, while still sticking to their well-established roots.

Blue Mountain Brewery was growing. Their beer became one of Charlottesville’s favorites, and their Afton Brewpub and Barrel House locations became some of the best local hangout spots. Their website, however, was also becoming outdated. As more and more people were drawn to Blue Mountain’s product and scenery, they needed something that represented them well, and also informed their new consumers on their brand.

Mountain High was then approached by Blue Mountain to give their website a fresh new look that represented their colorful brand. The site had to not only look good, but also have relevant and easy to access information for new consumers looking to become acquainted with Blue Mountain’s products. We had to find creative ways to provide a large amount of information, including details for all fifteen beers and four variety series, all of the staff and events at both Blue Mountain locations, the food currently available, and much more.

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We began by going through the existing Blue Mountain website and created information architecture for the new design. We reviewed other craft beverage sites to see what they liked and disliked about their competitors. After the content was organized and the inspiration was noted, we began customizing a chosen WordPress theme. The most important content for our client was their beer – obviously. They needed to be displayed in a simple, yet informative way. Through conversations between designers and developers, we found the right way to achieve both with simple functionality.

Additional design elements were created for the Blue Mountain website, including icon sets that matched the brand’s overall look.

We created an icon for each glass type to be incorporated into their “What’s On Tap” menu lightbox feature. When users wanted to know which beers were on tap at which location, they could click on the corresponding on-tap list to see each beer and how they are served – in a 16 oz. pint glass, a 10 oz. snifter, etc.

Icons were also created for the Blue Mountain menus at the Afton Brewpub – main menu, kids menu, and gluten-free. This way, when a guest visits the website, they can easily find the up-to-date menu they are looking for.