A rare, wild yeast was recently discovered in a forest in Patagonia, at coordinates 41°S - 71°W. It turned out to be the mother of all lager yeasts, including the famous Heineken® A-Yeast. Heineken’s Master Brewer, Willem Van Waesberghe took the challenge to tame it into a limited edition beer. It gives the lager beer a surprising full taste, with spicy notes and fruity hints. A unique beer style was born: the “Wild Lager." 

The Heineken Brand Design Team called on Constantia Flexibles (cflex.com) to create a label that conveys the uniqueness and intrigue of this exciting new beer: H41 should be unapologetically different from the iconic Heineken® we all know, but still unmistakably recognizable as part of the Heineken® family. The design brief requested clear labels with areas printed on the outside and having the look and feel of paper in the label centre. A ‘smoky’ green as well as high brilliant silver effects were chosen for the perfect relationship to the global Heineken brand.

Constantia Flexibles used their expert knowledge and market leading experience in the area of combination printing to achieve this goal, using three different techniques: rotary screen, flexo and foil stamping.  These three complementing printing styles created a unique, yet recognizable Heineken label.  The final product is a three-part label comprising the front, back and neck of the bottle. 

Heineken H41 launched to great acclaim in the Italian and Dutch markets this year.   “Constantia Flexibles has exceeded our expectations with their execution of this label, bringing to life our vision for the brand,” says Ramses Dingenouts, senior packaging and identity design manager at Heineken.