Yes Mildred, Dogs can Fly!
During my last business trip to Sweden, I was asked why there were so many “dog” references and themes related to American craft brews. It was a sincere question from a Swedish beer enthusiast, based on true curiosity and an assumption that maybe there was some special folklore that associated dogs with our beer culture. I was puzzled at first, but then quickly realized to myself that the “dog” theme is pretty ubiquitous; I just never consciously noticed how many beers had “doggie” themes until that moment. I laughingly explained that we Americans really like dogs and I guess they can be an easy subject for a cool beer label and that was pretty much the extent of the “Lore of the Dog”.
The epitome of the “doggie styled” craft brew has to be Flying Dog brewery of Denver, Colorado and now Frederick, Maryland. Last week a few friends and I attended an open house event at the Frederick location. Flying Dog recently purchased the former Frederick Brewery (Wild Goose) and has moved the majority of their operation from Denver to the larger Frederick location. I am sure there were growing pains along the way.
The open house was excellent, with nineteen beers offered for tasting. I especially enjoyed the hefeweizen called “In Heat Wheat” and the Imperial version of the “Road Dog Porter”. A VIP beer tour provided a chance to talk with the brew staff about techniques, ingredients etc.
Flying Dog is a first class craft brewer, crafting over 20 different beers, most with doggie themed names like “Old Scratch Amber Ale”, “In Heat Wheat” or “Road Dog Porter”. Flying Dog beer proudly proclaims “Good Beer, No Sh#@t” on every label, which took a lot of lobbying before the feds granted approval. The 1st amendment apparently doesn’t apply to beer labels. I cannot think of another brewery that boasts such a complex cast of characters who serve to drive the philosophy of the brewery, its marketing and its beers. The brewery was founded George Stranahan, a long time friend of the “Gonzo”, Hunter S. Thompson. The beer labels are illustrated by world renowned cartoonist Ralph Steadman and the brewing is overseen by German trained brew master Eric Warner (no wonder the hefeweizen is so damn good!).
It’s really great to have “the dog” on this side of the continental divide. I urge everyone to stop in to visit the excellent tasting room and to take one of the scheduled tours (check the Website here…); anyone travelling to the DC area from Charleston will likely pass within a mile of the brewery just off of I-270.
Now I ask you… Where are these beers in the Charleston area? Why aren’t they here? I have been sniffin and diggin and I cannot find them anywhere. C’mon West Virginia beer distributors, throw us a bone!
November 24th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Glad you enjoyed the trip and open house. Personally, I’ve always felt Flying Dog was a brewery that relied more on marketing - as evidenced by their clever names (”In Heat Wheat,” “Doggy Style,” etc.) and Raplph Steadman art - than good brewing. Magic Hat is another brewery in this vein, BTW. It’s not that either brewery makes bad product, it’s just generally average for a craft brewery
That said, some of bigger brews FD makes are pretty good. The spring seasonal Double Dog double pale ale is a nice barleywine-esque entry. And the Gonzo Imperial Porter (a Baltic porter, actually) is pretty darn near perfect. It was originally intended to be a one-off production to honor Dr. Hunter but proved popular enough to warrant full-time production. Fatheads has kept one if its many, many taps devoted to this for a couple of years now, which speaks volumes for it.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Marketing is a definite necessity and is not mutually exclusive to making good beer. I think there are several beers in the FD line that are just mediocore, but then you have some true winners like the wheat that rival the best that Bavaria can give us. We shouldn’t (and I don’t think you do) shun a brewery that experiences success through marketing or just good timing. That mentality is just as bad as the hero worship that goes on with many of the extreme breweries that make their share of dogs (forgive the canine reference).
November 25th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I have been a “Dog” fan for a while. We went up to the Maryland Brewer’s Fest in the spring and Frederick Oktoberfest in the fall and FD was a great presence at both. One of my personal favorites is the Kerberos Tripel. I also have had no luck finding any FD locally, but it is pretty easy to find in some of my faithful Ohio stores. Saidly, even if the did distribute to WV, we wouldn’t be able to get anything from the BigDog series.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hi Everyone-
My name is Neal Stewart and I am the Prime Minister of Marketing at Flying Dog.
To answer your question about Flying Dog’s availability in West Virginia - we have had a heck of a time getting our labels approved with the State Liquor Control Board. But we are working on this and hope to have more of a presence in the future.
We invite you to come out and tour our brewery. We offer public tours every Saturday at 2 and 3 pm - but get there early as they tend to fill up.
Cheers,
Neal
November 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Give us names and we will torment them…
The people that run our Alcohol Cmmission are inept and clueless; don’t get me started!
Thanks for checking in on the blog. The paper has made some changes and have “integrated” The Gazz into the general newpaper website. It seems that since that has happened my blog hits have dropped off. I can’t explain why. Maybe it’s just too many clicks to get here, but thanks for clicking!
November 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Rich, you’re right in that it’s not good policy to shun a company that does good work just because of its marketing. I know someone who was offended by the use of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the beer of the same name. He was missing out on a great porter because he couldn’t get past the name.
You’re also right in that I don’t shun just on marketing - Coors Light aside. My point, such as it is, is that the nifty bottle art may bring the people in but if the product isn’t there, they won’t come back. by way of other example, see Schmaltz Brewing, the fellows behind He’Brew (the Chosen Beer). Once you get past the “Hey, it’s playing up the whole Jewish-American thing” and actually drink it, there’s not much “there” there.
I really like some of The Dog’s product but much of it is just okay and certainly not special enough to put lots of effort into seeking out. It’s the same thing with Magic Hat. Clever, hippy-trippy packaging over a beer that’s good but not great. Boulder Brewing uses the same hippie style to promote its beer and for the most part I feel the same about it: Decent beer but not worth a special trip to another state to sample. See: Hazed n’ Infused.
There are several companies that do the clever bottle art/packaging while fully backing up the promotion with the product. Stone and Lagunitas come to mind. Stone has a whole gargoyle/silkscreened bottles with entire essays written on them/you’re not worthy to drink our beer vibe going on. And the product is some of the best on the planet. Period. Lagunitas is another So.Cal. brewery that does, inter alia, 40th anniversary brews based upon Frank Zappa albums. Kill Ugly Radio was one of the best beers I had in 2007, and I had some very good beer last year.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Lagunitas should do one called “Zombie Woof”!
November 29th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
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December 17th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
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March 8th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
amazing resource