There probably aren’t many people who know me that don’t know how much I love a good beer. You can imagine, then, how much it infuriates me to see the rights of Americans to enjoy a cold brew tread upon. Just this past weekend, I had the occasion to travel to Kentucky to attend a wedding. We had a wonderful time and the wedding was a joyous event, but it occurred in a dry county, or one where alcohol is not permitted to be sold.

While I hadn’t planned on drinking anyway, it always offends me that my rights to purchase and enjoy a legal beverage are infringed upon. Quite frequently, this is done by a small minority seeking to impose their idea of morality upon an entire community. Were the matter taken to popular vote, it would almost certainly be overturned-an indication of the unjust nature of the laws that block honest, hardworking Americans from selling, buying, and enjoying alcoholic beverages in certain communities.

As a protest, I enjoyed a bottle of Road Dog Scottish Porter upon my return home. Colorado’s Flying Dog Brewery recently won a major victory in the battle for beer drinkers rights, in there case a battle for the basic right for free speech. The battle began back in September of 1995 when the Colorado Liquor Enforcement agency found the label for Road Dog Scottish Porter obscene, and stopped the brewery (then Broadway Brewing) from selling the beer.

Flying Dog is not the only Colorado brewer to experience free speech issues with their beer. Industry giant Coors took the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to court for the right to simply tell you on the label what the alcohol content of the beer you buy is. Happily, Coors won that battle.

In Flying Dog’s case, the controversy surrounded a Ralph Steadman painting that appeared on the Road Dog label. It’s a portrait of an unsavory looking canine character that features the motto, “Good beer, no s*h*i*t” (asterisks inserted to circumvent more censorship). When the state of Colorado found this to be unacceptable, Flying Dog began selling the beer with an altered label, one that replaced the words “no s*h*i*t” with “no censorship”.

Flying Dog does not enjoy the deep pockets Coors has, but fortunately the American Civil Liberties Union stepped up and represented them against Colorado, arguing that Flying Dog’s First Amendment constitutional rights to free speech were being violated. Ultimately, the ACLU won Flying Dog the right to display the original artwork in its home state.

Road Dog Scottish Porter itself is a tasty enough beer that falls stylistically somewhere in the realm of a roasty Scottish ale. It certainly resembles that beer more than it does a porter in my opinion.

Road Dog Scottish Porter pours to a medium to dark brown color with a thick foamy head and a piney hop nose that also hints at chocolate. The palate itself is chocolaty too, slightly sweet, smooth and malty, a bit roasty, and perhaps even a tad smoky. The finish has a hint of grassy character and a light bitterness. This is by no means a heavy beer; rather it is a very smooth and malty one.

The next time you head to the liquor store, why not pick up a six-pack? You’ll surely enjoy it, and you too can celebrate the ongoing battle to protect our rights as Americans.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

 

 



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