To beer or not to beer? While craft brewers arenβt exactly Shakespeareans, it takes a creative bunch to name a brew. They welcome the opportunity to come up with a clever name while working out a new recipe.
You could simply name a beer after its style, but βBrand X Pale Aleβ doesnβt have marketing punch β and itβs not as much fun as say, Royal Oak Breweryβs βKurt Brownnegut.β
But brewers walk a fine line. Seemingly funny names have been either misinterpreted or caused offense to segments of the populace, including some that have been interpreted as insensitive, misogynistic, or cruel.
Itβs a high-visibility issue and The Brewers Association (representing 4,000+ U.S. breweries) has updated its guidelines to restrict the marketing of beer names and labels that are deemed sexually explicit, lewd, or demeaning.
It poses a few questions. Like if Marylandβs Flying Dog Brewery can have a βRaging Bitch,β then a βDirty Bastardβ from Michiganβs Founders Brewing shouldnβt be a problem, right? So far, itβs not.
Founders Brewing, on the other hand, had to temporarily change the label of its Breakfast Stout a while back. The original image depicted a child eating from an oatmeal bowl, but Michigan law prohibited minors on alcoholic beverage labels. (Designers got in a last shot, placing the bowl at an empty chair, with a note on the refrigerator saying βLeft the crib for a bit, call me if you need me.β)
Shortβs Brewing Co. has also faced label changes. They created a beer called βHanginβ Frankβ for the City Park Grill in Petoskey. It was based on folklore that after his suicide, the former ownerβs ghost haunts the bar. Some called out insensitivity over the issue of suicide. Others claimed the color of Frankβs hand on the artwork was an allusion to racism. Shortβs rebranded the beer, opting for the text-only βControversiALE.β
Shortβs βAphasiaβ had a similar backlash from speech pathologists, since the term refers to the condition of slurred speech due to brain damage. Shortβs ceased distribution and donated $2,500 to the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association as a gesture of respect and support.
Other names and/or labels from Michigan have raised some eyebrows. Consider Atwaterβs βDirty Blonde,β Right Brain Breweryβs βNaughty Girl Stout,β or Founders βD*** Kicker Malt Liquorβ (abbreviated as βDKMLβ on the bottle).
Kuhnhenn changed βPanty Dropperβ to βPD,β but kept itβs slyly named βFlufferβ (look it up!). And while Great Baraboo Brewing Co. has βHuge Melons,β Saugatuck discontinued its βHop on a Blonde.β
Not everything is about sex, though. Consider a few recent gems, such as Drafting Tableβs βOnly Fools Russian,β Great Baraboo Brewing Co.βs βMay the Schwarzbier With You,β Greenbushβs βJuicebox Hero,β Rockford Brewing Co.βs βComplete Nutter Madness,β Tibbs Brewing Co.βs βFor Richer or Porter,β and Woodward Avenue Brewersβ βItβs So KΓΆlsch in the Dβ β¦
We could go on, but itβs nearly beer oβclock.
Suffice it to say that as long as breweries keep brewing, names will be named. Not all will be successful, but theyβll keep driving consumers to purchase β and at times, to social media to complain.
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