United Nations of Beer

Flying Dog Road Dog Scottish Porter

by Lucia Novara
(Beer Delegate, CO, USA)

Road Dog Scottish Porter
Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, CO, USA

The Road Dog Scottish Porter is a much darker offering that is brewed with four specialty malts (including Chocolate and Black malts) for the kind of rich licorice and chocolate flavors that Porter-hounds dig. The label has a back story all its own as well. Hunter S. Thompson introduced his long-time illustrator Ralph Steadman to George Stranahan and it was only a matter of time before George had him designing labels.

The Road Dog label was the first one Steadman designed and in true Flying Dog spirit it got him in trouble with the law immediately. It featured the tagline "Good Beer. No Shit." and the buzz-kills at the Colorado Liquor Board decided it was offensive and could potentially "induce lewd behavior".

A four-year lawsuit ensued with the ACLU defending the brewery and Steadman on the grounds that it was their First Amendment right to use a badass tagline. During those years the label read "Good Beer. No Censorship." They won the lawsuit in 2000 and the label now proudly states the original tagline. It may indeed induce lewd behavior, but no more than, say, a 40oz of Mickey's Ice.