GonzoFest or Bust

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The People’s Republic of Flying Dog is now in session. It’s happy hour at Flying Dog Brewery, so here is your latest dose of irreverence.

GonzoFest or Bust

Tickets for our 2nd Annual GonzoFest are officially on sale and selling briskly. If you buy your tickets online before one of the biggest blowouts in all of Maryland, you can save $10. But if you’re a slacker, we totally understand - and will subsequently charge you an extra ten bucks at the door. But it’s your call. Plus, if you wait to buy your GonzoFest ticket, they may sell out before you can buy one. Which would seriously suck, because we want to party with you. Yes, you. Buy your GonzoFest ticket now.

There will obviously be some award-winning craft beer on hand, and there will also be the Hard Times Cafe; Chili Cook-Off (for the Maryland State Championship). Something that we’re also especially stoked about this year is the musical lineup. Just so you know, the music is going to rock your socks off.

…soihadto… - Are you an Ace of Cakes fan? Because Duff’s band …soihadto… is our headlining act this year. I haven’t seen them live, but listening to their Myspace samples and seeing them play in Alaska in an episode of Ace of Cakes lets me know they’re total bad asses. From their site, “If any one thing brought the members of …soihadto… together, it’s the belief that music isn’t simply meant to be listened to, it’s to be experienced.”

Mark Bryan and Friends - Mark Bryan is from a band you might have heard of called Hootie and the Blowfish. And he’s getting together with some of his good buddies to help us celebrate GonzoFest. Check out Mark’s Myspace page for some samples and find out what he’s up to now.

Freddie Long Band - Freddie is a longtime friend of Flying Dog Brewery. The Freddie Long Band has played numerous events for Flying Dog, including last year’s GonzoFest. In fact, he’s featured in our GonzoFest video from last year. A diverse mix of originals and covers make for a high energy set. We’re super excited to welcome Freddie and his band back to GonzoFest.

Flying Dog’s Own Uncle Rocko - We are super excited to have some brewery representation on the stage this year. We’re not entirely sure what to expect, but we know they’re a great rock band headed by our very own Jeffrey Poehler. Jeffrey kept everyone entertained with his talent at our beach getaway a couple weekends ago, and we can’t wait to see how he kicks off GonzoFest for us.

Tweener Music Provided By ToeKnee - Our Packaging Master Tony Shoopman is going to be spinning records between every set and I’m sure he’ll be entertaining you with an extensive collection of vinyl.

And as you probably know, admission includes: Beer, Music, Souvenir Mug, Chili Competition Samples and all-around Good Karma: A portion of the proceeds benefit United Way of Frederick County.

GABF & FBAG: The Hoppiest Palindrome That’s Ever Existed

What do you get when 40,000 people congregate in Denver to celebrate beer? A huge gigantic beer party, that’s what. The Great American Beer Festival is just around the corner, happening September 24-26. Tickets are going fast. If you’re an AHA Member, snap up your Saturday ticket ASAP, because you’ll be shit out of luck soon (87% are sold already). Tickets for other sessions are selling quickly, and you don’t want to miss out on 3 days of hopsanity (plus an official sponsor this year is the Simpsons - getting drunk with Homer sounds great).

If you’re coming to Denver, mark on your calendar that Flying Dog’s 2nd Annual FBAG party is happening again on Friday, September 25th from 3-6PM. FBAG (aside from being GABF backwards, and an abbreviation for something that’s a little bit naughty, if you know what I’m talking about) stands for “Flying Dog, Brats & Gonzo” and last year’s FBAG shenanigans was probably the most well-attended event of the week (besides GABF). We were expecting about 300 folks, and 750 of you happened to show up and have fun while drinking Flying Dog Beer, eating Gonzo Beer Brats and listening to some great live music.

We’re deep in the planning stages for FBAG and will have full details for you in two weeks. We have some really special announcements to announce, but the short story is that you won’t want to be missing this.

Beer & BBQ Backyard Bash @ Barefoot Bernie’s: Tastiest. Alliteration. Ever.

Flying Dog English 101 continues here with some of the best alliteration that you can consume. Flying Dog Brewery is a sponsor of the Brew & BBQ Backyard Bash At Barefoot Bernie’s in nearby Hagerstown, MD. We’re sponsoring one of the stages (The Dog House) and there will be some pretty awesome music at our stage.

Dimestore Profit
Josh Morningstar

Also scheduled to play at Brew & BBQ are Better Than Ezra and Diesel.

This event isn’t just a huge party, it also benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Sunday, August 23, 2009, gates open at 2:00 PM
$25, rain or shine
901 Dual Highway
Hagerstown, MD 21740
(302) 797-4424

We Did Our Part To Try To Bring Craft Beer To The White House, Did You?

Last time, we told you all about the Beer Summit in Washington, DC. Well, after we got the newsletter out, we had a great idea. Since we’re only 42 miles from the White House, we decided to make some signs and get a bunch of folks from the Brewery to cruise down to 1600 Pennsylvania to let El Presidente know that we were close to town, and we wanted to play a part. So about 20 Flying Dog employees piled into our Winnebago, aka our corporate vehicle, and cruised down there. Not so much to protest, but more to get the message of “Craft Beer being awesome” out there

As one of the closest breweries to DC, we felt it was our responsibility to try to represent our Craft Beer brethren across the country. So we organized peacefully and screamed things like “Beer, Not Bombs” and “What do we want? Craft Beer! When do we want it? Now!” out in front of the home of the most powerful man in the world. Thankfully, nobody got arrested, and we were as orderly as a mass of punk rock-loving beer makers could be.

We’d like to think that at the “Beer Summit 2: Electric Boogaloo” that Flying Dog Brewery will be represented, but it’s also up to you to help us out. Write your local congressman and tell them about the great things you’re doing, like how you’re purchasing American-owned and American-made craft beer, which helps out the economy.

Check out a really short video as proof that we actually went there and yelled a little bit.

#flyingdogfriday - A Weekly Contest on Twitter

We had an idea last week to start something we are calling #flyingdogfriday. Each week we’ll ask you a question on twitter with no absolute correct answer, and you reply to us. The winner gets a prize. Last week’s underhanded slow pitch question du jour was this: What’s your favorite @flyingdog beer and why?

A couple hundred responses later, we have picked a winner. @knownhuman wins for his tweet (which was actually the first response):

@flyingdog Snake Dog, because it’s hopped with pure awesome.

The runners-up were @datingdad, @jbaredesign and @kipsteele. Congratulations for not actually winning, but we liked your responses anyhow. See all the responses here, and use the “newer” link to scroll through the whole day’s @replies.

While you’re slacking off at work this coming Friday, check out our twitter page and maybe do some winning of your own.

Cheers! Until next time,
     -Josh