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

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.

Go Gonzo For GonzoFest

It’s that time of the year when we throw a ridiculously massive party at our brewery. A party where a couple or three thousand of our best friends come out to drink Flying Dog beer, listen to great live music, eat award-winning chili, and help out a local charity.

Yes, I’m talking about GonzoFest - Flying Dog Brewery’s annual throwdown on September 12th, 2009 from 3-9PM.

We told you last year that if you missed GonzoFest, you’d “be in a state of self-loathing for months,” - and all of you who missed it know that we were being serious. Wondering what you missed? Below are two HD videos that will help explain the kind of awesomely good time we had last year (except for the guy in the 2nd video, he was probably hurting for a few days).

Discounted tickets for GonzoFest are available in advance online starting this Saturday, August 1st. Just cruise to the GonzoFest page of our website and click the link to buy tickets.

We’ve got some fun shit happening at GonzoFest this year:

• Hunter S. Thompson Lookalike Contest - win Gonzo prizes for the best Hunter costume, one of the prizes is a bottle of Flying Dog beer signed by Gonzo co-conspirator Ralph Steadman

• Hard Times Cafe Chili Cookoff (for the 2009 Maryland State Championship)

• Awesome bands this year, including …soihadto… - the band that Duff from the Food Network show Ace of Cakes is in - see the full lineup at the Gonzofest home page

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.

Drink ‘Til You Tweet

Free beer, no shit. Announcing the best Denver TweetUp that’s ever TweetedUp.

Are you a Twitter user? We’re working with some of the coolest dogs on the block to bring you the next installment of the #denvertweetup! Join @thebigklosowski, @redheadwriting and @flyingdog for an August 13th TweetUp (6-8PM) at our warehouse (2401 Blake Street, two blocks north of the baseball stadium). So come drink free beer for a few hours and then come out on a LoDo pub crawl with us afterwards.

We’ll also be accepting a suggested $5 donation for the Food Bank of the Rockies. We won’t be mad if you don’t donate, but don’t come crying to us when a piano falls on your head because of the negative Karma for not helping the hungry.

Click here to reserve your free tickets. Yeah, you need a ticket to get in, even though the event is free.

Help Improve Relations Between The United States and The People’s Republic of Flying Dog

You probably heard about some shit that went down in Cambridge, MA last week. One of Harvard’s most respected professors was arrested for “breaking into” his own house. And President Obama got involved. We’re not going to say who was right and who was wrong, because we’re people who get paid to make beer.

Tomorrow, President Obama will be hosting both Professor Gates and Officer Crowley at the White House to talk about what went wrong and how we as a society can avoid these sorts of issues. We at Flying Dog appreciate that three men can get together and work on settling their differences over a beer.

But we wish that the beer they were drinking was produced more locally. Many craft beer enthusiasts preach the phrase “Think Globally, Drink Locally.” With the President having to think on a global scale, we ask him to heed the “drink locally” aspect of the phrase. Flying Dog beer is brewed just 42 miles from the White House, and there’s no better way to preach “American Economic Recovery” than to drink award-winning beer produced within a stone’s throw of your (White) House.

If you agree with our reasoning, send an email to the White House to let them know that Flying Dog Brewery is just up the road in scenic Frederick, Maryland. We’d be happy to provide the beer for future White House Happy Hours. We are thinking that President Obama would be a Tire Bite fan. And with more than 15 styles of beer, we’re sure to have something to scratch every world leader’s itch.

So let’s work towards building a strong and healthy relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of Flying Dog.

Cheers! Until next time,
-Josh

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.

The People’s Republic Of Flying Dog Lands At Philly Beer Week

We’re right in the thick of Philly Beer Week (which is actually ten days long - I guess that’s just how Philly rolls). Flying Dog Brewery is there, and we’re doing a ton of events throughout this week. For a look at everything we’ve done and are continuing to do, check out our schedule over at flyingdognews.com.


We’re owning Philly Beer Week as only we can. That pretty much means huge parties, great beer, and great people at great bars.





Monday night, Mid-Atlantic Market Manager Joe Gomez was on hand at the Pub on Passyunk East - or the P.O.P.E., to use the parlance of our times. Joe was joined by VP of Brewing Operations (and all-around bad ass) Matt Brophy for “The Gonzo Art of Drinking” at P.O.P.E., which was a tribute to Ralph Steadman. At the end of the night, Joe and Matt gave away a Ralph Steadman print, along with a gift certificate for a free frame to boot. The print was a totally bad-ass version of the White Rabbit from Ralph’s version of Alice in Wonderland, as only Ralph should draw it. Incidentally, this isn’t the first time Ralph has been involved with the Pope - read about Ralph’s time with Hunter S. Thompson at the America’s Cup and how this fits here (if you’re a slacker, just search for pope).


Here’s what Joe had to say about Monday night’s event:

“I don’t have enough adjectives to describe how great the event at P.O.P.E. was! Dennis Hewlett, the owner of the P.O.P.E, went all out for us. The only place I have EVER been that was more Flying Dog-friendly is our own tasting room. A few hundred people came through to try out our Nitro and Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter. When I left, Horn Dog was the lone surviving tap; we kicked everything else.”


Wednesday night (aka tonight), Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso will be on hand at both of our events: “PAWS” Benefit from 5-8PM at the Bishops Collar (2349 Fairmount Ave) and then at a Flying Dog Promo Night, starting at 7:30PM at The Good Dog (224 S 15th Street). Stop in and say hey to our fearless leader!


And then our Head Brewer Bob Malone will attend our Philly Beer Week events  Thursday-Saturday, so stop by and say hey to the man who helps make your Flying Dog beer taste so damn good.

Get to Know Gonzo

Get to know the cultural icons who play an integral role in the history of Flying Dog. Of course, we’re talking about Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman. We had a huge response to our newsletter last time (which reflected on the passing of Hunter four years ago), so based on your feedback we’re going to run with it. This is the first in this series, a video segment that the BBC World News put out back in June. The BBC interviewed Alex Gibney, director of “Gonzo” about the film.

We’ll be bringing you something Gonzo-themed from the world each time the newsletter comes out. Have a link to send us? Email it to joshm [at] flyingdogales [dot] com with a link.

Dogs Don’t Generally Tweet, But What About Flying Dogs?

If you have a dog that’s making tweeting noises, you probably need to go see a veterinarian. But if you’re a Flying Dog, it’s very much plausible. Birds fly and flying dogs fly. Seems plausible enough to me.

Flying Dog has a Twitter page, as we’re sure you know. And we’re recognized as one of the top 25 brands using Twitter. We’ve also just amassed over 3,000 followers, and we’re growing by leaps and bounds every day. We can’t do this sort of “World Adult Beverage Domination” that we’re achieving without you fine folks, so keep talking about us to your friends. We certainly talk about you to our friends, just so you know.

What you might not know is that a growing number of Flying Dog employees are using Twitter, too. If you’re interested in what they do, you might want to consider following them, too:


Jim Caruso - Flying Dog CEO. Jim is all over the country almost every week, checking in and posting photos along the way.

Matt Brophy - VP of Brewing Operations - Matt’s a total brewing genius, and a really amazingly nice guy to boot. If you’re a brewer or aspiring brewer or just a fan of our brews, he’s your man.


Joe Gomez - Mid-Atlantic Sales - Joe (yeah, the same guy from the Philly Beer Week article) has been tweeting about the Mid-Atlantic for a while and is definitely getting the hang of it. If you live around the Philly area, Joe is the go-to guy for you.


J.T. Smith - Frederick/Baltimore/DC Beer Guy - J.T.’s job title is “Local Beer Guy” which makes sense if you live in the Frederick/Baltimore/DC area. J.T. posts about our activity in the area as well as about lots of cool music.


Tabitha Kim - Purchasing Specialist - Tabitha is a relatively new hire who is very serious about Flying Dog. Just look at this tweet from Tabitha yesterday.


Steph Kerchner - Marketing & PR Coordinator - Steph is a jack of all trades. She’s our festival go-to gal, but also hits the streets of Colorado, spreading the good word abut Flying Dog.


Neal Stewart - Prime Minister of Marketing - Neal is a really big deal. Aside from overseeing the direction of the Brewery’s marketing, he’s usually the voice of Flying Dog’s twitter account. He writes lots of blogs, and even has a personal blog about Turkey Sandwiches.


Justin Livengood - Purchasing, inventory specialist and all-around brewery bad ass - To call Justin just an inventory/purchasing guy would be the biggest understatement we can think of. Justin keeps this company running through his invaluable insights. He’s newly married, a new homeowner and also the 2008 Flying Dog Alpha Bitch (employee of the year). Justin is just getting started on twitter, but welcome him all the same.


Lori Maykowski - Accounting Manager - Lori is our 2007 Alpha Bitch who tackles a bunch of our accounting necessities. Lori is into traveling, and is really into seeing live music. She is even chummy with Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell - OK, well, she’s met them at least. And Elvira.


Josh Mishell (expletive-filled posts, be warned) - Creative Manager - The easiest way to explain his job is that Flying Dog pays Josh to design beer labels. His job encompasses more than that, from shooting and editing video to other stuff, including the writing of this newsletter (recently).

But Wait, There’s More Tech and Beer Shit To Talk About!

We’ve got more to talk about when it comes to beer and tech convergence. No, we can’t email a beer yet (but we have an entire team devoted to bringing that to you). But we can collectively talk about beer online at a new social networking site devoted to beer. 97 Bottles is new, and we think they’re onto a pretty cool concept.

I met Keith Robinson, one of the creators of 97bottles.com a few weeks ago and I asked him to talk a little more about what they’re trying to do.


“97 Bottles is a web site that lets you keep track of beers you’ve tasted, rank them, review them and share what you’ve learned. Ever since the launch of Cork’d, which is similar for wine, I’ve wanted to have the same thing for beer. I love beer, but have found the “beer geek” community to be a bit hard to crack. I knew quite a few people who felt the same.

“I wanted a place where I could indulge my love for beer and learn in a way that was accessible and open. 97 Bottles was created to be very easy to use and accessible, while having an advanced feature set that appeals to hardcore beer geeks.


“We’re working on a really nice mobile version that will allow people to review/rate on the go. An iPhone app is also in the works. We plan on doing quite a bit with the location data we’re collecting, so we can break down reviews by region, for example, or allow people to easily hook up with drinking buddies in their area.


“I’m a huge fan of porters and stouts; those are my favorites for sure. Your Gonzo Imperial Porter is on my to-drink list and I hope to get to that soon. I’ve also got a fondness for the German Weissbiers.


“We are going to be all over SXSW. On Friday the 13th we’re doing a 97 Bottles happy hour at the Gingerman, on Saturday we’re providing some beer to the Bikehugger folks and their Urban Ride, and on Monday we’re doing our 4th annual SXNW party at the Iron Cactus. And we’ve got a few other small things sprinkled in between.”


If you’re interested in rating and reviewing our beers, just sign up for free at 97bottles.com and search the beers for us. We also have an account at 97bottles.com, so please add us as your friend!