A Friend in Weed Is a Friend Indeed

May 29, 2008 11:30 AM

"Try Legal Weed" is the slogan printed on bottle caps made by Weed, California brewer Mount Shasta Brewing Company's latest microbrewed lager. The ATF has ordered the brewer not to use the caps, as they may "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage."

Mount Shasta Brewing Company's statement. Weed on wikipedia. The beerosphere responds.

posted by whir (43 comments total)

Man, what a tease.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 11:32 AM on May 29, 2008

It's high time they put a stop to drug references.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:39 AM on May 29, 2008 [2 favorites]

Are they going to ask Bud to do the same?
posted by Plutor at 11:40 AM on May 29, 2008 [14 favorites]

Indeed, from the first link: While stomping on him, Dillmann says, the government treats Budweiser with kid gloves, despite the fact that "This Bud's for You" also could be mistaken for marijuana slang.
posted by whir at 11:42 AM on May 29, 2008

Yeah, The BATF has all sorts of labeling rules, most which make little sense in context. Stuff ranging from how much nudity is permitted (drawings of statues sneak through, but drawings of paintings don't) to what varietal can be listed on a wine label (due to local politics/tradition oregon wines cane only be labeled as pinot "blanc" or "gris" rather than "bianco" or "grigio," though again a few winemakers have figured out how to sneak things through.) This isn't so much a war on drugs issue as much as it is a 'aren't government bureaucracies annoying' issue.
posted by elwoodwiles at 11:43 AM on May 29, 2008

find it to be false and misleading to the consumer in terms of what may or may not be the properties contained within that product

Half the government's problem seems to be that there's not enough marijuana in there. I wonder if you can call the ATF if your pot dealer shorts the sack?

Dillmann, ... is quick to note he has never inhaled the illegal stuff.

Hah, I call bullshit with, I think, roughly 75% probability.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 11:45 AM on May 29, 2008

Whew! Otherwise I might totally be under the impression that this legal beverage contains an illegal substance!
posted by DU at 11:45 AM on May 29, 2008

The ATF has gone totally power-mad since Bush got in... this is by no means the only livelihood they've attempted to destroy over pretty much nothing. Small errors that were A-OK in 1999 have become an excuse to call in the SWAT team. All part of our glorious confiscation state, I suppose...
posted by vorfeed at 11:48 AM on May 29, 2008

So, wait, you don't put your weed in there?
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:50 AM on May 29, 2008 [2 favorites]

This isn't so much a war on drugs issue as much as it is a 'aren't government bureaucracies annoying' issue.

Exactly. Case in point: Santa's Butt et al.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:51 AM on May 29, 2008

What do you mean there's no weed in there? Damnit, I've been going through a twelve pack a week trying to cop a proper buzz, but instead I'm just really extra-stupid drunk.

Yeah, I know that doesn't sound so bad, but do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to smoke beer?
posted by loquacious at 11:52 AM on May 29, 2008 [6 favorites]

Correction: I've been going through a twelve pack every hour for a week

i told u i wuz hardcore!
posted by loquacious at 11:53 AM on May 29, 2008

Well, so much for my idea to market Crack Cocaine brand soda.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:54 AM on May 29, 2008

The Mt. Shasta folks also make beers called 'Mountain High IPA' and 'Shastafarian Porter.'
posted by box at 11:56 AM on May 29, 2008

do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to smoke beer?

I don't think you're using that beer bong correctly.
posted by whir at 11:56 AM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Pollomacho, you probably could make Crack Soda - not alcoholic? Not covered by BATF regulations.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:01 PM on May 29, 2008

Wait until they get hold of some Polygamy Porter. The Texas DCFS will be all over it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:01 PM on May 29, 2008

Yeah, I know that doesn't sound so bad, but do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to smoke beer?

AND the results are disgusting.
posted by mkb at 12:10 PM on May 29, 2008

I smoked beer once. Beer had spilled on my last cigarette, and I had no prospects of getting any more anytime soon. After waiting several hours for it to dry out, I smoked it.

It was extra disgusting.

And I second the disgustitude of smoked beer - I tried it once, and once was enough. I do not want to drink a sausage.
posted by jtron at 12:17 PM on May 29, 2008

Smoked porter may be a little much in bottles, but on draft, with a seafood paella, they're *fantastic*!
posted by notsnot at 12:22 PM on May 29, 2008

Pollomacho, you probably could make Crack Soda - not alcoholic? Not covered by BATF regulations.

I think you are making assumptions about Crack Cocaine brand soda's all natural, organic ingredients.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:28 PM on May 29, 2008

"I've never tried marijuana in my life," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't advocate that. It's just our town's name."

OK buddy !
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:33 PM on May 29, 2008

I know I'm often confused about what is being sold when a TV commercial says: This Buds for You.
posted by Rashomon at 12:34 PM on May 29, 2008

I stopped in Weed , Ca one time while driving. I was hoping to find some quality Weed double -entendre stickers and shirts, but they didn't have shit. What a waste of a name if you're not gonna capitalize.
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:37 PM on May 29, 2008

What a waste of a name if you're not gonna capitalize.

They were going to print up some stickers, but then hey man, let's get some of those, what are they called? You know, those Little Debbie things. The peanut ones. Nutty Bars. Fuck, those things are delicious. Two for a quarter.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:42 PM on May 29, 2008

It's a good thing they are on the ball about this sort of thing. What would our world be like if people consumed products based on the idea that it might be named after an illegal substance or trying to subtlety promote use of the same?

*goes back to drinking Coca-Cola, and eating Munchies*
posted by quin at 12:48 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

I take it the ATF has run out of children to immolate?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:52 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Actually, it's not the ATF (DOJ) that has the problem with the slogan, it's the treasury department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. It seems to me that these nannies should also be sending a warning off to the justice department -- to paraphrase an old joke, calling it the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives makes it sound like they are having way too much fun over there.
posted by Killick at 12:54 PM on May 29, 2008

[rolls eyes]

If I buy beer thinking that it has weed in it because of the name and think I got screwed over, then I deserve to get screwed over.
posted by theichibun at 12:59 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Hooray for free advertising for the little guy!

assuming he has a business left afterwards
posted by davejay at 1:02 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

So, there is such a thing as too much government after all?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:15 PM on May 29, 2008

So, there is such a thing as too much government after all?

Is there really such a thing as not enough government?
posted by loquacious at 1:31 PM on May 29, 2008

I have heard that ATTTB intervention is why Lagunitas' "Kronik" is actually labeled "Censored".
posted by everichon at 1:34 PM on May 29, 2008

War On Drugs: Accomplished.
posted by basicchannel at 1:39 PM on May 29, 2008

Holy cow, everichon, I always wondered what that was called.
posted by whir at 1:40 PM on May 29, 2008

I always wondered what was up with the Lagunitas Censored. Good to know the real name.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 1:42 PM on May 29, 2008

IIRC, they threatened Grant's to make them remove nutritional info from their bottles. Many microbrews are a very good source of B-12, and a vegan one at that. ATF said "remove the nutrition info or we'll start taxing your beer as wine". Grant's fought it, but eventually caved. :-(
posted by owhydididoit at 1:53 PM on May 29, 2008

Hops, a key ingredient in beer, are in the same family as Cannabis and will produce a mild high if smoked, supposedly.


I stopped in Weed , Ca one time while driving. I was hoping to find some quality Weed double -entendre stickers and shirts, but they didn't have shit.

Clealry you haven't been there recently or were looking in the wrong place because now they have tons of keychains, shirts etc.
posted by euphorb at 1:56 PM on May 29, 2008

I stopped in Weed , Ca one time while driving. I was hoping to find some quality Weed double -entendre stickers and shirts, but they didn't have shit.

Clealry you haven't been there recently or were looking in the wrong place because now they have tons of keychains, shirts etc.

This was in 2000 I think. Maybe I was just stoned and didn't notice.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:02 PM on May 29, 2008

If I may sound like a beer nut for a moment, beer has a serious image problem, of which this is at least a minor indication. A bit like Hogarth's Gin Lane / Beer Alley dichotomy, reversed. In the US, beer is the low-class cousin of wine (even lousy supermarket plonk); something you'd only drink to get blitzed and beat your kids.

It's a perception that really hurts beer. This month, Alabama shot down Free The Hops' "Gourmet Beer" bill after some particularly ignorant debate. Explain to me why a state should sell pure grain alcohol--whose sole purpose is to get teenagers fucked up real cheap-like--and ban some really tasty beers just because they're more than 6% ABV.

So please don't put up with people portraying beer as crass. Show them you can drink to enjoy it. Respect beer.

I'm not saying you shouldn't get fucked up on beer, because I'm totally okay with that, too. But if you're puking on the train, complain about all the Smirnoff Ice you drank or something. Maybe we can get that shit banned.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:17 PM on May 29, 2008 [8 favorites]

Well, I guess I can see how the ATF got confused. But anyone who's ever ridden freight in the Cascades knows that the weed capital of Union Pacific's I-5 Corridor is Eugene, Oregon.
posted by ryanrs at 2:45 PM on May 29, 2008

A weed by any other name would smoke as sweet. But the ATF is bATFucking crazy. They're just feeling left out 'cuz they didn't get to storm the compound in Texas this go around.
posted by telstar at 3:14 PM on May 29, 2008

Well, so much for my idea to market Crack Cocaine brand soda.

You might run into some trademark issues with the folks promoting the Cocaine^ energy drink. I guess if it were alcoholic then they'd get the smackdown too.

Unless you were making a joke about that, in which case never mind.
posted by lostburner at 3:43 PM on May 29, 2008