Ale has long been the drink of thugs, convicts, rowdies, rakes and other depraved outlaws who thrive on the quick bursts of night-energy that ale brings.
In the 17th century England gangs of ale-crazed fops would often fight to the death in all-night brawls on public greenswards, which terrified the citizenry and left many of the infamous “youngblood horseman” chopped up with grievous sword and dagger wounds… These were the Wild Boys of Olde English story and song, rich sots on horseback who amused themselves in London by riding out at night, ripped to the tits on strong ale, and “popped old ladies into empty booze-barrels and rolled them down steep, cobblestone hills with crazy screams and shouts.”
If you must roll old ladies down hills and you don’t want to pay the bills, try to be nice and clean off their lice with a powerful Road Dog Ale.
~Hunter S. Thompson
The good doctor penned the mini quote above, dubbed “Ale According to Hunter,” in honour of the launch of “Road Dog Porter,” for Flying Dog Brewery which was, at the time, brewing beer in Woody Creek, Colorado just down the road from Thompson’s Owl Farm.
According to the legend (or Flying Dog’s website) Thompson and Flying Dog co-founder George Strahan apparently bonded over “explosives, high-powered weapons, politics, football, whiskey, and beer.” In 1996, Thompson introduced Strahan to illustrator Ralph Steadman and, amazingly, Steadman has been doing original artwork for the brewery’s labels ever since.
Continue reading “You Should Already Be Drinking: Flying Dog”
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