Maryland’s Flying Dog wins another court fight over its edgy beer labels
May 17, 2022
Jeff Clabaugh
WTOP
The label was designed by English artist Ralph Steadman, who has been creating Flying Dog’s eye-catching labels since 1995. (Courtesy Flying Dog Brewery, via WTOP)
Maryland’s Flying Dog Brewery is known for its sometimes edgy beer labels and beer names and, on occasion, has gone to court to defend them.
In the latest victory for the Frederick-based brewery, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has ruled in favor of Flying Dog and against the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission over a regulation allowing it to ban labels the commissioners deem undignified, immodest or in bad taste.
Flying Dog argued the regulation is a violation of First Amendment rights.
Flying Dog filed its lawsuit last August after the North Carolina ABC rejected its label for “Freezin’ Season Winter Ale,” whose cartoon label featured a naked man standing next to a campfire. The label was designed by English artist Ralph Steadman, who has been creating Flying Dog’s eye-catching labels since 1995.
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