Between Flattered and Flummoxed

So there I was, scrolling about before heading out to a birthday repast with my biker buddies, and I stumbled upon this:

Now, I've always enjoyed Weyerbacher's beers, so on one hand, I was flattered that they named one after me. On the other hand, nobody from the brewery advised me that my nom-de plume was being appropriated for this beer.

And that made me wonder how they came up with the name.

I know Larry Porter of Porters' Pub and Black and Blue in Easton is chummy with the owner, and since Larry and I have a pretty good beer history together, I thought he might have dropped my name in passing. Like, "Yeah. Here's a great article about my pub done by The PubScout!" The beer maker overhears and thinks, "That's a pretty cool name! I think I'll name my next IPA that."

That's cool. But if you're going to name a beer--especially from such a prestigious brewery as Weyerbacher--after a guy who's been "immersed in the craft beer scene since 1996," I'd have appreciated at least a heads up that this was going down.

Over the course of more than two decades, and after having written for some of the best beer publications in the country, I've had to confront a few writing upstarts who tried to steal my name (though nobody can steal my style). With the help of my former editors and current friends and a wide readership, those impostors have been convinced to desist.

One guy who tried to steal my moniker (who shall remain purposely nameless) backed off after being bombarded with a cannonade of comments of righteous indignation from a wide swath of my faithful readers. He skulked away claiming he never really wanted such a "childish" name anyway. It wasn't "clever enough and it didn't stand for anything." Then why was it your very first choice, dude?

But this is the first time I've found my name on a beer. Worse, the beer didn't win unanimous glowing recommendations. One wag even said, "I expected better from Weyerbacher."

Them's fighting words normally, because anything with my name on it is pretty high quality (except maybe for my ugly mug), but I kind of share that guy's attitude. At the very least, make a beer named after me that gets all four and five brown dots. Three's may be great in hoops, but in hops, not so much.

I might even have provided them some artwork for the label. Yours truly has had his ugly mug on a beer label before, even if some drunken sots thought it looked like George W. Bush.

So here, at the dawn of my eighth decade of life, I sit at once flattered yet flummoxed at this development. Far be it from me to try to score free beer, but I guess I'll crack open a Weyerbacher--after they send me a case of Heresy or Old Heathen to help me celebrate--and assuage my, um, hurt feelings. Cheers!

The PubScout