Category Archives: Dogs

Craft Breweries, Dogs, Names

Animal Magic

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When I was a kid growing up in Scotland, one of my favorite television shows was called “Animal Magic“. The show, which ran from 1962 to 1983, was part of the BBC’s children’s programing. It’s host Johnny Morris provided the show’s young viewers with content about the animal kingdom that was both entertaining and educational. As I have visited craft breweries over the years I have come to appreciate the affection that many brewery owners have for the animal kingdom, particularly dogs. This is a topic that I have written about on several occasions – see here and here for example. Dogs seem to be a particular favorite of craft breweries. It is not difficult to find a brewery where dogs seem to be as welcome as their two-legged companions who drink the beer that the brewery produces.

Dogs are welcome at Birdsong Brewing in Charlotte, NC

On a recent trip to Indianapolis, I was reminded of the the love that many brewery owners have for our four legged friends and other animals s well. The trip was the first road trip that I had taken since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife and I travelled there with my oldest daughter and boyfriend (now fiancé) for a couple of days of relaxation and sightseeing. As both my daughter and her boyfriend are craft beer aficionados visits to a couple of craft breweries were included in our itinerary. One of the breweries that I particularly wanted to visit was Metazoa Brewing Company. In February 2020, I had met Metazoa’s owner Dave Worthington at the Beer Marketing and Tourism Conference in St. Petersburg, FL. Being the super nice guy that Dave is, there was a standing invitation to visit Metazoa the next time I was Indianapolis. About a week before we left for Indy I emailed Dave and arranged for a time to drop by the brewery to say “hi” to and catch up. I knew a little bit about Metazoa as a result of my conversations with Dave in St. Petersburg. For example, I knew that Dave is passionate about animal welfare and that 5% of Metazoa’s profits are donated to animal welfare charities. However, as I was to find out, Dave’s commitment to animal welfare extends beyond just donating part of his brewery’s profits.

After arriving at Metazoa, the first thing that Dave did was to make sure that the four of us had a beer in our hands (or a soft drink in the case of my wife). Metazoa has an impressive line-up of beers, some of which have medalled at beer festivals/championships, including the Great American Beer Festival, the U.S Open Beer Championship, and the World Beer Cup. I opted to try Wicked Pawsome, a Hazy IPA, that had won a Bronze Medal at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival. And I have to say – Wicked Pawsome was Wicked Awesome. Not surprisingly, given Dave’s love of animals, there are several of Metazoa’s other beers whose names are inspired by the animal kingdom. These include Puppy Slumber Party (a Peanut Butter Milk Stout), Fast and Furriest (an American IPA), and Gnat King Kölsch (a Kölsch). The name of the brewery, Metazoa, also reflects Dave’s love for animals. The term Metazoa refers to “a major division of the animal kingdom that comprises all animals other than protozoans and sponges. They are multicellular animals with differentiated tissues.”

A sign hanging in Metazoa’s taproom defines the meaning of Metazoa
Enjoying a beer with Metazoa owner Dave Worthington (left)

But Dave’s love for animals goes well beyond the name of his brewery and some its beers. As noted above, Metazoa donates 5% of its profits to a number of different animal welfare organizations. Organizations currently supported by Metazoa include Prison Greyhounds, Save the Chimps, and the Humane Society of Indianapolis (aka IndyHumane). These organizations do amazing work. For example, Prison Greyhounds “fosters retired racing greyhounds and teaches them basic house manners prior to their adoption into permanent loving homes,” while Save the Chimps “offers life-long care for chimpanzees rescued from research laboratories, the pet trade, and entertainment industry.”

Metazoa donate 5% of its profits to a number of animal welfare charities

It is almost impossible to visit Metazoa and not be reminded of the Dave’s passion for animal welfare. Its taproom walls are decorated by chimp art. Each piece of art is the work of a chimpanzee that has been rescued by the Save the Chimps organization. Below each piece of art, the story of the artist is there for you to read and learn from.

Chimp Art by Lisa Marie at Metazoa

After chatting inside Metazoa’s taproom.,Dave took us outside to show us the brewery’s dog park. The dog park is impressive, and is funded by monies from the brewery, institutional sponsors, and individual dog lovers. To say that it is impressive is an understatement.

The Metazoa Dog Park
Welcome to the Metazoa Dog Park
Institutional sponsors support the Metazoa Dog Park
Bricks purchased by dog lovers helped to finance the Dog Park

My visit to Metazoa was a reminder of the generosity of the craft brewing industry, and the desire of many brewery owners to be an asset to their community and to give back to it. Data from the Brewers Association showed that in 2016 America’s 5,600+ craft breweries raised $73.4 million for various charitable causes. That’s an average of over $12,000 per brewery. Before he established Metazoa, Dave donated to a wide range of animal charities. Like many of us who give to our favorite charities, Dave donated $50 here, $100 there. The brewery has provided him with a platform to expand and extend his generosity. And, for Dave, it’s not just about donating money to animal welfare organizations. It’s also about raising awareness about some of the issues surrounding animal welfare. And, on a more local level it is about making dog owners and their pets welcome. If you are ever in Indianapolis, be sure to drop by Metazoa and enjoy one of their wonderful beers – a small part of every pint consumed go to some very worthy animal causes.

Dogs

Man’s Best Friend

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I visited my first meadery a few weeks ago – B. Nektar in Ferndale, MI. We were celebrating my oldest daughter’s twenty-fourth birthday. My daughter is a craft beer lover (she particularly likes IPAs and Sours) and so my wife and I decided to take her to a few craft beverage producers in the Detroit area. She invited three of her friends to join us, so there were six of us altogether. Our first stop was B. Nektar Meadery. From what I can tell. B. Nektar has an excellent reputation in the world of mead and none of us had visited it before. B. Nektar is located in the Ferndale, a town of approximately twenty thousand population, about twelve miles north of Detroit.

B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale, MI

In addition to mead, B. Nektar also produces both cider and beer. When I was there, two of its beers were on the menu – Blitzkrieg, an American Pale Ale and Bootknife, a New England IPA. I had a couple of pints of the Blitzkrieg, while sampling a number of meads from my daughter’s sampler. I kept a tab open at the bar, and as I was paying our bill I asked if I could leave a tip. I was informed that the staff did not accept tips, and that all tips were donated to the charity Bark Nation. Bark Nation is a Ferndale-based non-profit organization whose fund raising efforts support dog shelters and a number of other canine-focused initiatives.

B. Nektar Meadery brew some beer, including this Blitzkrieg Pale Ale

As I left my tip, it struck me that this was not the first time I had been in brewery or a bar whose owners seemed particularly passionate about canine welfare. In March of this year, while visiting my youngest daughter and her husband in Portland, OR, I had a chance to go to Fido’s Tap House, a dog-friendly bar that also happens to have an adoption room for dogs. For a small fee ($4 for thirty minutes) patrons can enter the room and interact with the dogs. You can read more about my visit to Fido’s here. In November, 2016, on a visit to Wellington, New Zealand, I spent a very pleasant couple of hours at the Black Dog Brewing Co. As it turned out my visit there to coincided with the annual fundraiser that the brewery holds for the Wellington branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). You can read more about my visit to Black Dog here.

Enjoying a pint with Finnegan at Fido’s Tap House in Portland, OR

Black Dog Brewery & Tap Room in Wellington, New Zealand

In November 2018, the voters of Florida, by a margin of sixty-nine to thirty-one percent, voted to end greyhound racing in their state, starting in 2021. The passage of this amendment to the Florida constitution will, however, mean that somewhere in the region of six thousand greyhounds will be forced into early retirement. Many of these greyhounds will be made homeless. One solution, of course, is for these greyhounds to be adopted. Enter, stage left, Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company of Orlando, FL. The brewery are partnering with Greyhounds in Motion, a non-profit organization based in Winter Park, FL , who assist greyhounds transition from racing animals to family pets. On December 2, 2018 the Ivanhoe Park hosted greyhounds at a fundraising event at their brewery. For every greyhound in attendance, an anonymous donor donated $100 to Greyhounds in Motion. The brewery will also donate a portion of their beer sales. Greyhounds are now in the process of being adopted, with some of them finding a new home as far away as the state of Washington.

Florida brewery owners seem to particularly fond of dogs, not just greyhounds. In the summer of 2018, Southern Swells Brewing received a warning letter from the Florida Department of Health. The warning stated that the brewery would face closure if it continued to allow dogs in their taproom. Word of the warning soon spread to other Florida breweries, with the result that the Green Bench Brewing Company of St. Petersburg, FL started a petition asking state representatives to pass legislation allowing pets in Florida Breweries. The goal is 50,000 signatures. At the time of writing the petition had just over 35,000 signatures.

Of course, not all breweries welcome dogs. In 2016, Holy City Brewing of Charleston, SC announced that they would no longer allow dogs in their brewery. Over a six month period, five employees had been bitten by dogs. Andy Sparhawk of the Brewers Association, presents a number of arguments against dogs in breweries. In addition to the possibility of brewery staff being bitten, there is the possibility of severs tripping over leashes, dogs clashing with unsupervised children, and dogs eating stray popcorn (apparently popcorn is not good for dogs and can represent a choking hazard).

Of course, if you decide to get a six-pack and enjoy a beer in the comfort of your own home, there are a number of beers specially brewed for dogs that you can purchase for your four-legged friend. For example, Good Boy Dog Beer, based in Houston, TX, brews four beers for dogs – IPA Lot in the Yard, Mailman Malt Licker, Session Squirrel, and Crotch Sniffin’ Ale. Made with ingredients such as pork, chicken, vegetables, and herbs, they are, of course, non-alcoholic. The beer costs five dollars a can, and are available in over a dozen bars in the Houston area. Don’t live in Houston? Don’t worry? You can have the beer shipped to your home. If you do, however, decide to travel with your dog, you may want to consider visiting the website tripswithpets.com, where you can find listings of dog friendly breweries in all fifty states.

For millennia, dogs have been referred to as man’s best friend. Any dog lover will agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. So it seems perfectly natural, when a person loves both beer and dogs, that he or she enjoy the former, while keeping the companionship of the latter.