Our favorite artist Ralph Steadman is anything but predictable (just take a look at the awesome drawings on our beer labels). You can’t be predictable when you’re a Gonzo co-conspirator along with Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. We were delighted to see this YouTube video of Ralph giving a talk at the Promax BDA conference in NYC. There’s no better way to captivate an audience than by smashing the shit out of their favorite phone.

Having seen Ralph give a presentation (on his book tour for “The Joke’s Over” in 2006), I can tell you that Ralph is one of the most unique public speakers I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. Ralph’s trademark wit shines through the whole time, and he always seems to give his unique perspective on the world. If you get the chance to see Ralph speak, make it a priority to go.

Here is a link to a bunch of Flickr photos from Kelly Fowler. To see more photos from Springfest, click the left thumbnail.

And there’s a mysterious masked man working at our booth. I can’t divulge his identity due to the harm it might bring to his family and loved ones. OK, he’s not really a super hero, he’s Mike Dixon, our smiling, giggling, bottling line expert.

Capital Division Sales Manager Matt Crow was all over Maryland and Virginia during American Craft Beer Week. These are photos of his travels, and the cool Flying Dog fans he met along the way. Keep it up, Matt! We threw a bunch of his photos in a flickr photoset from his stops at Kooper’s Tavern in Fells Point, VA, Max’s & Coburn’s Tavern in Baltimore.

Matt will be all over the region this summer, we’ll be updating his travels from time to time. Looking for more events we’ll be at? Check out our events calendar at our homepage, and watch for promotions on the Flying Dog Twitter page.

These guys came to our booth first, as they love Flying Dog. They wanted to know if we would take a picture with them in front of our booth (which of course we love to do!). We were all ready to take a picture together when they realized that their camera was out of batteries, which was literally 5 minutes into the festival. The festival was nearing its end and [Flying Dog Brewery salesman] Jim L and I were wondering whether they were going to make it back to our booth for a Flying Dog shot. Well, five minutes before the festival ended the group of 8 comes running through the tent, waving their camera in their hand. This time they had batteries (they went and charged it in their car!). We finally all took a picture together. True Flying Dog fans!

Do you have any Flying Dog photos to share with the world? Email them to joshm {at} flying dog ales {dot} com and we’ll get some of ‘em posted!

We got a few hundred responses over the week (thanks to all who participated!), and used a very scientific method of picking a winner. So without further ado, the winner is @freemandaddy5 for his tweet:

@flyingdog #craftbeer I’m drinking the best! http://twitpic.com/5dpls

We’ll be sending @freemandaddy5 some Flying Dog swag! He’s also a die-hard Gonzo enthusiast (just take a look at his twitter homepage).

Monday, May 25
• Craft Beer Trivia Night - 7PM @ Fado - 808 7th St NW.

Tuesday, May 26
• Meet the Flying Dog Brewers - 7PM @ the Brickskeller - 1523 22nd St NW. Drink a wide range of our more experimental and aggressive brews, like Dog Schwarz, our über-limited Belgian IPA, Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter (plus more).
• SAVOR sampling - 6:30-9:30 @ RFD - 810 7th Street NW. Join Flying Dog and 12 other breweries for a sampling.

Wednesday, May 27
• DC Tweetup - 6PM @ Luna Grill & Diner, 1301 Connecticut Ave NW (DuPont Circle). We’re having a Tweetup in DC at Luna Grill and Diner on May 27 at 6pm. Everyone who comes to the Tweetup will get one complimentary Flying Dog beer and be registered to win some sweet Flying Dog swag. We’ll even throw in a free Flying Dog Pint Glass for the first 50 people through the door!
• Capitol Hill Craft Beer Bar Tour - 6PM, starting @ Hawk ‘n Dove, 329 Pennsylvania Ave SE.

Thursday, May 28
• Flying Dog Promo Night - 6-9PM @ Bourbon in Glover Park - 2348 Wisconsin Ave NW.
• Meet the Brewers & Steal the Pint Glass - 4-9PM @ RFD - 810 7th Street NW. 4-7 is Doggie Drafts Happy Hour, and 7-9 Meet the Flying Dog Brewers & FD steal the pints
• Flying Dog Night at Reef - 5-Close @ The Reef, 244618th St NW, Adams Morgan. Happy Hour pricing on Flying Dog. A great bar with great food and an amazing rooftop patio.

Friday, May 29
• Roundtable Discussion with Craft Brewers - 9PM @ Pizzeria Paradiso, 3282 M St NW. End of the week Meet & Greet! Roundtable Discussion, Flying Dog Firkin on hand.

Saturday, May 30
• SAVOR Craft Beer Festival - 7:30-11PM @ National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW. The second year of the Brewer’s Association Festival geared towards pairing great craft beer with great food.

Plus it’s cool as hell, because Flying Dog Brewery kicked some ass in the competition.

• Gonzo Imperial Porter: 1st place, Porter Division
• Old Scratch Amber Lager: 2nd place, Amber Hybrid Division
• In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen: 2nd place, German Wheat/Rye Division

Here’s the entire list of winners.

Flying Dog sales bad-ass Joe Gomez was in New York City last week. One of the events he did was a Flying Dog Beer Night at Rattle N Hum on 33rd Street (or toitty-toid street, as my Eastern European Grandma used to say - seriously). Rattle N Him is a great craft beer bar conveniently located about 4 blocks from Penn Station.

From Joe: “Rattle N Hum brought in 9 lines for the event, covering just about the whole Flying Dog lineup. Their motto is “No Crap on Tap” - and they truly live up to this. In the rear of the bar, they have a “cask/firkin” only bar. So be on the lookout for a Flying Dog firkin in the next couple months. The name? Patrick’s Burden (named after Patrick, the owner of Rattle N Hum).”

The style of Patrick’s Burden? According to VP of Brewing Matt Brophy, it will be Gonzo Imperial Porter “Dry hopped with something crazy”. We’ll keep you NYCers posted as it gets closer to being released.

Links of interest:
Joe’s Flying Dog Twitter account
Rattle N Hum on Facebook
The flickr photoset from the event

We try hard with our social media, but it wouldn’t mean a damn thing if our amazing team at the brewery didn’t make such amazing beer. We in the Flying Dog marketing department are lucky to be spreading the word about some of the best beer in the world. Keep it up, guys!

Here’s a properly formatted tweet: @flyingdog We’ll be drinking a bunch of Double Dog this evening! #craftbeer

Read more about American Craft Beer Week here.