"Why is everyone so baffled that you can't use the president's name to market beer?

Don't you need permission before you use anyone's name for commercial purposes?"

You hit the nail on the head.

He wasn't the President and nobody cared about him when the Feds gave us the approval over a year ago, but once he became President-Elect they immediately swooped in to put the kabosh on it.

However, I'm not sure what the laws are for ALL PRODUCTS, but liquor and beer are highly regulated industries and they definitely have rules about what you can and cannot have on your labels to promote beer - including celebrities, politicians, etc.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 3:57 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

the_awesome:

you are right on the money and got yer facts straight. We never intended this to be a full-time brew anyways, thats why we no longer made it after the 4th of November. The funny thing is, a few weeks later is when we were first contacted by the Feds about the beer! We weren't even producing it anymore, but I guess they just wanted to make sure we would never make it again...

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 3:42 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

its because the Dept of Homeland Security governs the TTB, also formerly known as the ATF - and they control the label approval and registration for all beers

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 2:19 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

we never did this to make money, we did this to promote his campaign. We donated all of our profit to getoutthevote.org, so this whole thing is ridiculous.

We also had ceased production of it weeks before the Feds ordered us to stop. That is why the whole thing is silly.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 1:24 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

no, you won't find any taps or bottles or anything in existence - all of it had to be called back or destroyed.

altough.... :-) I do think Pacific Standard made their own "custom" Hop Obama tap handle

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 1:01 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

yes, there were no bottles at all, and that's why this whole thing is ridiculous. However, each keg has a "keg label" to identify the flavor, and there was also a web page featuring the Hop Obama on our website, and some other minimal printed material.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 12:46 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

Moto - wrong use of words indeed, as I've been receiving an insane amount of distorted emails and phone calls regarding this matter.

There was no teargas or rifles or people swinging in through windows with bodygear on.

It was more of an unannounced and surprise inspection, then a forceful "stop what you are doing or we'll shut you down"

Bottom line: no more Hop Obama as commanded by the Feds.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 12:37 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

There was no beer that needed to be destroyed as all of the inventory that we had was shipped to our distributor, and our distributor was also out-of-stock (demand was high).

Therefore, the only kegs left in existence were those that we already purchased by end-user accounts, and were being stored for a later date (like the inauguration, etc).

I don't believe there are any more kegs in existence now though, as there certainly are not any at our facility.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 12:05 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

You are correct in the sense that we could just change the name of the beer, that actually is an option. The recipe is not what is illegal. Its the name of the beer that is illegal.

If we wanted to, we could just brew the same recipe under a new name, but keep in mind, that label would also have to be approved by the Feds (all beer labels need TTB approval).

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 12:00 PM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

Dave - does not have a lasting effect on the business, we just can't make that particular beer anymore. And luckily, when the order was given, there was no more product left in inventory.

Maly - the reason behind the cease and desist order was having the President's name in conjunction with our product, which apparently violated some federal statutes as presented to us by the TTB.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 11:51 AM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'

woah, woah, woah

This thread is a distortion of the truth. The Feds ordered us to shut down the production of the beer, but they certainly didn't raid us with guns and teargas like this post makes it sound.

They sent a TTB rep down to the facility, and then later followed up with someone from the Dept of Homeland Security to make sure we weren't doing anything funny. A cease and desist order was given, and we were required to surrender our labeling license and destroy all product that may have been in inventory.

The point is there will be no more Hop Obama as the Feds have officially put the kabosh on it - its over.

Posted by: sixpoint at February 12, 2009 11:39 AM in response to The Feds Ordered Sixpoint to Shut Down 'Hop Obama'