Scottish brewery launches 'not for gays' beer, sends a crate to Putin

“Freedom of expression, freedom of speech and a dogged (no pun intended) passion for doing what we love.” That’s how Scottish brewery BrewDog describe themselves on their website — and they’re living up to the description. The brewery, which has 12 pubs across the UK and is famous for producing the Viagra-laced Royal Virility Performance beer during the Royal Wedding, has come up with another ingenious way of protesting anti-gay laws in Russia which have been highlighted during the Sochi Winter Olympics. [caption id=“attachment_1377165” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Hello my name is Vladimir (from brewdog.com)[/caption] BrewDog’s ‘Hello, My Name is Vladimir’ beer has 8.2 percent alcohol reports The Independent, and they’ve also sent a crate of it to the Russian leader. Not only that, they’ve left some beer outside the Russian Consulate in Edinburgh and the Russian Embassy in London. Their co-founder James Watt couldn’t help taking another jibe at Putin: “We’ve not heard anything from Mr Putin, but we expect he’s out petting a leopard somewhere, probably with his top off,” he was quoted as saying in the report. The description on the label (with ’not for gays’ in small print at the bottom) says: “Hello, my name is Vladimir. I am 100 per cent hetero and will pass laws to prove it. Drinking me gives you energy, ignorance and dogmatism required to shoot a deer (with your top off) and pass internationally denounced, discriminatory legislation (top optional) before you’ve even had your caviar breakfast.” The beer is described on their website as ‘a mind-bogglingly bitter, yet tongue- twisting tart finish, with both flavour profiles fighting it out to see who will last the longest. The result; a finish as long as a cross-country topless ski journey through Siberia.’ 50 percent of the profits raised through sales of this beer will go directly to charities that represent oppressed minorities around the world. Read the full Independent report here.