Brewdog's Nanny State Mild Imperial Ale

I became aware of BrewDog Brewing Company after an interview with their brewer on The Brewing Network, and have even brewed How to Disappear Completely--or as I call it, H2DC. (Satan sampled H2DC the other day and wrote, "Mmmmmmmmm, nice! A light pipe tobacco odor. I get more of a blend of hops rather than just a single one. It smells Christmasy if there is such a word. Force carbed? Nice long lasring head with a clasically beautiful lacing on the glass. Nice flavor too. It has a nice English flavor to it!")

Recently, BrewDog came under fire from the moral watch dogs (no pun intended) of Scotland, who said their 18% Oak Aged Stout Tokyo because they were contributing to binge drinking. No, really. In response, they have created a new beer called Nanny State, a 1.1% Mild Imperial Ale with "more hops per barrel than any other beer ever brewed in the UK."

Predictably, the Protectors of Public Safety are not amused, saying that while the alcohol content is acceptable, the name indicates a failure to acknowledge the binge drinking problem.

For the record, the solution to binge drinking doesn't lie in making the behavior "bad" and hiding alcohol consumption away from children. That's only going to exacerbate the problem by making them believe it is something that is done in the dark and alone. The solution is to bring responsible alcohol consumption out into the light, where children can be exposed to positive role models: people who drink moderately. Until we let children see that drinking alcohol isn't necessarily evil can we make them behave responsibly. Stop the whiners from complaining that seeing a beer ads on TV makes children want to binge drink. If we follow that logic, seeing prescription drug ads make them want to see a doctor, and seeing Swiffer ads make them want to clean.