SL-014 Protest Beer "Fuck PG&E" Unleashes Fury of Internet Trolls

If you’re a regular Sightlines reader, you may have come across a story we published on Nov. 1 called “A Show of Hands – Breweries Take Political and Business Risks Mixing Beer and Social Stances.” The idea behind that piece was to give context around the space where political opinion and the beer business collide, all while poking at the question, as it relates to breweries engaging with drinkers: “Is taking action inevitable?”

As part of reporting for that story, David Faris, an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and a host of Good Beer Hunting’s Electing to Drink podcast, said this: "When the president himself gets involved in deeply divisive cultural-political issues and won't let them go, he forces people to take into consideration actions they never would have thought about before."

In this Sightlines podcast, you’ll hear from a California brewery owner facing this exact situation, creating an audio connection to the anecdotes and analysis from that written story. In the midst of wildfire season in California, one man decided to vent his frustration via the name of a new beer, creating backlash and leading to online trolling.

On Nov. 6, Santa Rosa, California's Shady Oak Barrel House posted a photo of a hazy, hop-forward beer to social media channels, announcing: "Happy hump day with a new beer release!!!"

The post continued: "FUCK PG&E is a classic California pale ale, featuring Cashmere and Simcoe hops and a touch of malt sweetness. Coming in at 5.8%, come try it for happy hour!!!!" It finished the announcement with four exclamation points before reminding readers that trivia was set to start at 7 p.m. that evening.

Things were quiet until a few days later when online trolls came in, attacking the brewery and owner Steve Doty. Angry comments and one-star Yelp reviews flooded Shady Oak’s online footprint after Doty made the decision to vent anger toward energy company Pacific Gas & Electric Company with the beer’s name. PG&E is in the midst of a host of legal troubles stemming from damage, death, and injuries caused by wildfires started by PG&E equipment in the past four years. At times, those fires have caused chaos while destroying vast acres of land, numerous homes, and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

In 2018, all the California wildfires combined amounted to just over 8,500 fires. In total, they burned almost 2 million acres. And that’s becoming commonplace: each fall, you probably hear something about a major wildfire in the Golden State, including right now.

Doty could have chosen any other name—or no specific name at all and just used the beer’s style—but we’ll let him give some background on what led to this decision. This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.