A Northern California brewery that released a themed beer using profane language against the state’s largest utility company is apologizing after receiving backlash from Bay Area residents.
Shady Oak Barrel House in Santa Rosa is issuing an apology after it released a beer called “Fuck PG&E,” KRON reported.
The company introduced the beer on Wednesday as a “a classic California pale ale, featuring Cashmere and Simcoe hops and a touch of malt sweetness,” according to a company Facebook post.
Although the profane beer drew some praise, it drew a lot of backlash from people who said the beer could be targeted at the workers and not the corporation. Facebook commenters slammed the name as “distasteful” and “disgusting.”
“As a wife of a very hardworking, compassionate PG&E gas serviceman who was born and raised in Santa Rosa, I find your new beer label completely insulting,” one commenter wrote.
“My husband has been working 18 hour days and not seeing his little boys for the past two weeks to help our local community. Your label is hurting the men and women that work day in and day out for their community,” she continued.
The beer company then released a statement Sunday to try and ameliorate the situation.
“The name was not intended to go after honest hard-working people that have been and still currently ARE helping our community…The name doesn’t suggest anything remotely like this; however, some people chose to read it this way,” brewery management wrote in a Facebook post this weekend. “The name instead was chosen in some contempt for the corporation itself.”
PG&E has been in the news a lot recently for orchestrating several planned power shutoffs to prevent wildfires from starting in Northern California, leaving thousands without power.
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