Blog

Apr 16, 2024

Making Bengals

I love football. I love beer. And I love it when the lines blur between the things I love. Generally speaking, anyhow. I still won’t put peanut butter on a steak, but I won’t hate on people who do

I love football. I love beer. And I love it when the lines blur between the things I love.

Generally speaking, anyhow. I still won’t put peanut butter on a steak, but I won’t hate on people who do weird stuff like that. Being weird is OK. Be weird. Go for it. Unless pickles (which I hate) are involved, in which case, you’re a sick freak!

Just kidding. I love you (but not pickles).

But you know who hates it when the lines between football and beer get blurred? The National Football League, that’s who.

Around this time every year, shelves and coolers in stores across Greater Cincinnati start getting stocked up with cans of craft beer that are branded with not-so-subtle riffs on our favorite orange-and-black-clad football team. And not long after that, the NFL’s legal department begins firing off nastygrams to the offending craft breweries, warning that if they keep using tigers and stripes and first names and colors, they’re going to get sued into financial ruin.

It’s about at this point I should note that I’m not a lawyer, and this is not a legal opinion. Nope, no jokes here. Super serious.

I don’t like getting people into trouble, so I’m not going to name names here. But if you’re wondering if your favorite brewery has gotten such a letter, just ask yourself if they’ve branded their beers in a way that could conjure even a vague connection between the beer and the Bengals. If the answer to that question is yes, then yes, they probably have gotten a cease-and-desist letter or three.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think every letter NFL legal sends out is baseless, unfounded or otherwise misguided. Those knock-off jerseys and T-shirts that flood my Facebook feed that are clearly not league-approved apparel? Yeah, the people making those deserve to get sued into the sun. No question. If you use a team’s logo and said team doesn’t make any money off of it, that’s pretty cut-and-dry. You can’t do that. And if you’re selling knock-off game gear? Forget it.

But if a local brewery names a beer after a glib nickname for the franchise quarterback and puts a pair of sunglasses that may or may not have been worn during an in-season press conference on the can, I think threatening the brewery with legal action is weak. Sure, the NFL does own trademarks on names, logos and designs, but I’m sorry, the league doesn’t own basic color combinations. Orange and black on a beer can doesn’t mean a C&D letter is in order.

Let’s make one thing clear: This isn’t the Cincinnati Bengals that are sending scary letters to small business owners. From what I’ve heard from craft beer industry folks, the team has no issue with, say, 16 Lots for making Kenny’s Dey Drinkin' Lager. Instead of shutting down Bengal Jim’s tailgate party, they’re sending down Blackburns to get in on the good times.

I think the Bengals are one of those teams that understands that their success is the city’s success, and when they win, we all feel as though we’re a part of it. Sure, a beer can might be a cheap marketing ploy, but it could also be a very real expression of fandom. And seeing those cans out in the wild makes me think about the Bengals even more than I already do, which is a whole, whole lot. And that’s good for everybody – the fans, the breweries, the team and, yes, even the league as a whole.

The beginning of football season deserves to be celebrated. I suggest you do so by picking up a six-pack of every orange-and-black beer can you can find.

But if you want a jersey, go to the team pro shop.

Oh, and NFL legal, please don’t sue me. Thanks.

If you haven’t been to 16 Lots Southern Outpost yet, you really should. Housed in the space formerly occupied by Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee, the Southern Outpost is a crazy combination of craft brewery taproom, chic gastropub and live music venue. On nice days, garage doors on the northern wall open to give the folks inside a breathtaking view of the Cincinnati skyline, and there aren’t many breweries that can hold a candle to that patio.

And the beer is more than solid. Craft beer aficionados know that a brewery is only as good as its head brewer, and there are not many brewers I would rank ahead of Chris Mitchell, formerly of Woodburn and OTR StillHouse.

I plan to write a feature on the place in the near future, but I’m putting it out into the world now because there’s no better brewery from which to watch the Western & Southern WEBN Fireworks show. Tickets start at $75.

Learn more at the Eventbrite page.