Gonzo Spirit

Long time friend, neighbor and co-conspirator of Flying Dog owner George Stranahan, Hunter was a large influence on George's life and subsequently on the creation of the Flying Dog brand; whether it was riding motorcycles, blowing shit up, or just getting a good, old-fashioned drunk on at the Woody Creek Tavern. These two were fast friends long before Flying Dog Brewery was even a thought. When George opened up shop in Aspen, Hunter would have been one of his best customers; if he had ever paid his tab.

Hunter's greatest contribution to Flying Dog is, of course, introducing George Stranahan to another long-time friend of his, Ralph Steadman. The Gonzo artist creates all of Flying Dog's signature labels.

Thompson frequently referred to himself as "Raoul Duke" or "Dr. Gonzo." He received his certification from a mail-order church in the sixties.

Thompson, originally a sports journalist writing for various publications, worked for Rolling Stone magazine during the late 1960s and 1970s and published several books and numerous articles. He is noted for the creation of gonzo journalism, a writing style that combines extravagance (including the use of diverse and sometimes multiple recreational drugs), and an eccentric personality.

Thompson's style of reportage meshes fact with drug-sotted fantasy; the archetypal example being Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Published in 1971, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a travelogue of Thompson's trek (along with his attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta) to cover a narcotics officers' convention in Nevada and the "fabulous Mint 400" motorcycle race. Instead, Thompson and Acosta wind up on a search for the American dream in Las Vegas with the aid of heroic amounts of LSD, ether, adrenochrome, and numerous other drugs.

Some of Thompson's other books include Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, a collection of Rolling Stone articles he wrote while covering the campaigns of President Richard M. Nixon and his unsuccessful opponent, Senator George McGovern, and Hell's Angels, an account of his travels with the infamous motorcycle gang. His penultimate book, Kingdom of Fear, is an angry commentary on the passing of the American Century. Thompson also wrote a Web column, "Hey Rube," for ESPN. He has at times also toured on the lecture circuit, once with John Belushi.

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau based his Doonesbury character Uncle Duke on Thompson, to loud protests from Thompson himself.

The rebel artist that creates all of Flying Dog's beer lables was introduced to Flying Dog owner George Stranahan by his long-time friend Hunter S. Thompson.

Ralph started his Flying Dog tenure with the Road Dog label in 1995 and blessed it with the statement of fact that reads "Good Beer, No Shit". After winning a four-year long court battle with the Colorado Liquor Board over their attempted censorship of the phrase, we knew we had found our guy.

Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and brought up in Towyn, North Wales, Steadman attended Ysgol Emrys Ap Iwan (high school) in Abergele and East Ham Technical College. During the 1960's, while attending the London College of Printing and Graphic Arts, Steadman did freelance work for Punch, Private Eye, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times and Rolling Stone.

Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures and cartoons and also for illustrating a number of picture books. Awards that he has won for his work include the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award for Alice in Wonderland, the American Society of Illustrators' Certificate of Merit, the W.H. Smith Illustration Award for I Leonardo, the Dutch Silver Paintbrush Award for Inspector Mouse, the Italian Critica in Erba Prize for That's My Dad, the BBC Design Award for postage stamps, the Black Humour Award in France, and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1979.

Steadman had a long partnership with the American journalist Hunter S. Thompson, drawing pictures for several of his articles and books. He accompanied Thompson to the Kentucky Derby for an article for the magazine Scanlan's and the Hawaiian marathon, and illustrated both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Much of Steadman's artwork revolves around caricatures of Thompson: fishing hats, cigarette holders, and aviator shades.

As well as writing and illustrating his own books and Thompson's, Steadman has worked with writers including Ted Hughes and Brian Patten, and has also illustrated editions of Alice In Wonderland, Treasure Island and Animal Farm.

Among the British public, Steadman is well known for his illustrations for the catalogues of the off-licence chain Oddbins. He also designed all of the labels for Flying Dog beer.

The man who started it all...While on a Fear and Loathing trip of his own in the Himalayas, an inspring series of events led George to create the Flying Dog brand. Stranahan is a man cut out of the Gonzo mold himself and Flying Dog mirrors his life as an activist, rebel and artist. It started with art, branched out to beer, and now Flying Dog has it's eyes set on complete world domination.

George has always been a supporter of the arts and a amateur photographer himself. "Art is a reflection of the human condition," George comments. So, when picking an artist to do Flying Dog's labels George tapped longtime friend Hunter S. Thompson to get an artist that reflects the Flying Dog condition - Ralph Steadman.

George was born during the depths of the Great Depression and grew up in Perrsyburg, Ohio, just outside of Toledo. The Stranahans, a wealthy family who made their fortune as pioneers in the automobile industry, were highly respected for the care and concern they had for their community. As one story goes, when the market collapsed in 1929, causing banks across the country to fail and widespread panic among depositors, George's grandfather, with balls and cash, saved the local bank by standing in front of it telling people "The bank will not open today, but if you show me your savings book I will give you the cash out of my pocket". George inherited that same spirit of care and concern along with the bold, adventurous, entrepreneurial style of the Stranahan family.

After being graduated from Caltech (where as an undergraduate he had a paper published in the prestigious Astrophysical Journal), George went on to earn a PhD in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University. George then served as a professor at Michigan State University for several years before permanently moving to Woody Creek in 1972, a town he had been visiting and comfortable with since the mid-1950's.