Santa’s Butt Banned from Maine

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A beer, called “Santa’s Butt Winter Porter” is banned in Maine because the label depicts St. Nick sitting on his wide hiney atop a large keg of ale. The ban is in place because the beer “may appeal to children.” The beer is made in England, but imported by the Shelton Brothers. The Brothers are suing the state of Maine because they think that the state is engaging in censorship.

After all, even if the beer appeals to children, they aren’t allowed to buy it until they are 21, right? From the AP here:

A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew.

In a complaint filed in federal court, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa’s Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, contends the state’s action violates the First Amendment by censoring artistic expression.

States have the power to regulate alcohol through the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition in 1933. “But I don’t know where they get the idea they can ignore the rest of the Constitution,” Shelton said.

The homepage of the beer is located here. In it, they describe how the English store the beer thusly:

We hasten to point out that in England butt refers to a certain barrel used in brewing — a very large barrel, in fact, holding 108 imperial gallons. Back in the day it was quite a normal thing for a brewery to put its beer up in a large butt for storage.

And the final bit or irony? The Shelton Brothers operate out of Belchertown, Mass. Heh.