It is likely that all beer, wine and spirits labels will change dramatically in the near future. TTB Administrator John Manfreda confirmed this in a recent speech. TTB has been working on new rules since CSPI and other groups submitted a petition in 2003. The new rules would require a “Serving Facts” panel on every container. This panel would include a lot more information, such as the typical serving size, number of servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. Because this is a big, controversial change, TTB has received more than 18,000 public comments during the past few years. There are far too many comments for most people to review, and so we will highlight and summarize the most noteworthy comments here. The most recent proposal and comments are here. This is comment 21 in a series; to see others, click on the “serving facts” tag below. Michael Taylor (on behalf of Diageo) submitted a 4 page comment. It said:

1. Diageo hired Mr. Taylor in 2005 and he’s currently a research professor at George Washington University. From 1991-1994 he was FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy and was actively involved in setting the comparable rules for foods more generally.
2. I am disappointed that TTB will not require reference to a “standard drink.”
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The industry submits a large number of “bastard” labels. From 2000-2009, TTB approved 124 labels featuring this word in the brand or fanciful name. This is about six times the number of such labels approved from 1980 to 2000. This is another example of how TTB has tended to ease up in certain areas, and will allow terms a bit more racy than many expect.

Cheap Bastard Red Wine is bottled by Pedrizzetti Winery of Morgan Hill, California. Backwoods Bastard is Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels, bottled by Canal Street Brewing, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. We probably wouldn’t bother to comment on the preponderance of “bastard” labels. But the numbers are growing, and some of them have more issues going for them, apart from the naughty word. Arrogant Bastard Ale has some better than usual writing on the back label:

This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory — maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow...

It’s a wonder that Red Bull (of Austria) has not yet come out with with an alcohol beverage. It would be likely to be a smash, in that the product is so very popular as a mixer. Perhaps things are going so well with the energy drink that there is no need to mess with it. But more likely, these two products beat the Austrians to the punch. Miller Brewing Company has approvals for Red Bull Malt Liquor going back at least as far as the early 1980s. Likewise, Majestic Distilling has approvals for Red Bull Vodka going back to 1990 or so. This Dog Style Vodka is one of the few TTB products to make explicit reference to the famous energy drink.