Connecticut Brewer Apologizes If 'Gandhi-Bot' Beer Offends; Suit Filed In India
New England Brewing Co. said it did not intend to offend anyone, let alone a large slice of India, with the name and label of its most sought-after beer, Gandhi-Bot.
The Woodbridge beer-maker has issued an apology following a lawsuit filed against it in Hyderabad, India, condemning the brewery's use of Mahatma Gandhi's name to sell the beer.
"This is nothing but insult to the Indians, nothing but insult to the Indian constitution," the lawyer behind the petition, Sunkari Janardhan Goud, said to NewsX, an Indian news site.
In addition to its name, the beer's label displays the robotified image of Gandhi, beloved leader of India's push for independence from Britain. Gandhi abstained from drinking alcohol.
Brewers at the company said the name came from the beer's style, an India Pale Ale. Names of its other beers include: Fuzzy Baby Ducks, Sea Hag, Imperial Stout Trooper, Elm City Lager, 668 The Neighbor of the Beast, and Wet Willie.
New England Brewing has not said whether it would withdraw or change the brand. On Friday it issued a statement addressing the suit's allegations.
"We apologize to any Indian people that find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a man who we respect greatly," the statement said. "We take great care in creating a product we hope will not be abused in the manner that Mahatma Gandhi spoke of when referencing alcohol. So many Indian people here in America love our tribute to him."
The brewery said that Gandhi's grandson and granddaughter have seen and admired the label.
Located in a blue and white building behind a Jaguar dealership in Woodbridge, New England Brewing has five employees, who produce about 8,000 barrels of beer in 2014, with plans to make as much as 14,000 barrels in 2015.
The brewery has doubled its production of Gandhi-Bot every year since it was released.
New England Brewing has felt friction over its beer label before. Its Imperial Stout Trooper label featured a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet, which resulted in a cease-and-desist letter from Lucas Films.
In response, the brewery disguised the stormtrooper helmet with Groucho Marx glasses the comical empty frames with fluffy eyebrows, a nose and moustache.
