Happy Tail Ale: Buy Your Best Friend a Drink with New Beer for Dogs

If you've always wanted to have a beer with your best friend--man's best friend, that is--you now can. Happy Tail Ale, a beer made just for dogs has hit the market.

Happy Tail Ale, brewed by the Dog Star Brewing Company is the 'pet project' of 'brewmasters' Kevin and Jamie Miller of Napa Valley, California. The idea for the concoction and company came as most inventions do, by accident.

According to an article in the Napa Valley Register, the couple was camping with their 120-pound Kodiak Bear, Kodi when a beer bottle got knocked over. Kodi began to lap up the carbonated beverage. The Happy Tail Ale website adds that soon, Kodi would purposely knock over beer bottles, just to get a taste.

The idea hit to create a beer for dogs hit the Millers just before Kodi's second birthday as they pondered a gift idea for their four-legged friend. They thought about purchasing a non-alcoholic beer for Kodi, but instead, the canine cocktail was born.

The Millers began trying out recipes, finding that when beef bullion is added to soda water, it explodes. They researched the art of beer-making and toured microbreweries and suppliers. The end result, according to the Register was a non-alcoholic beer-like brew. At the Happy Tail Ale official website, the ingredients are listed as water, malted barley, glucosamine, vitamin E and lactic acid. Natural beef drippings provide additional flavor and sodium benzoate prevents bottle fermenting. The brew is not carbonated, as the bubbles can upset the dogs' stomachs.

The Millers began brewing Happy Tail Ale at home, but a few years later they decided to outsource the brewing to a brewery in central California, says the Register. The brew is made with the Miller's recipe. In September 2006, the first shipment of Happy Tail Ale was available.

To date, Happy Tail Ale is available online at www.beerfordogs.com, and at many local retail locations in 32 states. The beer is sold by the six-pack or 12-pack, and in some stores, by the bottle. National retailer Petco also takes orders for Happy Tail Ale for $24.99 for a 12-pack. Amazon.com also sells the product.

The Dog Star Brewing Company and Happy Tail Ale will soon have gear available for sale. And, according to the Register, Miller is planning a chicken-flavored brew, Unleashed Lager and possibly a vegetarian variety.

Happy Tail Ale has made quite a paw print in the media. The beer's press page has clippings from several Napa Valley Publications, People Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle (several times), CBS news, and several other newspapers and radio stations.

Kodi keeps a blog, too at www.beerfordogs.blogspot.com.