Here at Flying Dog, we stand for brewing extraordinary craft beer, standing tall, and not letting anyone make you eat shit.

As Maryland's largest brewery, we are asking the People's Republic of Flying Dog to take a stand against a movement to increase Maryland tax on alcoholic beverages (House Bill 121/Senate Bill 168).

The movement misrepresents a huge tax increase as "a dime a drink," which makes consumers feel like their cost per drink would only increase by 10 cents.

That is not the case. That tax is set at the manufacturer level and will snowball once the product is distributed and sold at retail. Can you imagine paying an additional $2 for a 6-pack of Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale?!

In addition, this tax will lead to Maryland job losses. Neighboring states will gladly cater to Marylanders who cross state lines to save money. That will be easy, considering that 20 of Maryland's 24 counties border another state. And here at Flying Dog, we employ over 60 Maryland residents and do not want to see that number decrease.

We ask that you now form an opinion and take a stand.

If you choose to stand against this bill, contact your Maryland representatives. Doing so will take 30 seconds.

1. Go to www.SaveMyMDJob.com
2. Click on "Send Your Legislator an Email Letter"
3. Enter your zip code, email address, mailing address, and name (to verify you are a constituent)
4. Click "Send Email Letter"

The default option is a prewritten letter. You may also choose to write your own.

The first hearing on this legislation is tomorrow (Feb. 23), so time is of the essence. We will be there in Annapolis and we want to carry your voices with us.

Thank you, loyal citizens. As Hunter S. Thompson once said, "Good people drink good beer."