(Courtesy Rogue Ales & Spirits)

To say Rogue Ales & Spirits has had a difficult week is an understatement…what with a pissed off Hindu activist demanding the Newport, Oregon-based brewery rename its latest release.

Here’s the deal…

Rogue Ales is a craft beer pioneer. It’s been brewing since 1988 and remains one of the most widely known and broadly distributed craft beer brands in the nation. And throughout it’s more than three decades in the biz Rogue has avoided controversy…It has stayed out of trouble until now.

But the release of Rogue Shavasana, an 8% ABV Imperial Granola Blonde Ale named after a medatative Yoga position that the brewery suggests “can help you relax” is not sitting well with some in the Hindu community.

But who wasn’t relaxing was Rajan Zed, the conservative leader of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, who issued a public demand to the brewery that it change the name of the beer and apologize for the perceived irreverence.

(Warning: Rajan Zed is watching U)

“Using yoga to push beer was highly insensitive and trivializing of the immensely revered body of sacred and serious knowledge,” wrote Rajan Zed in a press release.

Zed has been ‘jumping ugly’ over beer names he believes have been inappropriately used by brewers for years.

In 2014 he took on Odd 13 Brewing over the Lafayette, Colorado-based brewery naming an Imperial IPA after the Hindu God Hanuman. In 2018 a Salem, VA brewery, Olde Salem Brewing incurred Zed’s wrath after it also named a beer after the Hindu Deity. (Note to breweries: Don’t even think about naming your beer Hanuman)

And in 2019 Zed criticized Walhalla Craft Beer, a small brewery based in in the Netherlands for its Shakti Double IPA arguing that Shakti (a general term for the Goddess) is highly venerated in Hinduism and not meant to be used in selling beer.

Life is a balancing act and we’re all about honoring that balance. So we brewed a beer to do just that.” said Rogue president, Dharma Tamm explained when announcing Shavasana before the controversy flared up.

“Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously,” Zed shared with American Craft Beer. “Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled.”

According to the New School “Rogue Ales president Dharma Tamm has said that they are considering Zed’s request.”