Jamie and Kevin Millers Akita, Kodi, just wanted a nice, cold drink of beer. If we put our beers on the ground next to our chairs when we went camping, they'd wind up getting knocked over somehow, says Jamie. Then wed find Kodi licking the beer from the dirt.
But the Napa Valley, Calif. couple knew that alcohol and dogs don't mix. Then my husband said, wouldn't it be cool if there was a beer just for dogs, says Jamie. And I told my husband that was the most terrific idea I'd ever heard.
The couple experimented with a variety of non-alcoholic formulations, which they prepared on their antique kitchen stove. When demand grew and Jamie feared burning the house down, production of Happy Tail Ale was moved to Indian Wells Brewery.
The beef-flavored beer already has one celebrity customer. (California) Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was looking at a selection of products made in the Napa Valley while he was vacationing here, says Jamie. When he asked what the hottest product was, and the store owner showed him our beer, he bought it on the spot.
Posted: May 2, 2006, 5 a.m. EST