He got 1,400 e-mails from beer aficionados and won backing from Weed's mayor, the city attorney and a county supervisor.
He also earned a lot more than the proverbial 15 minutes of fame, appearing on Fox News and in newspaper headlines as far away as Saudi Arabia. Among those who saw the reports and got in touch were his old high school football coach and two old girlfriends in his hometown of Milwaukee.
Most of the folks back home in Weed -- population 3,000 -- couldn't understand what the fuss was about. The little town has been marketing the double entendre of its name for years, with gas stations selling "High on Weed" T-shirts and a sign at the town's exit reading "Temporarily Out of Weed."
In fact, the town's name refers to Abner Weed, a local lumber baron and turn-of-the-20th-century state senator.
He's also the namesake of Dillmann's prized Abner Weed Ale, which is among those he plans to enter Sept. 13 in a brew fest in Sacramento. Last year, his Shastafarian Porter won first place.
Each bottle he brings to the festival will bear one of those shiny gold caps with the black-stenciled words that made Dillmann's last six months both harrowing and hilarious.
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eric.bailey@latimes.com
