Weed, Calif., brewers thought they were making a clever play on words when they had the bottle caps of their beer stamped "Try Legal Weed," but federal regulators were not amused and ordered what they called an illegal-drug reference removed, the Associated Press reported April 23.

The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ordered Mount Shasta Brewing co., the brewers of Lemurian Lager, to remove the wording, saying it could "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage."

"I've never tried marijuana in my life,"said brewer Vaune Dillmann, 61. "I don't advocate that. It's just our town's name." The town is named for lumber baron Abner Weed, and itself sports signs like "Temporarily Out of Weed" and "100 Percent Pure Weed."

Dillmann recently spent $10,000 to order 400,000 of the "Try Legal Weed" bottle caps. He says he's perplexed that the federal government is banning his slogan when it has allowed Hemp Ale and Anheuser-Busch's famous marketing slogan, "This Bud's for you."