A man named Kent "Battle" Martin is the "Beer Bottle Dictator", said to be loathed by the business for his capricious and arbitrary decisionmaking.
Reaching the federal official by phone, Dillman called him "Mr. Martin." A big mistake: Battle's predilection for being particular apparently extended from beer applications to his name.
"You want to be addressed as 'Battle?'" a confused Dillman replied, recounting the story. "Can you imagine addressing a senior inspector from the Department of Treasury, and you have to call him 'Battle?'"
Their tussle over the bottle cap's approval eventually sucked in California's senators, a congressman, and the ACLU before it was eventually resolved. The cap stayed only because it referenced Civil War-era California state lawmaker Abner Weed, the namesake of the town.
