The PLCB raid on Memphis Taproom, Local 44 and Resurrection Ale House.
I emailed Leigh Maida earlier today about the disturbing rumors of “unregistered” beers being confiscated by the PLCB at Local 44, Memphis Taproom and Resurrection Ale House I’d been hearing about. We had a brief exchange after that and she’s decided to send out the following to the entire local beer blogging community:
So, you’ve been asking (some of you) and you’ve by now probably heard rumors about what went down yesterday at Local 44, Memphis Taproom and Resurrection Ale House. I thought I’d offer this account of the facts, rather than have it turn into sketchy gossip in a few more hours (probably too late for that, eh?)
You may or may not know by now that the PLCB started an investigation against because someone called in a complaint that we are serving beers that are not registered in PA. We have been going through the list of what was confiscated with our lawyers (and the lawyers of our major distributors) today and we are finding out that some pretty popular beers (widely poured around the city) may in fact, not registered be for sale in PA. As the day progresses, more of the list might prove to be unregistered, or more of it cleared up as bureaucratic mistakes, but for now it’s just few, and i think rather than inviting a lawsuit against ME for spreading untruths, I’d rather just let that part of the situation work itself out without using brand names.
Yesterday all three bars were visited by teams of State Police, armed with a list of “un-registered” beers (and guns!).
The beers that were on the “un-registered” list that they came looking for are some really commonly poured beers (some local, some regional) as well as some harder to get Belgian, English and German beers. How these particular beers got on that “to confiscate” list? Not sure. I blame the woeful incompetence of the PLBC itself, but that’s just a personal opinion.
Again, until the lawyers are all done pouring over the lists and double checking things, I might prefer to not list out for you what of our inventory was confiscated. Some of it would make you laugh though. Something interesting to point out, some of what they confiscated at one location, they left alone at another. Some of what they took is listed plain as day on the PLCB list of registered beers, which, if you haven’t made yourself familiar with it, is located here:
http://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/registered_brands.asp
The State Police hold it for the duration of the investigation, and when it comes out that this is all mostly BS, we’ll get it back (hopefully unharmed). This could take 2 weeks or 6 months. Who knows. Every beer distributor with a beer on the confiscated list has been in touch with their PLCB contacts on our behalf, so hopefully that will speed things along.
Personally, two of my many concerns during all of this has been that our employees and guests might now feel like we’re up to something shady (we’re not, swearsies) and, well, perhaps obviously, that there’s someone out there with enough of a grudge against us that things took this course. My goal is to make this whole experience as un-drama-filled as possible. Our bottle lists haven’t been depleted all that severely, though there are a few favorites that we’ll just consider 86′d for a little while.
If nothing else, this will give us a great excuse to hold a couple of “welcome back bottle” weekends at the bars!
All questions welcome, all answers screened by our lawyer, for the time being.
I’ve seen comments on various blogs around the city calling for a raid on these properties and I thought it was just so much talk. It’s a damn shame. I hope that this stuff gets cleared up soon.
There must be something I’m missing…because I can’t fathom a reason WHY people would call for raids on such wonderful establishments… envy? jealousy?
I have to wonder if this has something to do with a certain picture that was on the website of a certain keg. I’m noticing that picture is now MIA from the website.
This is some serious Bryson bait right here.
I’ve seen the anonymous msgboard posts and they always have a crazy vibe to them. This is a shame and I hope it pans out in the long run for them. Abolish the PLCB!
Damn right i took that photo down… I’m stupid, not crazy!
Leigh@Resurrection
Were they serving Kilty Pleasure Scottish Ale, Biberry, Winter Wunder or one of the other unlisted beers from PBC?
If they didn’t operate such a shady business, then they wouldn’t have to worry about such things. They started all of this when they drove to Baltimore to pick up an illegal keg and thumbed their noses at the local brewery.
Bar owners should take this as a lesson and not try and work outside the law. Their blatant disregard for the law is what has put them in the position.
“A lesson”?
Or is it a warning?
Why are kennisngton beer nerds so bitter about everything?
Are we in Germany circa 40’s?
Let.s not go overboard here, folks. This isn’t Prohibition and it’s not the action of a dictatorship. Laws do exist and businesses have to abide by them or get them changed.
Sometimes ineptness is just plain ineptness. On its face, this particular situation appears to be just that, a ham-handed, over-zealous and badly flawed attempt to enforce an apparently confusing and possibly inaccurate statute as the result of a complaint made by someone (or someones) with an ax to grind for reasons we do not know.
Yet.
I agree Jack.
Someone posted the PLCB Consumer Suggestions/Comments e-mail address on a beeradvocate.com forum: RA-LBconsumer@state.pa.us
If you’re looking to voice your opinion on this particular matter, this might be a good start.
Cheers!
Leigh
I gotta say, with what little I know of the laws in PA, but… whaaaa? Unregistered beers? This is all mysterious and weird to me. Here, you buy beer, you pay tax, you sell beer. Pretty simple to me. I sympathize with those dealing with the bureaucracy there. It’s gotta be tough.
So, Mr “Kenzorealitycheck”, what’s the Philadelphia Brewing Co. ’s problem with Leigh and Brendan? And no hiding behind fake names.
Maybe PBC should worry more about making better beer, and not about underhanding local establishments that they should be relying on to help market their product…especially since they need all the help they can get. I hate to talk negatively about any brewer’s product, but they are definitely behind all other locals as far as what they bring to the table. Yes, they are a young brewery, but last time I checked they have been around as long as (or longer than) much superior breweries such as The Bruery or Cigar City. So no excuses…make better beer and stop biting the hands that feed you. Shame on PBC.
I happen to like most of PBC’s products, so I’m not coming from that place. I don’t understand why you would possibly cause problems for people. It’s a no-win situation.
In prior similar cases the raids came at the anonymous behest of some taxing authority. The IRS, PA Revenue or City Revenue needed further evidence for tax evasion cases. Bottles seized from out of state showed tax evasion. It seems Operation Memphis NoTaxRoom is following a similar path. Given the defendants bragging in press releases about bringing alcohol from out of state the tax authority will not be willing to settle without conviction.
[...] the Comments on this post continue to flare up now and again, so you might want to check them out. And you most certainly want to go see what Mr. [...]
Maybe I’m missing something but what does this mean?
“Were they serving Kilty Pleasure Scottish Ale, Biberry, Winter Wunder or one of the other unlisted beers from PBC?”
I have seen these beers at other bars around the area. Are you saying these beers are not registered by the PLCB? If so, how are these bars betting the beers? I mean, they ulitmately come from the brewer itself. So isn’t that PBC’s fault that these unlisted beers are getting out there? Please help me understand all this.
I’m not clear on what that’s all about either, Jeff. I will see what I can find out.
Still rather confused what PBC has to do with this.
Thanks Jack. It’s very confusing especially since that was posted from someone at PBC.
By the way, I meant buying not betting. Not sure how I possibly made that mistake.
It’s a damn shame if this was the result of someone in the industry pointing fingers. Also, to add confusion to the interpretation of the PLCB laws, I am pretty sure that the manufacturers do not have to register all of their seasonal or “one off” beers with the state. Many manufacturers seem to have a “Special Ale” or something along those terms listed. I know from experience that in retail several manufacturers use the same UPC codes for all of their seasonal beers. I imagine that some of the PBC seasonal beers are covered under their “Select Ale”.
That tactic is used by brewers as a “work-around” the law, I believe; as far as I know, every seasonal must be registered under its specific name. I am hearing that there are some very unexpected and famous names on the lists of beers which are not on the registered list, by the way, some of them having been around for decades.
Here is something I am curious about. How long does a beer stay on that list? Is it just a year? If that is the case and a beer is removed from the list is the beer supposed to be removed for sale or is there a archived list somewhere out there?
I’m amazed that someone from PBC commented here without identifying him or herself. That’s the sort of behavior that could get ugly really quickly if it got out to folks who patronize Brendan and Leigh’s place.
I’d like to clear something up about Beatles Taxman’s post:
Someone called in 3 separate complaints about three separate bars. Resurrection Ale House was visited months ago by the PLCB regarding the keg that was illegally tapped. That was a different complaint, and it won Resurrection a warning, one that we took very seriously. (And, regarding taxes paid or not paid, that keg was a gift, we did not skirt paying any taxes on it. We paid every penny of the tax we collected selling it at our opening.)
That these three complaints are new is even more disturbing. There were four 12oz bottles of (the same) beer confiscated during the investigation at Memphis Taproom that Memphis should not have been selling. They were old, and were bought long before Memphis Taproom existed. Not that this makes the crime any less, but they WERE bought in Philadelphia and they were bought while the beer was registered. The brewery has been closed for some years now. EVERY other single beer that was confiscated any of you can get all over the city, tonight. You might be drinking one of them right now. About half are absolutely on the PLCB’s “ok” list. The others are not on the list due to various situations of paperwork falling through the cracks, expired registrations that no one realized, importers changing hands and not being organized as to who would re-register the brand. With the exception of the four bottles mentioned above, all of the beer confiscated from Local 44, Memphis Taproom and Resurrection Ale House was bought legitimately through one of the major distributors in the area (Origlio, Shangy’s Stockertown, etc.).
Whatever else gets said, we’re freaks about paying our taxes to the last cent at all three locations, and I resent that this whole mess might ALSO turn us into “tax evaders” in the eyes of some.
Leigh
PS: Regarding David’s question about how long a beer stays on the list. Some importers I have been in contact with during this whole mess have their brands registered from 2000-2010. Others forgot to re-register their beer for this single year. Maybe it makes sense to someone out there, but not me, not yet.
Leigh,
Are those four bottle of a brewery that is now extinct? If so, were you not allowed to be selling these bottles anymore even though they were obvious purchased by you or someone when the brewery was in operation?
This is just crazy. I mean, I think this would happen pretty often I think.
Yes, the 4 bottles are from a now-closed brewery. (They were last registered in 2006, so it must have been the year before or after roughly.)
I’m waiting for the post-triage meeting some time this week with our lawyer to find out all sorts of answers about beer from defunct breweries (and various other things, as you can imagine).
One question now in my mind is this: If we’ve been buying beer at one of the bars with the intention of aging it and offering it as it gets older and the brewery goes belly up, then what? Are we S.O.L.?
I’m now convinced that ‘crazy’ is not a powerful enough word for all of this.
Be careful before you blame PBC for this. The sociopath who has been posting criticisms of Brendan and Leigh (and of local beer writers for that matter) has done so under a number of fake names. Many of these have been names that intentionally lead the reader to believe that they’re someone else in the industry. They’ve even gone as far as to create an email address consisting of the first name and last initial of a local industry figure. Sick stuff from a sick person. Also I think if someone from PBC were to post anonymously, they’d be a bit more skilled at disguising it.
Just read the Joe Sixpack article with some more details (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100308_Troopers_raid_popular_bars_for_unlicensed_beers__Dozens_of_gallons_seized_after__citizen_complaint_.html)
Duvel was grabbed due to being listed as “Duvel Beer” but the label said “Duvel Belgian Golden Ale” ??? Un-freaking real.
I’d be a little reluctant to attribute this to PBC. Unfortunatly anyone can post any anonymous comment anyhwere. Unless Jack and/or other bloggers and forum operators want to require registration or track IP addresses, anonymous is exactly what they are. Anyone can link anywhere.
I was ruminating about that last night, Pete. I’ve never shut down comments on any topic nor required registration (I do have to specifically approve comments from any one is new to the site or who is sending from a different address that before, however), but I’m getting tempted on this one.
You and Lappy make an important point. This Kenzo character has never before, to my knowledge at least, posted here or anywhere (he was a regular on BeerAdvocate for a stretch with incendiary posts) with a identifiable URL attached and that, combined the confusing reference to PBC beers in his comment here, has some people jumping to conclusions.
Beyond that, there is nothing in the Kenzo comment itself that indicates the person behind the curtain had anything whatsoever to do with what happened at the three bars. We need less conjecture about who was the supposed “snitch” and more attention paid to the stupidity of the whole situation. If brewers or wholesalers become less willing to make the efforts to make special, small release beers into the state because they fear more of this nonsense, every beer-lover will suffer.
I found this to be an interesting article regarding anonymity and online posting.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/179835
This whole thing stinks. Good people don’t deserve to be harassed like this.
I took the liberty of exporting the PA LCB list to an Excel spreadheet and sorted it alphabetically by brewery.
I’m at work and many sites are blocked, but when I get home I can convert to a Google spreadheet and link to it.
This made more sense to me that alphabetically by beer name. Those PBC beers mentioned - Kilty Pleasure Scottish Ale, Biberry, Winter Wunder - are conspicuously absent from the list. Seems insane for someone from PBC to call attention to themselves like that. Another pretty famous local Chester County brewery that had a series of single hop beers seems to have not registered them.
But, yes, ultimately it’s PA LCB insanity. If the beers/labels/names have been vetted by the feds, what does registration mean? Submitting a copy of the label, a form and $75 to the PA LCB and waiting?
I will retract my earlier comments about PBC then until the finger can be officially pointed at them. Regardless, whoever is responsible for this is a disgrace and they better hope that this can never be proven because I’m sure the loyal craft drinkers in this area will make them suffer for their actions via diminished sales.
Pete/Jack, it’s my understanding that a number of brewers have used a “generic” name to describe a particular style of one-off brews, such as Limited Lager or Limited Ale for a series of single hop beers. I assume that when the limited series beers were registered that each individual hop was identified and the appropriate fee amount was paid. I was told that this approach was considered an acceptable practice by the PA LCB to avoid a lenghty and costly registration process.
The idea that Leigh & Brendan or any publican may be skirting taxes is ludicrous.
I spent the weekend reading EVERY listing on the PLCB page.
Beers that were sold last year (that were on the list at that time) no longer appear on the list. The registration fee was paid at the time of distribution and the taxes are being paid at every level the sale occurs. Are we now not supposed to be selling them?
MANY spelling mistakes, improper brewery listings, not EXACT names. Are we also expected to not be selling these as well?
Are we now supposed to check the list before buying? “I’m sorry I can’t buy your XYZ it’s misrepresented on the list as YXZ ”
Seems a harsh responsibility on the little guys just trying to earn a living. We are not trying to skirt any taxes or responsibilities. We just want to sell the beer.
I saw a post on another site touting that Yuengling’s Black & Tan was not listed. In fact it is listed “BLACK & TAN ENGLISH STYLE DARK BEER - D G YUENGLING & SON INC”
Another post claimed not Ballast Point beers listed. Also, not true. All Ballast Point beers are listed under the beers independent name “BIG EYE IPA - HOME BREW MART”
Two of Rogue’s beers are listed under the name “Rouge”
There are many listings that are just too vague to determine which beer they are XYZ Ale, XYZ Lager, XYZ Special.
Yes the state wants its $75. Yes the state should get the $75. It’s a nominal fee to sell beer to a very large beer-centric audience. But every brand has to be registered every year. Perhaps there should be a better system, a larger fee for a “forever” listing instead of yearly or a larger fee for the entire brewery instead of every single brand.
The answer seems bigger than the publicans on their own. But, it appears in Leigh & Brendan’s case that they get left holding the bag. Perhaps the Brewers, Wholesalers & Retailers all need to come together and impress upon the legislature or PLCB or the whomever the powers that be are, that there could be a better system where the end user gets the beer they want and the state gets the registrations fees and oversight it needs.
[...] least a dozen police officers were part of a simultaneous raid on three Philadelphia watering holes, all owned by the same couple: Memphis Taproom, Local 44 and [...]
that man up there–”kenzorealitycheck” is not Frank Shorter, he’s an impostor!
Beware sock puppets with sweat-stained armpits and poopy pants!!!
Spanky GOOD! Spanky wife GOOD!
They NICE to Kenzo!
that is all, Freddy go back to his Summer home in North Dakota now…
Responding to Richard… One brewer in PA mentioned to me that they registered an IPA name with the PLCB and changed the hops in the beer regularly over a year. The name of the beer never changed — the official name — but the hops and flavor and character did. Was it a new beer? “No,” he said, “I just had to change the recipe. You know, like A-B has admitted to doing with Budweiser.”
Responding to the whole PBC fracas: Lappy makes a VERY good point. Let’s not be manipulated, let’s not jump to any conclusions, and let’s not be the Judean People’s Front and turn on each other. The ENEMY is not PBC, it’s not the State Police, it’s not even the PLCB. The ENEMY is the PA Liquor Code. The way to change it is by writing your legislator and telling them that you’d like to see liquor laws cleaned up and simplified.
This is the most disturbing thing about this situation:
“Allow me to finish by pointing out one obvious fact here: The same Pennsylvania law does not apply to wine.
So the wine cellar at Le Bec Fin is a treasure. But the beer cellar at Local 44 is a crime scene.” - Joe Sixpack, Beer Radar
That is completely ridiculous and unfair.
Posting late into this fray,I can see that the subject matter is quite volatile. Besides the abject stupidity and ineptitude of those that fomented this situation, it bothers me that the governing bodies always hold US to a different standard than themselves. If we make a clerical error, we are taken to task on it and subjected to fines, etc., but when they make a mistake, that’s OK. We still have to pay the price. Businesses are afraid to push too hard for fear of retribution from a completely subjective organization formed with the sole purpose to hinder the sale and distribution of alcohol. In essence, they are looking to put themselves out of business!
The NJABC is no better than the PLCB in the interpretation of their guidelines. They understand that their is no retribution when they falsely prosecute/persecute someone…not even an apology is necessary. I would hope that this could be changed in order to improve the non-thinking of those in power. As for keeping anonymity, the rule of law is that you can face your accusers…except when that person is well-connected. But, as we all know, the government is above the law and does not answer to the people. I also hope that we as a people will someday stand up and take back our rights.
Steve -
Good point. Similarly to the way the state (and the country, for the most part) handles everything, they have no moral objections when they’re the ones directly profiting from these activities.
Being directly in charge of wines and spirits somehow makes them completely above their own laws.
And forgive me for thinking that writing legislators is really a waste of time at this point - it’s 2010 and we still have the same ridiculous blue laws from a hundred years ago. I hardly think a few dozen people writing a couple of letters is going to change much when the guys getting elected likely get contributions and support from those who would like to keep things as they are.
It’s perhaps time for a more radical, less passive-aggressive approach to this all.
[...] continues around the local corner of the internets about the PLCB raids. And we have the best back-and-forth on the topic of them all going on right here, if I do say so myself. Lots of participation by knowledgeable folks and a [...]
This is a complete mess and I hope it is resolved shortly.
[...] reading Jack Curtin’s blog on the matter, I found out these sinister bar owners were met with guns. I don’t know how you [...]
I didn’t really want to get caught up in this but it seems someone posting has changed that for me. I’m not really sure what we, PBC, has to do with this particular subject and why someone would drag us into it. Apparently anyone can link any website to their post (which is what kenzorealitycheck did) and write whatever they want anonymously. All I know is that we all have better things to do than bash people via the internet. After all, we are from Kensington, we would do it face to face
Brendan and Leigh are friends and good neighbors and we hope everything gets sorted out for them quickly.
Glad Nancy cleared that up.
All this control from a bogus board while the city for three weekends straight is rampant with hoards of swill chugging, green gear wearing “Irish” minors, twenty somethings and adults clinging to their college days. If anything needs control, it is the many elementary school buses turned into shuttles/expresses toting these fist fighters from bar to bar choking back green beer. Hmmm is green coors light on that list.
Atta girl, Nancy!
Seriously, people: kenzorealitycheck is already stirring up crap. Are we going to be manipulated into blaming an innocent party just because they know how to type PBC’s URL? I mean, I do, too, but I didn’t post this from there.
And krc sits back and laughs. Let’s beat the name of who dropped this dime out of the BLCE.
So, on the same weekend this garbage goes down… for the umpteenth year in a row, bars and their patrons that partake in the handful of Irish themed bar crawls are not held accountable for the populace roaming the streets with open alcohol containers, littering, public urination, public intoxication and general nusance
MANY spelling mistakes, improper brewery listings, not EXACT names. Are we also expected to not be selling these as well? Are we now supposed to check the list before buying? “I’m sorry I can’t buy your XYZ it’s misrepresented on the list as YXZ ”
I saw a post on another site touting that Yuengling’s Black & Tan was not listed. In fact it is listed “BLACK & TAN ENGLISH STYLE DARK BEER - D G YUENGLING & SON INC”
Two of Rogue’s beers are listed under the name “Rouge”
There are many listings that are just too vague to determine which beer they are XYZ Ale, XYZ Lager, XYZ Special.
TJs/Jeff…you hit this squarely on the head. (Your observation on Rogue/Rouge is a classic example)
This is exactly what I was referring to yesterday in my post when I said “…I’ve never put confidence that the fingers that type the entries on the list are getting it right on every line of roughly 3000 beers…” Fact is, it’s just people, not perfection, that enters this information. Of course, there could be a typo on the application from the brewery/distributor that then becomes part of the permanent record.
However, I’m more likely to believe that when you have a data entry clerk responsible for getting info into a system, there’s a much greater chance that the breakdown in data quality will occur at that point. (One of many concerns in my day job relates to Data Quality, so I think I have a fairly good grasp on the subject…yet the lack of it frustrates me to no end still today…this is what I refer to in our culture as “ah, don’t worry, it’s good enough.”)
Nice job, Jack, in getting a healthy conversation going.
I just returned from Belgium to see this shit storm. The three bars are great. All the people involved with these bars are top-notch, honorable people. It sucks that someone with a vendetta against Brenden and Leigh can use governmental agencies to lash out at them. Spineless! I plan on going out of my way to patronize Memphis, et al more frequently. Vendetta boy just boosted his enemy’s business and got them tons of free pub-licity. Join me there for a beer?
I’ll meet you there Tom.
I’m anxious to try Dogfish Sha’tea. That is misspelled on the site, too.
If we’re gonna party, we need a special beer, which shall be called….Vendetta (Gone) Sour Ale.
As a frequent visitor to this blog I like to read the comments, especially in a situation like this, and reflect on both the salient points as well as the nonsense (I find it amusing). I never really thought of posting until now; not because I have such great inside info or anything like that but just an interesting story.
Last Friday I heard rumors from a friend something happened at Memphis/Local/Resurrection, and sat down at my computer after school with a beer to see what happened. When I saw Leigh’s post with the link to the registered beer list, I decided I should check what I was drinking. Lo and behold, my beer was not on the list! It was a beer I purchased in the city a few months prior under the assumption I was a good law abiding citizen…shame on me I guess.
I’m hesitant to list what the beer was. I shouldn’t be since it’s a great beer from a great brewery and should be promoted as such. I will say it is a VERY recent GABF gold medal winner and not from this area. Shouldn’t we celebrate the fact I (or anyone else for that matter) get to sit down on a Friday night and enjoy this beer…without all this PLCB nonsense? The fact I’m not sure I should tell people exactly what I was drinking on a blog only a select few read (no offense intended Jack) is a little disturbing to say the least.
[...] Jack Curtin has some more information on this incident in the form of an e-mail from bar owner Leigh Maida with [...]
[...] thread is brewing about this elsewhere, so to speak. The comments are way more imperative than the actual article, as several of them are [...]
I’m sorry. I’m stupid and allowed a turdhead a little bit more fun. I dragged some fine brewers into something that didn’t directly concern them. And I helped distract us from the main issue of bad laws and bad enforcement of those laws. Again, I’m sorry.
[...] If you have the time to read, there are some pretty good discussions about the episode at Beer Advocate and Lew Bryson’s NOPLCB and Jack Curtin’s Liquid Diet, especially in this post. [...]
Meet you at Memphis soon Tom.
Then I’ll do my regular stop at Local 44 on my way home. 44 is a great beer bar with lots of nice people and bartenders! If it wasn’t I would not be stopping in
about 3 nights a week for at least one!
So did anyone start the “Rewrite the PA liquor code” or “Abolish the PLCB” facebook groups yet?
Done, Kevin. Sending out invites now.
Wow, that was quick Lew. I was hoping you would wind up owning the group. I’m in and will begin helping spread the word.
I don’t understand how it’s the responsibility or bars/restaurants? If they are buying beer from licensed distributors shouldn’t it be the distributors problem?
Iviz2000 (is that Lviz or Iviz?),
It looks like the responsibility of registering the beers is on the brewer or their agent in the commonwealth, not the wholesalers’ or retailers’ responsibility. That said, the law seems to read that if unregistered beers are found on the premises of a wholesaler or retail account (bar or distributor), they are considered “contraband” and are subject to confiscation and subsequent destruction. I don’t know if there’s a fine involved there or not.
So what is seriously being done to about this? Are bar owners, brewers, distributors, wholesalers, and beer writers (Lew, Jack, etc.) going to unite to prove to the state of PA that the PLCB and the states ridiculous beer laws are archaic and need to be abolished or re-written?
What can the average citizen do to help?
Let us keep this in mind -
Anyone remotely condoning the actions of the State police here remember this whole thing is over a $75 fee. Any violation that occurred could easily have been rectified in a VERY simple manner, without taking any beer or causing any hassle.
Absolutley ridiculous!
Laws are laws and stupid laws are stupid laws…let’s help our legislature figure it out!
@Jeff:
The average citizen can write to their elected reps and express their opinion and desires. I wrote to Rep Curry and Sen Washington, my reps in Harrisburg, to express my displeasure. If they don’t agree with me or represent my views in Harrisburg (they don’t appear to to) I’ll vote them out. Rinse, repeat.
@Pete:
What exactly did you say to them?
Quick update, and then I’m going to take our legal advice and shut my trap for the foreseeable future (insert collective hallelujah here).
Some of the really extra legal beer came back tonight. Some still being debated about. LCE Officers, including LaTorre were rather accommodating about it — truly seem like decent people performing a job that is based on a shitty set of wonkily regulated laws.
(Notice how nice my language gets after my lawyer shuts me up?)
I put links to state government (etc) emails, on the home page at all three bars. If you’ve got time, be constructive and proactive and maybe as a group of voices we can all get heard and liquor laws will creep slowly towards the 21st century.
Cheers,
Leigh
[...] From that talkative Ms. Maida, the latest comment in The Thread That Will Not Die: [...]
This sucks for all of us. The people that called for being jealous ruined more than just pliny the younger or any other beer. Now its got us on high alert and forcing brewers to register their one offs that they may only send a few kegs of this or a few cases of that thus increasing their already high price. Im not saying thats wrong, or shouldnt be, but its goign to make me and im sure all the other wholesalers in PA think twice about getting a beer in before its registered.
Maybe there should be a “special permit for registering limited quantity beers” in effect.
or a lowered rate since the beers will only be in a limited amount of time and a limited number of cases or kegs will be sent. I’m rambling and by the way… whoever you are that called on Leigh and Brendan, you need to possibly consider, maybe you need to do a little bit more biz with certain wholesalers and create your own niche if you feel you deserve certain beers. We do it like this.. you support said brewery over the year.. your reward is the special beer. You dont, your not inclined… Sometimes, we are asked by the brewery for the sales reports and they make the determination as to who gets what and how much.
Just cause you build it, does not mean they will come…. You have to work it, show you care, believe in the craft beer industry, and then you may get recognition, so long as its genuine.
BV loves M-R-44!
@Jeff: Just ask them what their position is on reform/elimination of the PA LCB. Tell them you are a taxpayer, a citizen and their constituent, and that this is an issue that you care about. If you want to link to an economic analysis or a study that reinforces your position, do that. Lew Bryson has shown some ‘back of the envelope’ calculations that demonstrate that the taxes that are being lost in over-the-border sales would more than offset the loss of revenue for the wholesale sales. The bigger question might be ‘why the heck is the State of PA in the wholesale liquor business anyway?’ What is that about?
While we are at it, can we repeal the Johnstown Flood Tax - 18% on all alcohol, ennacted for a disaster in the 1930s!
http://www.johnstownfloodtax.com/
@Jack and @Smashington
Actually, restaurants are not allowed to have any wine in their posession that is not sold through the PLCB. This is the first time the PLCB has gone apeshit over ‘illegal beer’, but they definitely have crippled the wine industry and have forced wine fans to travel to Delaware, New York, and yes, even the Jerz to purchase from a great selection.
Now, bar owners can request the PLCB to order special wine, but it’s basically the same process, it will get added to this list, but they have to go through the state. If they would find wine in the cellar that wasn’t purchased here, they would definitely dump it.
The only thing that might be an issue is if the wine was purchased years ago before these specific laws regarding importing and storing ‘illegal’ product were in existence. Since beers are generally not as ageworthy as wine (yes, there are some that do go through beautiful maturation, but in general, beers do much better when they are fresh) and in many cases wines dont reach drinkability until years later, so there might be a grandfather clause somewhere for wines that came in before that, but trust me, the bar owners and bev managers who do specialize in wine have as many issues with the PLCB as the beer crowd now does.
Bottom line, they’re screwing everybody. And it’s really not so much an issue of let’s change the law, but why the f$*k they all of a sudden decided to get raw about this. I mean, we had 2 amazing beer weeks with hundreds of events each week, and they’re only now doing this?
Thanks whistleblower. You ruined it for everyone, including your patrons, not just Leigh and Brendan.
As for Leigh and Brandon, see you guys soon. And often.
Facebook group focused on the raids, support for Leigh and Brendan. C’mon over!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=383329938967
[...] 3/5: Owners, Leigh Maida and Brendan Hartranft, send out a memo detailing the events and say that some of the beer that was taken in the raids was legally [...]
Anyone tally how much larger the brands list has become the past few days? I’m guessing the office handling brand registration has been busy this week.