Beyond comprehension, maybe beyond salvation. [UPDATE]
Update: I refer you to Andy Crouch’s question and commentary below and my answer to same.
I never saw this coming, not for a minute.
It surpasseth all understanding that even the most inept bureaucrat would escalate a stupid decision into an everybody-loses vendetta.
Arrogance. It’s the greatest human failing.
This is going to end terribly, no matter how it ends.
And not just for the PLCB. Maybe not for the PLCB at all, comes to that, depending on how the pols decide to roll with it.
But, no matter what transpires going forward, the Philly beer scene is going to suffer.
Frightened big corporate wholesalers. Timid bar owners. Brewers who can sell all the beers they can make anywhere wondering if it’s worth the effort/risk to send them here. Psychotic snoops eager to turn anybody or everybody in.
Absent a complete overhaul of the system, such is what lies ahead.
And a complete overhaul is not going to happen or, very best case scenario, it will take months and years of legal and political haggling.
I have seen the future and it makes me long for the past.
And I wonder how the jackass who started this ball rolling feels tonight.
Look on the bright side (if there is a bright side):
Isn’t it better that this crap plays itself out now, in March, than in June, during Philly Beer Week?
Maybe this person did everyone in PA a favor. I feel bad for Brendan and Leigh, and also for Origlio, but maybe what we are seeing are the death throes of a system eating itself.
Just wondering if all this nonsense has had an impact on the events this weekend at the places participating in the Craft Beer Express, or others with special tappings like Tria. I’m visiting special from the DC area just to take advantage of all the special offerings. I will also make sure to visit Resurrection just to support folks there.
BTW does anyone know if a route or order for the CBX buses been established. I’ve tried calling a couple of the places participating but no one has been able to answer my question.
Hey Jack-
I must be missing something here. It all sounds tedious as hell and for a lesser market I imagine folks might weigh the utility of being in it. But, from what I can tell, brewers and distributors need to be vigilant in making sure that the beers that they register are spelled or reported correctly on the PLCB’s list. Then retailers need to make sure that they do the same if they print a beer menu. Tedious as hell, yes. A big deal in the greater scheme of beer/brewery/alcohol regulation? Hardly it seems. I imagine it’ll suck for a week or two and then get back to normal (besides the bitching folks not in the industry/bar owners will do).
Because, at the heart of it, I sincerely doubt that the beer/alcohol industry in Penn. really truly wants regulators and legislators to consider substantial changes to the existing framework. They’ve all got a lot of money riding on the present system and to upset it for some unknown system, even one that has some hope of being more favorable to them, is not something that the industry is usually interested in pursuing. The brewers I’ve heard from seem to prefer grumbling and filling out the forms rather than fighting some larger battle that might turn against them in the end.
You want to have a real debate? Ask industry folks to chime in as to whether they really want to continue this fight. It’s the same in every state in the country and why you hear craft brewers (the larger ones anyways) talk about how much they love distributors…as if.
Cheers,
Andy
At the heart of this is the simple fact that we have a regulatory body which is charge of products it knows nothing about, including the names of the products to the point where a simple word difference is incomprehensible to them, acting with an unnecessarily and ludicrous public show of force and then, when there is an inevitable negative reaction, doubling down and doing a nighttime raid at a wholesaler warehouse for, it seems, the purpose of proving that they can. The behavior is reprehensible, purposefully antagonizing and reeks of a vendetta, again, just because they can.
I personally agree that there is little possibility of a major overhaul of the system at this time, but this sort of arrogance certainly raises the bar toward that end.
And the people, the customers, the ones who are bitching here and elsewhere on the net, really has no obligation to care one what representatives of the beer/alcohol industry would prefer. They know what *they* want.
Sorry for the omission of a word here and there and that dreadful “has” for “have” in the final sentence; I’m typing too fast and doing too many things at once.
Going to open that bottle of Duvel now….
Agreed on all counts. But pressure for real change would likely have to come from the industry itself. And but for a few bar owners bitching, I’m guessing that most distributors will suck it up and comply with the law. At the end of the day, if you’ve got three to four grand (out of seven grand confiscated) worth of unregistered brands in your bar (no small amount, assuming that total is the wholesale cost), then either someone at the distributor really isn’t doing their job, the bar owner is intentionally skirting the law and now bitching about the PLCB enforcing it (regardless of the theatrical manner of execution), or some combination thereof. People will be up in arms for a week or two, and Don’s columns will help foment that rage, but in the end changing the PA alcohol laws is a monumental task that very few in the industry will be interested in pursuing (I would bet)…
Best,
Andy
Unfortunately the distributors are a huge lobby here and are the ones who are most against deregulation. Although they have now been brought into this mess, deregulation means that they will have to compete with supermarkets. It won’t be a one segment change, but a full overhaul of the system, which is against everyone’s interest except the consumers (so it is against everyone’s interest that has $$$ to spend).
I have an op-ed on that coming up in the next issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, Paul, one I have managed to catch on the way to the presses and will have a chance to update slightly to account for the events of the last several days.
Andy,
I think changing the PA alcohol laws would be unnecessary if the state police showed a bit more sense in enforcing these laws.
It is $75 fee we are talking about here. Purely administrative - it could have been handled in a completely non-public fashion in a matter of hours by the parties involved - state, brewer, and distributor.
We’ll see where it goes from here - but the beer drinking climate in PA has certainly taken a hit and until members of the community can be sure things like this will not happen again, Jack’s right - it’s changed.
Andy, I worked in a large corporation once for a very wise man and he told me *never* to run anything by the company lawyers because their stock answer was “don’t do it,” an answer which meant they wouldn’t have any problems. I’m afraid that same mindset will come to play in large wholesalers and “suck it up” will mean play it safe and go with known brands. What the PLCB has done is show how easily they can disrupt things should they choose to. Notice that there has not been a single word from that side either apologize for errors and its out-of-date and often erroneous list of approved brands nor even a “show us where we’re in error” or “let’s work together to fix this” offer.
very unscientific view through these tired eyes sees about 6 brewers and 2 retailers on the first 4 or 5 screens of members of the 625+ group on FB
Bill, I have an email from Kite & Key that makes it sound like they might be the so-called beginning of the route (even though all events are scheduled to begin at same time). They’ve got a firkin of 75 minute IPA to be tapped at 11am, though not sure how the PLCB odyssey of the past few days may/may not affect. I’m betting that if you go, you’re bound to have a good time no matter if a few brands are missing.
(although, the plcb lists it as “75 Minute Indian Pale Ale”….sorry, not trying to be funny)