Bottle shops selling out of distro beer

Great topic Johnny. A lot of differing opinions.

 

Can someone explain to me why it is illegal to do this? A list of reasons would be great.
Also, why is DC exempt?

 

I think it sucks in a way. House of 1,000 beers often has beer that isn't distributed here like Central waters or Half Acre but they jack up prices like 200+% and I end up paying it... unless I wait months for the beer to "age" then I find it in the "mix and match" section.

But yeah I believe in a free market so you don't have to buy it and if you justify minus trading cost it makes it worth while.

 

Russian River is like this. If they could sell all beer from their pub they would. They don't want to distribute and restrict the little they do distribute to select markets with existing accounts only. You cant even buy it in most areas of Cali.

 

It's primarily a tax issue - in most states, the state excise tax on beer is paid by distributor (sometimes the in-state brewery), so when beer is purchased out of state it is essentially untaxed in the "importing" state (even though it was taxed in the state of purchase if purchased at the retail level).

The Three Tier laws in most states require licensed retailers to only purchase beer from licensed in-state wholesalers for that reason. Go around the system, and both other retailers and those wholesalers (both of which pay state license fees for the right to do business) see it as unfair competition. As others note, many brewers also don't want their beer sold where they do not have a wholesaler to represent the beer, maintain fresh stock*, etc.

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*Don't laugh, they're supposed to it, by contract.​

That's the way their Three Tier law is written. See How Lax Import Regulations Made D.C. A Craft Beer Haven

 

Thats a good point. I've never really looked at it that way.

 

As a consumer I'd love it if I had access to out of distro beer, they can charge whatever they like as I have the choice whether or not to buy it. Recently a local bar had Pliny the Elder bottles for $15 each. Had I not had it before I might have tried it.

That said I couldn't blame competitors one bit for reporting them for not playing by the rules since doing stuff like that will surely bring you a lot of attention and business and give you an unfair advantage.

 

It would be appropriate to know what your number of reasons are against it, no?

 

http://www.welovedc.com/2011/04/07/dc-is-a-self-imported-beer-town/

 

I could only imagine the local distributers (and 1 guy on BA forums) having an issue with it. Doesn't hurt the original distro at all

 

So when some Firestone shows up in TX, the distributor in TX pays a TX excise tax. But if someone buys Parabola and brings it to TX to resell it in their shop, they don't pay TX excise tax. However, the consumer pays sales tax. The illegally importing retailer paid sales tax in CA, so the loser here is TX not getting an excise tax.

Is this right? Does distributor also pay sales tax on the lots they buy from FW in CA?
I've never delved into the legal aspect of importing beer.

 

Wow that is very insulting. Offering to buy a product you have for more than you paid for it.

Imagine the nerve of this business trying to make money.

I agree and I am outraged.

 

Johnny their free so far because their risking a tremendous more than an internet scolding, their risking their livelihood, careers and their business to promote craft beer and to demonstrate that there are laws regulating alcohol that are archaic, do very little to no public good, and absolutely hurt consumers choice. The three tier system is ridiculous. Cheers to any business that is willing to flout it.

 

Disclaimer: I'm no legal expert here.

Let's assume that it's illegal for a shop near me to sell something that they haven't acquired through the proper channels. Seems likely given PA's wacky laws.

Now let's assume that this becomes a somewhat common occurrence - selling "bootleg" cases. What's the upside? You can buy (presumably high-markup) beer that you would have otherwise had to trade for or order online (wait, is that even legal in PA?).

What's the downside? If anyone gets nosy and decides to make this into a story - not entirely unlikely given that PA's beer laws have been in the news again lately - us beer drinkers and the stores we purchase from are in the spotlight with a negative stigma attached to them. We don't come across looking like responsible people with an enthusiasm for trying different craft beer - we come across looking like arrogant "I'm above the law" people who will disregard authority to get our hands on alcohol. Which, in such a conservative area, is exactly what we don't need.

I'm all for having access to a higher number of beers, but if we're acquiring them in a way that's illegal, it paints a negative picture. You can rant all you'd like about "some laws are made to be broken", etc. But in the end, it's just beer after all. I already have access to dozens of fantastic breweries; I won't lose sleep over one or two that elude me.

 

I agree with you on this one, but obviously you're gonna be in the minority here. Arguing against buying out of distro beer on a website that loves to hype out of distro beer

 

There was also this.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/20100312philly-beer-raid-CR.html