Legally, everything is craft beer for now.

Without the craft moniker how can I distinguish between my awesome Odell IPA and Bud Light Corn Syrup Platinum?

 

When I grew up every Communist country said it was a democratic people's republic. The word "democracy" still meant something. And quibbles about whether partocular countries that were on the edge were democracies did not take away it's meaning.

We don't particularly need the law to enforce the usage of the word craft. We consumers will enforce it by making fun of misuse. That will be easier to do wRt Bud Lite than Blue Moon, which is probably as it should be.

 

You are correct, that's not quite what it says. I downloaded the opinion from PACER and am happy to post it here if anyone can tell me how to post a PDF.

The complaint was dismissed for two reasons. As to the allegation that the use of "Blue Moon Brewing Company" as a trade name on the packaging was unfair or deceptive under California law, the statute at issue contains a safe harbor for conduct that is otherwise sanctioned by law. There is a separate statute specifically authorizing a company to use its trade name, rather than its official corporate name, on packaging. Blue Moon Brewing Company is an officially registered trade name (or "fictitious name"), and thus, it cannot be unfair or deceptive for MillerCoors to use the BMBC name on its packaging.

Second, and more importantly, the court held that no "reasonable consumer" could be misled by the facts as pled. Specifically, there was no reasonable likelihood of confusion that BMBC was not associated with MillerCoors, as the plaintiff himself alleged that Blue Moon was prominently featured on the MC website as one of its brands.

As to the issue that is most likely to be of interest on BA, the court acknowledged that the parties disagreed as to whether or not "craft beer" had a legally recognizable definition. However, MC does not expressly say anywhere that Blue Moon is a "craft beer," so whether or not that term is defined is irrelevant. Instead, the plaintiff argued that MC's use of the slogan, "Artfully Crafted" on the Blue Moon packaging and advertising was misleading. The court disagreed, holding that "Artfully Crafted" was not a measurable claim but rather, was what the law refers to as "puffery" (think along the lines of "premium," top-quality," "nutritious" and other vaguely positive but immeasurable advertising terms).

TL;DR - The court does not address whether or not "craft beer" is a defined thing, nor did it say that Blue Moon, Miller Lite, or any other beer is a craft beer. In fact, MillerCoors does not use the term "craft beer" at all. What the court did say was that the use of the phrase "Artfully Crafted" by MillerCoors was not sufficiently specific to mislead a reasonable consumer into thinking Blue Moon was "craft beer" (whatever that may mean). Basically, it was just vague bullshit that no one could reasonably take seriously.

 

Can you get rid of the word craft? How? By legal action against the brewers, organizations, retailers and consumers who use it? Good luck with your language policing.

 

I can't think of anything I care less about.

 

Exactly. Which is why I only buy handmade beer.

 

If we start going to court over marketing we will need a ton more courts. Imagine the suits over new and improved.

 

It was the Daily Beast. No need to be redundant.

 

True enough (for at least some of us :-)).

 

I just read the article and not the decision.

But my initial reaction is that I have to agree. Take beer out of the mix and ask yourself what is a "craft" hamburger. Obviously one from a fancy steakhouse like Jeff Ruby's but not McDonalds? What about Red Robin and Five Guys? The local diner that grinds fresh local beef daily? Does it have to have an egg on it or avacado to be craft or is the well made traditional one craft?

I almost miss the old classification of microbrew versus macrobrew.

 

The only reason they label it as craft is because we insist that there needs to be a distinction. We demand labels, they comply. Drink what you enjoy regardless of the label and let your dollars decide the rest.

 

It's all just labeling jargon. In the end there is good beer, really good beer, and hands down, holy shit, comes out once a year, costs too much, and is probably mostly all hype, but I'm going to buy it anyway...beer. Whether you want to call it craft or crap you'll either buy it or not, and if you're not buying it because some governing body told you that beer is not fit to wear the label of CRAFT, then your jeans and nifty skull cap are probably on just a little too tight. My Opinion.

 

Labeled craft or not, if it's a good beer I'm gonna drink it. It doesn't really matter to me.

 

From the article
That’s the de facto ruling from a U.S. District court now that a class action lawsuit has been dismissed attempting to call out MillerCoors for labeling Blue Moon (which they produce at a rate of over 70 million barrels a year) a craft beer.
So Blue Moon by itself accounts for about 1/3 of all the beer sold in the USA! Makes me wonder how good the rest of the writer's info is.

 

Well, no --- that is the Brewers Association definition of a "Craft Brewer" - not of "Craft Beer". The Brewers Association has long claimed they have no definition for "Craft Beer":

Or as DFH's (and sometime Brewers Association board member and former Chair) Sam Calagione has written here on the BA Forums:

So, I guess, if "each beer lover" gets to decide, than that should include Anheuser Busch and MillerCoors (they, too, "love" beer or at least, the profits from the selling of same). The point is there is no accepted industry-wide definition of "craft beer" and certainly there is no legal definition of it in the US - contrary to the headline.

But, it's too easy to pick apart the opinions of someone who can write "...Budweiser, whose hatred for the craft beer world’s success has grown as their own market share has slipped in recent years." He does realize that Budweiser is merely a brand of beer, which can not really "hate" anything? The marketers in charge of that brand who work for AB obviously try to stress Budweiser's attributes over those of "craft" type beers but AB itself has now spend many millions of dollars buying "craft breweries" - not usually interpreted as a sign of "hatred".

 

how about we stop calling craft beer craft beer and just call it beer, which is what it is.

 

I imagine a lot less is going on here than the article suggests. I think the market will do a fairly decent job in determining what is and is not a craft beer and we will all probably play a role in what we buy and what we say about it. .

 

In this case, craft probably has no strict legal definition. Making any beer is practicing the craft of beer making.

 

So, basically all advertising and marketing is covered. Good to know I was ahead of the curve on this one.

 

I know the difference and that's all that matters.