Philly Beer Bar Raided....

[flyerwire]

its definitely not a response an anonymous "citizen complaint" will EVER get. The citizen either has friends or a competitor happened to a PLCB member, etc. What kind of citizen actually knows which beers are and aren't on the PA registered list, or would even check? and why? And the things that also annoys me is that they say roughly half of what was taken, if not more, was things that WERE on the list, things like... Duvel, and Monk's Cafe Flemish which is sold everywhere in the city, most of all at... Monk's Cafe.

 

[joety]

... they are initially out $7200 in stock, but i dont think you can spend $7200 in advertising and get as much out of it as this will.

We'll see. That's a lot of money to a tavern owner.

 

[joety]

BTW: Love to see them confiscate all the Hacker Pschorr garbage they can get their hands on. What a joke.

 

[flyerwire]

We'll see. That's a lot of money to a tavern owner.

yes, and i didnt take into account fines and legal fee's they will occur, which will put more of a drain on them.

 

[Praiodan]

How about we recognize that in the age of craft breweries, brew pubs and expanded global trading, these laws are archaic? Just one bureaucracy washing the back of another. Can't wait until these ass clowns control our health care.

Amen, I've already seen my healthcare deteriorate over the last 2 years to the point of unless it's broken, bleeding profusely or am near death, I don't go to the doc or I've just wasted thousands of dollars. That's money I can spend brewing beers!

 

[klyph]

I'm glad I live in the last state that will ever succumb to liberalism.

 

[brewt00l]

its definitely not a response an anonymous "citizen complaint" will EVER get. The citizen either has friends or a competitor happened to a PLCB member, etc. What kind of citizen actually knows which beers are and aren't on the PA registered list, or would even check? and why? And the things that also annoys me is that they say roughly half of what was taken, if not more, was things that WERE on the list, things like... Duvel, and Monk's Cafe Flemish which is sold everywhere in the city, most of all at... Monk's Cafe.

You've touched on a couple very interesting points that this situation raises: the impractical nature of the registered brands red tape & the fact that the police and PALCB allowed themselves to be used as tools in someone's personal vendetta against a couple and their establishments.

Many of the beers confiscated were purchased when the brand was actively produced and registered but is no longer produced and thus, not registered. For example, they confiscated bottles of limited production anniversary beers (previously registered when sold) and Heavyweight Brewing beers, which has been out of business for several years (also registered when sold). Certain beers are registered once as a "generic" and change slightly over time, like the Sly Fox single hop beers, causing even more confusion. When you look at some of the beers confiscated it clearly demonstrates that even those charged with enforcing the law don't understand the law.

So wine bars can accumulate and bitching cellar of great wine but beer bars can't because the brand is no longer produced and registered?

This stunt could have happened in just about any bar in the Philly metro or any other state that has a similar registration requirement...but it just so happened to be the result of an anonymous tip that snared three establishments owned by the same couple. We're not talking bootlegging..these beers were purchased from licensed wholesale distributors & the appropriate taxes paid. Anyone with half a brain should have seen what was happening and put the brakes on these raids.

 

[Zen_Brew]

That is just a crock of $h*t.

I spent most of my life living 50 miles north of Philadelphia. The city is riddled with drugs, gun violence, organized crime, etc. So they spend substantial resources on a raid to remove some unregistered beers from some local tax paying taverns. Woo hoo. Sure is a lot easier humping beer out of a bar than trying to catch those crack dealers downtown. Score 1 for the city of brotherly hate.

 

[Kikshaaz]

Oh jeez. This is McCarthyism alive and well.

Oh no! That's a horrible crime! Thank God we live in a such a save society that our police can waste their resources on a "$75 registration fee".
"More than a dozen armed State Police officers" had recovered a $75 registration fee. Excuse me, but since when is Philadelphia governed by a Christian Al-Qaeda? Tomorrow: a public stoning of a woman who ate a slice of bacon without wearing a burka.

I doubt is has anything to do with religion but every thing to do with a competitor.

 

[Yooper]

Please be careful to discuss the topic, and keep off-topic references to politics out of the thread. Thank you.

 

[hukdizzle]

Monk's Cafe Flemish Red kicks arse.

Probably the local AB distributor made the call.

This... AB can't stand patrons drinking anything other than their swill.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Monk's Cafe Flemish Red kicks arse.

Probably the local AB distributor made the call.

I doubt it. Philly is filled with bars that sell a large variety of craft beers and many of the beers seized are available at many places in the city. If it was an AB distributor with a grudge, there's bigger bars to hit. I think this was more likely someone with some sort of personal vendetta against the owners.

Personally, I'm putting my money on this guy.

 

[hukdizzle]

I doubt it. Philly is filled with bars that sell a large variety of craft beers and many of the beers seized are available at many places in the city. If it was an AB distributor with a grudge, there's bigger bars to hit. I think this was more likely someone with some sort of personal vendetta against the owners.

Personally, I'm putting my money on this guy.

I stand corrected, that DEFINITELY seems more likely to be the person who did this, it seems like they did enough digging and I bet some lawyer gave them the idea about the beer...

Is it me or is this country entirely too "sue happy"???!!!

 

[joety]

If you can stand up right and spend more than 20 minutes away from a toilet and not poop your pants, you do not have food poisoning.

also a good test...do you still desire to live? if so, not food poisoning.

Having been a victim of food poisoning years ago, that is spot on. Also, rarely does just one person wind up with food poisoning. If the restaurant had a problem that night, there'd likely be dozens of complaints. Since this person was probably the only one, they couldn't get an attorney to take their case, so maybe they resorted to other means. It's plausible.

BTW: HTF did you find that?

 

[hukdizzle]

Having been a victim of food poisoning years ago, that is spot on. Also, rarely does just one person wind up with food poisoning. If the restaurant had a problem that night, there'd likely be dozens of complaints. Since this person was probably the only one, they couldn't get an attorney to take their case, so maybe they resorted to other means. It's plausible.

BTW: HTF did you find that?

I concur with these statements, I had salmonella from undercooked chicken when I was 12. I stopped counting how many times I threw up within the first 12 hours at 25 times.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

BTW: HTF did you find that?

I live in Philadelphia and post on (well, read) that board. I usually just read the section pertaining to my neighborhood, but occasionally pop over to the food section. Like others in that thread, it struck us as odd that there'd be a thread about the supposed food poisoning there by someone who seems to have some sort of weird grudge against the owners and then a few days later there's a raid.

Personally, I've never been to Local 44 or Resurrection, but I've been to Memphis Taproom a couple times. Food was..meh.. but they do have a good beer selection.

Someone in the original article in the newspaper, someone said that it was the people at Philadelphia Brewing Co that caused this. But that doesn't make a bit of sense since Memphis Taproom is right down the street from PBC and sells PBC beer.

 

[brewt00l]

There is someone else on philly speaks & commenting on related blogs that has been hate-stalking the owners and these three establishments right before this happened and not the person in that thread.

Either way, who ever this is will expose themselves sooner or later but it really doesn't matter; the more important element of this situation is to re-evaluate the way the registered brand list is maintained for retailers and to ask why this raid happened in the first place?

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Look for ... in blog comments...prob the same person and have been pushing a pretty serious online hate-stalk of these folks. Either way, who ever this is will expose themselves sooner or later but it really doesn't matter; the more important element of this situation is to re-evaluate the way the registered brand list is maintained for retailers and to ask why this raid happened in the first place?

At the very least they should change who they target. If the bar owners bought the beer from a licensed distributor, then I'd say they bought it in good faith and the bar shouldn't be punished for the mistake the distributor made. They should go after the distributor, not the bars. Of course, as Joe Sixpack says, the whole list concept is outdated. There's too many craft brewers producing too many different varieties of beer too often to really keep a list like that.

A bit of a side note, apparently the owners in question have brought illegal beer into the state before. They had at some point brought in a couple kegs from across state lines that weren't available in the state. They used the kegs for some special event or something. It's something they admit to having had done, but I think they did that like a year ago.

 

[brewt00l]

A bit of a side note, apparently the owners in question have brought illegal beer into the state before. They had at some point brought in a couple kegs from across state lines that weren't available in the state. They used the kegs for some special event or something. It's something they admit to having had done, but I think they did that like a year ago.

1 time, for the opening of Resurrection Ale House, they had a keg of Resurrection Ale from Brewers Art in MD that was donated as a gift. They were warned by the PALCB for that.

 

[Jaysus]

I'm going to clarify your statement just slightly.

Alcohol laws in the state or "Commonwealth" of Pennsylvania are just plain insane.

I bet if you look into it the bar owners didn't vote for Fast Eddie in the last election...

a) why is Commonwealth in quotes?
b) what does the latest Commonwealth gubernatorial election have to do with the PA Liquor Code?
c) brewt00l has some great insight on this topic.
d) so does Jack Curtain (and his commenters): http://jackcurtin.com/ldo/?p=1489

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Some fallout from this:
- Flying Fish has rescheduled the launch of their Exit 16 beer due to delays in getting it on the list.
- Bars aren't getting deliveries of Duvel Belgian Golden Ale

 

[firebird77]

Phuckin' Philly.

 

[klyph]

If you don't realize by now that government "law enforcement" agencies are merely for-profit tax collection agencies, then you are truly blind. (not directed at anyone in particular)

They could give a crap less about serving and protecting the public. They are a tool to keep you in line and pay your dues. Like it was said, murder, rape, and steal all you want, but if you don't pay your taxes, you will be hunted down like a dog.

 

[flyerwire]

If you don't realize by now that government "law enforcement" agencies are merely for-profit tax collection agencies, then you are truly blind. (not directed at anyone in particular)

They could give a crap less about serving and protecting the public. They are a tool to keep you in line and pay your dues. Like it was said, murder, rape, and steal all you want, but if you don't pay your taxes, you will be hunted down like a dog.

actually.... PLCB officers are a unit of the PA State Police, so the officers that raided the bar were actually doing their job, albeit poorly

 

[XXguy]

I was out & about at lunch time enjoying the sunshine & the local Philly sports talk station WIP was discussing this story. The bar owners are getting a pretty good spin out of this story & coming out looking a whole lot better than the law enforcement officers who apprehended 60 gallons of unarmed beer.

 

[PanzerBanana]

I find two things troubling. How incredibly inept the Philly police are and that beer was sold for $25 a glass.

Anyhoo, I do hope there will be law suits that's a fiasco.

 

[flyerwire]

I find two things troubling. How incredibly inept the Philly police are and that beer was sold for $25 a glass.

Anyhoo, I do hope there will be law suits that's a fiasco.

the $25 was a Haiti benefit where proceeds went to the relief effort

 

[jturie]

Just makes me proud to be a citizen of this glorious Commonwealth. At least out here in the Western burbs of Philly we have Victory brewing...although if PA had its way, the PLCB would shut them down and make us all go to distributors for our MBC beer.

To paraphrase James Carville: "Pennsylvania consists of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Alabama in between." With apologies to the good people of Alabama, of course.

 

[IceFisherChris]

not true, someone was just saying how in WI, kids can drink at the bar underage as long as theyre with a parent.

For the most part that is true. Anyone under 21 can drink, as long as they have parent/guardian/spouse (aged 21 or older) with them. It's entirely up to the bar to decide if they want to allow this, but I have only been to one bar that doesn't provide this awesome experience.

I love Wisconsin.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Phuckin' Philly.

To be fair, it has nothing to do with Philly really. It's a state thing.