Don't carry that keg over the river!

[David in MN]

A local bar got in trouble for serving New Glarus beer. It's made in WI and not licensed for sale in MN (or any other state for that matter).

http://national.suntimes.com/us-news/7/72/967299/minnesota-bar-new-glarus

So MN sent undercover police to raid a bar because the owner bought a few kegs from a liquor store across the river. Not what I would call a threat to public safety but paperwork trumps justice these days. I'm mostly upset I didn't hear about it earlier so I could get a pint.

If you're a beer snob New Glarus' Belgian Red made with Door County cherries is the cat's pajamas. They claim over 1 lb. of cherries per 750 mL bottle. I buy 2 cases when I visit home. Sorry to say you can't get it outside of WI and this story shows just how much your state might invest to go after a guy who loaded a few kegs in a truck and drove about an hour. Sad.

http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/index.cfm/general/index

[Bushman]

It is sad. I wish us wisconsiners  could share the glory of our beer with the entire world. I'm sure it's a law about making sure sertain people make there money.

[archer]

damn, wonder what would happen if I brought a 6 pack to California? Start a "Beer War"?

[TexDaddy]

Damn revenuers. 

[never_retreat]

The guy that owns the bar should no better. All the booze has to be purchased in the state the bar is in. Thats noting new.

[Morning Sunshine]

The guy that owns the bar should no better. All the booze has to be purchased in the state the bar is in. Thats noting new.

agreed with this statement also

[JerseyVince]

All right Son, open her up and lets see the Manifest!

I'm placing you under Arrest for transporting Alcoholic beverages across state lines without the proper permits.


Gee, where have I seen that before

What was the guys name? Bo "Bandit" Darville or Gator McKlusky

[Bonnieblue2A]

It is sad. I wish us wisconsiners  could share the glory of our beer with the entire world. I'm sure it's a law about making sure sertain people make there money.

I had heard from a small cyder operator in WI that your state government makes things very difficult for the small brewers and small distillers to compete.

Thankfully Missouri is doing just the opposite. Craft brewing and wineries have become second only to BBQ as a tourist attraction.  Our state legislature is doing everything they can to help these small businesses grow and compete.  It bent a lot of people in Missouri out of shape when Auggie Busch III sold Budweiser to foreigners.  Now, all is fair in beer wars.

[David in MN]

I wouldn't argue that Miller has a lot of sway in WI but the craft brewing scene is alive and well. I mean if a state could label itself "the home of beer" WI would be at the top of the pack. It might not have as many craft breweries as the west coast but many overlook newbies like Lakefront and established makers like Sprecher when they focus on Miller, Pabst, Schlitz, etc.

The weird thing about breweries in WI is that they cater to a very German palate. Pale ale, stout, porter, IPA, and ESB are not common. Lager, bock, hefeweizen, and Bavarian styles rule the day. You see similar "non Brit" brewing in PA, TX, and OH (and I'm sure others I've missed). The American craft brewers deserve their global reputation of "too much alcohol, too many hops" and the influx of European mainland brewing is great.

I'm no fan of Inbev (though I made money investing in the deal). They've gutted the Belgian craft market. I also despise what Diageo has done to Guinness and fear what they will do to Scotch (but I own their shares in my permanent portfolio - you'd be surprised how many liquors they own). Big brewers just don't make good products.

[jhop]

I do like Spotted Cow, and make frequent trips to WI for it  Why can't we all just have a beer?

My question is if a Wisconsin tax was paid and a Minnesota tax was paid, what is the issue?

[TexDaddy]

It looks like the Minnesota tax wasn't paid.

[Nicodemus]

I heard a wine producer from California say that shipping wine from his business to other states was like dealing with 49 little countries, each with their little hoops to jump through. So this story doesn't surprise me.

[David in MN]

But without these safety regulations we'd all be lying in ditches stuffing sand in our ears and eating arsenic sandwiches.

I'm always mystified that alcohol companies can actually exist. I'm sure there's a lot of regulatory capture but the alphabet soup of agencies must be a little overwhelming.

[Alan Georges]

If there is one industry that's burdened down with regulatory capture, rent-seeking, archaic laws, and just plain old left-over medieval thinking, it's the drinkable alcohol business.

Remember, from the start of the U.S., we've had federal excise taxes on "spirits" – just that name alone tells you about the attitudes toward this stuff.  Back in the day, real chemistry was unknown and distilling wasn't considered too far removed from alchemy and other Dark Arts that had filtered in from eastern lands during the Crusades.  Throw in the fact that if done wrong (albeit, badly wrong), people could end up blind, dead, or worse, and you have a full-blown setting for a moral/legal/hysterical drive to regulate and oh-by-the-way-tax alcohol.

And we live with this legacy to this day.  At least we tried Prohibition and got that nonsense out of our system nearly a century ago.  In light of all that, expecting rational alcohol laws is expecting a bit much.