Just got off the phone with a PA brewer (who prefers to remain anonymous...and as long as the BLCE keeps that up, so will I), who told me they'd talked to the brand registration folks at the PLCB and had this to add to the discussion. Vintage beers -- older beers that are no longer brewed, or beers from defunct breweries like Heavyweight or King & Barnes -- that have already been purchased by a retailer are not in danger of causing a citation for unregistered beers. Once beer is purchased by the retailer, assuming it was registered when purchased, it is "grandfathered in," and the retailer doesn't have to worry. So if you're a bar owner or a distributor or a deli, and you've got beers you're aging? Don't worry about it.
Well, not exactly. Note that wholesalers are not afforded this protection, and there is nothing to keep the BLCE from checking their list, not finding those aging beers, and confiscating them. But you can't be fined or suspended for having them, and you can file paperwork to get them back.
I'm not sure just how good I feel about this.
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2 comments:
"....and you can file paperwork to get them back"
What unventilated warehouse in August would you be picking these beers up at? This is a bureaucracy of the slowest and stupidest sort one would be dealing with. I wouldn't feel good about it at all.
"and there is nothing to keep the BLCE from checking their list, not finding those aging beers, and confiscating them. But you can't be fined or suspended for having them, and you can file paperwork to get them back."
Completely agree with the previous post... it's obvious that it matters not one wit whether you're actually in compliance... the only thing that matters is whether or not the PLCB and BLCE think you're in compliance. The ability to get your beer back some months later, especially given how perishable some of these beers are, is hardly a remedy in a case like this. If I were a beer bar or restaurant, I'd think twice about carrying any vintage beer from a now defunct brewery.
Also, assuming the PLCB can suspend a beer bar's license for carrying beer they think isn't properly registered (which I infer is possible based on your blog), what does one have to do to convince them they've made a mistake and, more to the point, how long would it likely take to show them the error of their ways? Again, it doesn't seem to matter whether or not a beer bar is actually in compliance, but only whether or not the PLCB thinks they are.
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