I stumbled upon an interesting article in the Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Law of all places. Even though it’s based in Kentucky, I am startled to see that perhaps Mark Brown missed this, in the wee hours of the night, when he combs through the booze press near and far.

The article is entitled “‘Handmade’ or ‘Made By Hand’: Assessing Alcohol Labeling Practices and Evaluating a Popular Consumer Class Action.” It came out during the past year or so. I have followed the handmade litigations, a lot, in these pages. So I don’t want to rehash that stuff. I will mostly highlight a few points in this law review article, by then law student Hannah Simms. She says:

• “In 2013 alone, the alcoholic beverage industry in the United States generated nearly $456 billion in total economic activity.” This seems mighty high to me.
• “… courts have been entirely inconsistent on whether or not to apply safe harbor provisions contained in a majority of state deceptive and unfair practice laws.“

Noting that the trends are not yet settled, the author wraps up by saying:

If the courts are unwilling or unable to address the situation, the responsibility to take action to protect the industry must shift to the TTB. The TTB could provide clarification of the...

Our law firm has been in the heart of Fairfax County, Virginia, since 2001. Before that, I worked a couple blocks from the White House. For the most part, we’ve handled federal beverage law during that time. But increasingly, we are handling local law matters, and this story made the shift seem more real.

See video here.

Jim Vance says the zoning laws got loosened, to make it easier for breweries, wineries and distilleries to open in our county. Even before this change, we were noticing Caboose Brewing down the street, Fair Winds Brewing in Lorton, and The Winery at Bull Run across town in Centreville. There is also the Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton. This Bowman plant closed down in 1988, after beginning distilling operations in Fairfax in 1934. Less than 1.5 miles from the office, there was a winery for a while after Prohibition, producing “Virginia Maid” wine at what is now Nottoway Park. Come to think of it, that’s startlingly little activity for a big, upscale, increasingly urban county with over 1.1 million residents and covering over 400 square miles.

As locals and as lawyers, we look forward to many more fine beverage producers setting up in our county.

The plaintiff in a would-be class action lawsuit against Sazerac voluntarily dismissed all his claims in late January, ending the litigation. The case (Parker v. Buffalo Trace Distillery, Inc. et al.) began in November of last year, and concerned a subtle change on the label of Sazerac’s “Old Charter” brand of bourbon whiskey. The older and newer labels are above, side by side.

Among the various changes, the old label says, “AGED 8 YEARS,” while the new label simply displays the number “8.”

Plaintiff Nicholas Parker alleged that the Old Charter bourbon sold under the new label was no longer aged for 8 years, and that Sazerac’s continued use of the number “8” on the label caused consumers to believe that the bourbon was aged for 8 years. Sazerac responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint, alleging that Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approval of the label provided Sazerac with a “safe harbor” from Mr. Parker’s claims.

Just two weeks after Sazerac filed its motion to dismiss, Mr. Parker voluntarily dismissed the action. This voluntary dismissal meant that the court did not have to rule on the merits of Sazerac’s safe harbor defense, or Mr. Parker’s claims. If the Tito’s “Handmade” Vodka cases are any indication, it is likely that the safe harbor defense would not...

Right there on the label of this beer, almost every part of it, Austin Beerworks makes it clear that you should proceed with maximum caution. You should not even think about consuming this beer with KFC, while wearing lederhosen, or while operating heavy machinery of any sort.

The label is not new, but it is a tad out of the ordinary. It pokes gentle fun at the oh so serious Government Warning Statement, mandated by Congress since the 1988 Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act. In the early years, after this Warning became required on most every beer, wine and spirits label in the U.S., it would have been essentially unthinkable, to allow any fun-poking, aimed in this general direction. To wit, one of the Government’s biggest objections to the Black Death Vodka labeling and packaging, was that it tended to mock the — oh so serious Warning. This label shows that a lot of beer has flowed under the bridge since then, and there has been a general chilling out.

It probably also helps, that the real Warning does appear at least twice, and with good, solid prominence and contrast. But, that base having been covered, Austin revs up for a snarknado. I can’t list all the snarky comments and warnings, because there are so many....