It’s a really tough time to be an independent craft brewery.  Despite headlines saying that alcohol sales are skyrocketing, and while that is true, small craft breweries have essentially seen two out of three of their main sources of income cut down to nothing.  More specifically, small breweries have almost complete losses in taproom sales…

Only the strong will survive this.  A new brewery or one that has not found financial stability is in deep trouble of huge losses and most likely closure due to COVID-19.  It’s just a fact.  Despite pleas and community energy from passionate craft-beer folks, the reality is that to-go orders, gift cards, and merch sales…

This could be really bad for independent craft beer.  Most states have tied-house laws that prevent manufacturers from giving retailers a “thing of value.”  Among the many prohibitions this encompasses, manufacturers are (were?) universally prohibited from paying a retailer for advertising space.  Several exceptions exist, but the general purpose is to prevent a retailer from…

When Tom McCormick, Executive Director of the California Craft Brewers Association, comes to speak to my Craft Beer Law class here at McGeorge, one thing he always tells my students is that there is a shortage of attorneys conversant with craft beer law and the industry in California.  Well, three craft beer law attorneys just…

For those of you who read this blog, you might be wondering where the heck I have been? Am I alive? My friends, don’t try to write a book. I say that in jest, of course, but I have been working on the world’s first craft beer law textbook (under contract with Carolina Academic Press)…

You know how you get sick after being confined in crowded areas like airplanes or New York City? It appears the same can be true for some companies when markets get crowded. I will say for the record that the independent craft breweries and industry folks that I know, almost universally, are good, community-oriented people…

The following is a student article written for my last craft beer law class at McGeorge.  The student author is Katie Green, and as a “reward” for receiving the highest grade in the class, here is her article for your reading pleasure.  Ms. Green makes an interesting argument about why craft beer needs to explore…

Many people lament big beer purchasing former craft breweries and folding them into the global collective. The reasons behind the aversion vary from person to person. I like to play a game whereby I send out a friend or a family member and ask that person to bring back some “craft beer” from the grocery…