Associated Press – January 24, 2011 5:45 AM ET

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakotans who make wine and booze already can get a state license to sell their beverages, and a Minot lawmaker wants people who make home-brewed beer to be able to do the same.

Republican Dan Ruby’s bill is getting a hearing in the North Dakota House’s Industry, Business and Labor Committee on Monday. It would establish a domestic brewery license in state law.

Ruby says the license would let home beer brewers sell their suds. They could offer beer tastings and set up stalls at trade shows. They could also sell their beer to wholesalers for wider state distribution.

Ruby says North Dakota is a leading barley producer, and it should be easier for home beer makers to market their goods.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO — Pick up just about any beverage on store shelves and on the back of the packaging you’ll find a numerical rundown of calories, carbs, etc.

Unless, that is, the beverage is alcohol.

Some folks want to change that.

“In the year 2011, it’s sort of bizarre that alcohol’s the only consumable product sold in the United States that you can’t tell what’s inside the bottle,” says Guy L. Smith, executive vice-president in North America for Diageo, the world’s leading distilled spirits, beer and wine company.

Diageo is supporting a proposal presently before the federal Tax and Trade Bureau — the agency with authority over alcohol labels — to list nutrition information such as calories, carbohydrates, serving size and alcohol per serving.

But not everyone in the industry is as enthusiastic.

At the Beer Institute, a trade association based in Washington, D.C., officials support listing calories, carbs, protein and fat content, as well as alcohol by volume. But they oppose the idea of defining serving size by fluid ounces of pure alcohol, or as 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, on the grounds that you may get more than 1.5 ounces of liquor in a cocktail depending on what else is in the drink and the accuracy of the bartender.

But Smith says consumers know when they’re getting a large martini. The point is, he says, to give them a point of reference so they can generally know what to expect.

At the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, officials are asking that the labelling requirements be on a voluntary basis only. (Diageo also supports voluntary compliance.)

If labelling is made mandatory, then the Wine Institute is asking for accommodations, such as being allowed to generalize the calorie and carb counts on wine, rather than needing to have each vintage of each variety analyzed. Additionally, they want the option of choosing the style of label, perhaps putting the information on a thin strip-style label rather than the more traditional (and much larger) box format that appears on other foods and drinks.

“There shouldn’t be a significant cost impact on wineries,” says Wendell Lee, general counsel for the institute.

It’s unclear when federal officials might rule. Agency spokesman Tom Hogue said the Tax and Trade Bureau is working on the issue, but it’s a complicated one that doesn’t lend itself to a quick solution.

The current push for nutrition information was started in late 2003 by a coalition of consumer and public health advocates. Diageo announced its support for the move at the time and last December issued a statement calling on officials to rule.

The Distilled Spirits Council, based in Washington, also supports putting serving information on bottles.

Current labelling law is complicated.

Wine, beer and liquor manufacturers don’t have to list ingredients — and the nutritional labelling proposals being considered don’t require them to start doing that. However, they must list substances people might be sensitive to, such as sulphites, FD&C Yellow No. 5 and aspartame.

Wines containing 14 per cent or more alcohol by volume must list alcohol content. Wines that are seven per cent to 14 per cent alcohol by volume may list alcohol content or put “light” or “table” wine on the label. (Most wines in that category, however, do list alcohol by volume.)

“Light” beers must list calorie and carbohydrate content only. Liquor must list alcohol content by volume and may also list proof.

Food activist Marion Nestle, who researched the laws while writing about calories, was stunned by their piecemeal nature. She doesn’t see the point of listing protein, fat and carb content of alcohol, since it contains none or little of those, but would like to see labels that list the amount of alcohol, number of calories, number of servings in the bottle and ingredients.

“Alcohol has calories and calories are an enormous issue,” she says.

Boulder, CO • January 12, 2011—The Brewers Association (BA) recently released its 2011 Beer Style Guidelines. Updated annually, the guidelines currently describe 140 styles of beer and are used in prestigious beer competitions, like the Great American Beer Festival® and the World Beer Cup®.

For 2011, several beer style descriptions have been significantly updated:

• Belgo-American-Style Ales
• Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Bruin/Oud Red
• German Bock
• Rye Beer
• American-Style Sour Ale

Additionally, one beer style has been added, and another has been renamed. American-Style Brett Ale is now a recognized ale style. American-Style Black Ale is the new name for American-Style India Black Ale, and it too has updated style guidelines.

Since 1979 the BA has provided beer style descriptions as a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers. The beer style guidelines developed by the BA use sources from the commercial brewing industry, beer analyses, and consultations with beer industry experts and knowledgeable beer enthusiasts as resources for information. Much of the early work was based on the assistance and contributions of beer journalist Michael Jackson. For 2011, revisions were aided by over 150 comments and suggestions from Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup judges, as well as other beer industry members.

“These guidelines help to illustrate the growth of craft brewers in the United States and also offer insight and a foundation for helping appreciate the hundreds of beer types brewed for the beer lover,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association.

The 2011 Beer Style Guidelines are available for download in the Publications section of BrewersAssociation.org.

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Based in Boulder, Colorado, USA, the Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade and education association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. Visit BrewersAssociation.org to learn more. The association’s activities include events and publishing: CraftBeer.com, World Beer Cup®; Great American Beer Festival®; Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America®; National Homebrewers Conference; National Homebrew Competition; SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience; American Craft Beer Week; Zymurgy magazine; The New Brewer magazine; and books on beer and brewing. The Brewers Association has an additional membership division of 23,000+ homebrewers: American Homebrewers Association.

Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com.

Aden Short, the Craft Beer Brand Manager for P.A. Short Distributing Company was here to discuss Victory Brewery’s introduction to the Roanoke area.

After five months of distribution throughout central and northern New Jersey, East Coast Beer Co. Owners are proud to announce that its beer, Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner, will now be distributed by Harrison Beverage. This long-awaited partnership will expand the distribution of East Coast Beer Co.’s craft beer into the southern-most counties of New Jersey.

Harrison Beverage, family owned since 1956, will extend Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner’s reach to Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, Salem and Gloucester Counties. The folks at Harrison Beverage are eager to implement fun and exciting tactics to market and promote the second craft beer in their portfolio.

“I love ‘em,” referring to John Merklin and Brian Ciriaco, East Coast Beer Co. co-owners, said Dean Harrison, Chairman and CEO of Harrison Beverage. “I love the beer and we are doubly excited to be adding them to our portfolio. We are really pumped up and feel fortunate to have the brand and look forward to doing a great job marketing the beer.”

The Facts:
WHO: East Coast Beer Co. teams up with Harrison Beverage
WHAT: Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner
WHEN: December 6, 2010
WHERE: Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, Salem and Gloucester Counties

After three years spent crafting their pre-Prohibition style beer, Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner was proudly introduced to the market this past September. Since Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner’s debut, the craft beer has been distributed throughout northern and central New Jersey. Over the last six months, John “Merk” Merklin and Brian “Really Sharp Guy” Ciriaco have been developing relationships with various distributors that are in line with their brand values and market strategy, ensuring that whomever they partner with can accurately market and sell their true American product – a pre-prohibition style pilsner, made with all-American ingredients, including Mt. Hood Hops.

Dean Harrison, Chairman and CEO, and his sister Brett Matik (Matik is her married name), Vice President, have been running the family business as a duo for the last ten years. The company was started by their grandfather, Harry Harrison, when he bought a bankrupt beer distributor in 1956. Over the last fifty-four years, Harrison Beverage has grown from a single warehouse in Atlantic City to a $43.4 million dollar company with two large facilities in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, 80 employees, a fleet of 69 vehicles and the drive to continue to grow.

“From day one South Jersey, including the Shore counties of Atlantic and Cape May, was a very important market to us,” said John Merklin. “We needed a distributor that was not only well established and experienced, but also enthusiastic about the product and the task of helping to build the brand. We feel Harrison Beverage fits the bill in every way.”

“We are very excited to be partnering with Harrison Beverage,” said Brian Ciriaco.

Aspiring to become a pillar of industry at the Jersey Shore, two local guys are realizing their dream, despite the economy, and fueling their love of craft beer and the Jersey Shore. It’s in the Haus!

For more information, visit http://www.beachhausbeer.com.

Beer industry research experts have been told that a higher proportion of British residents drink alcoholic beverages than in any other nation globally.

According to a Bupa Health and Wellbeing survey, around 84 per cent of Britons consume beer or other alcoholic drinks, compared to the international average of 71 per cent and a global low of 27 per cent in India.

People in Britain also drink more regularly than their international peers, with almost one in ten admitting to drinking every day, which is almost twice the number in France.

Nearly 41 per cent of British residents say that they drink regularly, while the second-ranked country, Australia, has only 27 per cent of people in this category.

Dr Annabel Bentley, of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, said: “It’s shocking to see us trailing behind so many other countries when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Friday upheld beer sales at in-store restaurants run by the Wegmans supermarket chain, dealing a setback to beer distributors seeking to preserve their dominance of the takeout market.

In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court sustained a Commonwealth Court decision upholding the granting of liquor licenses to five of the restaurants that Wegmans operates at all 14 of its Pennsylvania stores. The stores are in Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, State College, Bethlehem and Easton.

The Malt Beverage Distributors Association, which sued Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc. and the state Liquor Control Board, challenged the legality of enabling the sale of beer through cafes attached by an interior passageway to their grocery stores.

The justices said the Wegmans restaurants were in place before the company applied for the liquor licenses, are “vastly larger and more sophisticated” than the minimum requirements for restaurants and “easily satisfy” all other legal and regulatory requirements.

The court acknowledged that the ruling may signal an expansion of large businesses opening restaurants within their facilities and seeking liquor licenses for them, but said present law permits such activities.

“It is for the Legislature, not this court, to determine whether to curtail such practice,” Justice Max Baer wrote in the opinion.

Wegmans lawyer R.J. O’Hara said the ruling is good news not only for his client but for dozens of businesses whose plans for similar restaurants have been challenged and put on hold in Commonwealth Court pending resolution of this case.

Beer is sold at all 14 Wegmans stores in the state, he said. Stores in the Philadelphia suburbs of Collegeville and Malvern offer a full bar.

“It’s so successful that you have to get one of those little buzzers to get a seat,” he said.

Robert Hoffman, the attorney for the distributors, said the ruling puts them at a competitive disadvantage because supermarkets can offer “a zillion things to get you in the door.”

Hoffman said the decision cannot be appealed because the state Supreme Court has the final say on the meaning of a state law. But he left open the possibility that the association, which speaks for about 800 of the 1,400 beer distribution, might ask the Legislature to change the law.

Also, he noted Gov.-elect Tom Corbett’s proposal to sell the liquor and wine business now handled by more than 600 state stores to private operators to provide a projected $2 billion boost to the beleaguered state treasury, suggesting the alcohol retail industry is likely to see more changes.

“We’ll see in five years how they’re selling beer,” he said.

Gov.-elect Tom Corbett hasn’t taken over the governor’s mansion yet, but he already has a battle on his hands as he tries to privatize the state’s liquor sales — something two of his predecessors tried but failed to do.

Already in favor of the move, Corbett now says there now is the political will to sell off the state’s 620 liquor stores — some estimate it would reap $2 billion in revenue — with the state’s massive budget deficit around $5 billion and Republicans in charge of both chambers of the Legislature.

“We’ve never had the dire economic circumstances that we’re facing,” said Corbett spokesman Kevin Feeley, noting that the issue is a top priority. “He believes that there will be the political will to get it done. Whether it’s done in first 100 days remains to be seen.”

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents a majority of state Liquor Control Board workers, has been the most vocal opponent to privatization. They say they are ready to rally against Corbett’s attempt.

“We won’t hesitate to do that if it’s necessary. We’ve been through that before,” said Local 1776 communications director William Epstein.

The specifics on whether the 620 stores would be sold or auctioned and how the money would be used has yet to be decided, Feeley said. A proposal from new House Majority Mike Turzai is expected to be reintroduced at the start of the next session, Feeley added.

More hip, less antiquated

Recent appearances by hip-hop artists Snoop Dogg and Ludacris to boast their own brands of spirits, along with innovations like the wine kiosk, are part of the state Liquor Control Board’s attempt to better connect with consumers.

“Our wine kiosk program is an attempt to provide convenience for customers who go in a supermarket and want to go home with a bottle of wine for dinner,” PLCB chairman P.J. Stapleton said.