The Supreme Court will hear argument on I-1183 constitutionality on May 17

The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to take on review of the WASAVP v. State of Washington lawsuit, which challenges the constitutionality of I-1183. In taking on review, the court has set a quick hearing and promised an expedited return of its opinion.

Hopefully, we don’t need to talk much more about I-1183 and the WASAVP lawsuit that was filed last year. I have been chatting about these items for quite some time now, but if you want more information you can follow these links:

• I-1183 passes in Washington, forcing the privatization of liquor sales and other regulation
• Two lawsuits are filed opposing the initiative as unconstitutional
• Superior Court grants the State its Motion for Summary Judgment

As of now, it appears that implementation will go into effect on time. Cowlitz Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning had previously decided that the concepts of regulating both alcohol and public safety have long been intrinsically intertwined.

The Supreme Court is considering a pending Motion for Injunction to stop the implementation of the Initiative until after the Court can make its ruling. The hearing in the matter is set for May 17, 2012, and I expect a ruling shortly thereafter. The case is assigned as Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention v. State, No. 87188-4.

San Diego's Stone Brewery turns to the BEULA to curb beer black market (Photo: Bernt Rostad on Flickr)

NOTE: April Fools! A great joke from Bill Night at It’s Pub Night - that for once has something to do with law. Kudos to Bill.

Stone Brewing is so damn clever. For years, brewers have been posting diatribes about the underground beer resellers market on eBay. I don’t blame them, these resellers are making immense products and creating a mass hysteria that prevents many select beer releases from reaching normal consumers. Well, Stone thinks they have a solution.

The concept is beer licensing. The Beer End-User Licensing Agreement (BEULA) aims to add restraint to the beer market. That’s right, that bottle of beer in your hand is yours to drink merely because you own a license to drink it. You don’t own it, and therefore you certainly cannot sell it. Stone Brewing – masterminds.

Stone’s first foray into BEULA is being launched with the triple IPA, Not For Sale Ale. I think it was very fitting that they chose to offer up their first BEULA with a Pliny the Younger look-alike, the same beer that has caused unprecedented mass beer nerd hysteria (perhaps Portsmouth’s Kate the Great or Three Floyds Dark Lord are up there as well). The beer should be out in the market for “licensing” soon enough, and will be followed by rare releases from other California breweries like Lost Abbey (San Diego), The Bruery (Orange County) and Russian River (Santa Rosa).

How does this beer licensing work? Stone has already provided a copy of its BEULA, and apparently the other brewers mentioned above are working with legal teams to develop their own terms. The terms briefly provide that the user is entitled to consume or serve the beer and is prohibited from selling, redistributing or sub-licensing the beer. Using a BEULA, brewers can even protect their recipes and how their beer is used or consumed.

Will this work? Who knows. Licensing something consumable is rather unprecedented, as far as I know. But I would seriously doubt that it would have any impact on the beer consumer and certainly will not prevent people from purchasing rare beers. The issue that I see is how the license is distributed. Presumably all distributors are actually bonafide sub-licensors, permitted to transfer licenses, though I am sure that none of them are ecstatic to have to deal with this new legal wrestling match.

What will be interesting to see if the first enforcement lawsuit. Will Stone actually sue a guy selling the beer on eBay? I’m sure they will. The courtroom showdown will be closely watched by all in the beer world.

Private liquor is coming June 1 - affirms Judge.

Well, it continues to look like June 1 will be L-Day in Washington. Liquor privatization will go into effect in just over two months, thanks to the decision made by a Cowlitz County Superior Court judge this week.

A few months back I discussed two lawsuits that had been filed by public interest groups who opposed the 2011 passage of I-1183. But in January, a judge sided with proponents who wanted to intervene in one of the actions, adding much needed support for the I-1183 team.

Now it appears that implementation will go into effect on time, thanks to yesterday’s Cowlitz County ruling. Judge Stephen Warning had previously decided that the Initiative embraced two separate subjects, in violation of the state constitution. The concepts of regulating both alcohol and public safety were initially deemed separate, but Judge Warning reversed his stance to say that he was wrong and that the two have long been intrinsically intertwined.

In offering his new opinion, Judge Warning grants the State’s Motion for Summary Judgment. This means that private liquor will continue on towards implementation in June. In the meantime, the Plaintiffs, Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention, will appeal directly to the State Supreme Court.

While all of this was on-going, the state has already begun auctioning off its liquor stores. The auction will close on April 19, when they hope to have all vendors in place.

Stay tuned for more information on the impending appeal.

Labeling submission requirements are seeing changes.

Back in September, I mentioned that the TTB had decided to try and cut the fat from its existing COLA procedures. My article discussed one of their efforts, a reduction of the personalized label submission requirements. But the TTB has been streamlining its procedures elsewhere.

Thanks to the good people at BevLog (a must follow alcoholic beverage law blog),  I was able to get my hands on a recent post by the TTB. The post describes their entire Certificate of Label Approval Streamlining Efforts, including both those already accomplished and those in the pipeline.

BevLog has so kindly PDF’d the webpage and provided it on their own site for your viewing. But here is a rundown of some of the important changes that might make your label submission duties a bit less burdensome:

• New e-mail suggestion box
• No longer reviewing labels for type size and other image file-related concerns
• The aforementioned personalized label reduction
• Implementation of Formulas Online (helps to simplify sample/formula submissions)
• New website FAQ
• More public disclosures of processing time

In the pipeline are these initiatives:

• comprehensive revision of labeling regulations
• changes to COLA Online
• paper and online applications will be processed online
• new forms

Stay tuned for more news on these long term changes. Many of those changes may require some additional training on your part.

Going solar can vastly improve your energy bills.

The two things that drive my professional career – sustainability and brewing. As a green building attorney, I have spent my entire career following building that trends that make buildings more efficient, more effective and cleaner. The past few years have shown great examples of the integration of green building and brewing. Needless to say – I’m pretty excited about it.

If you don’t think that sustainable brewing is here yet, check out this short film over at the Beer Activist. Breweries like DC Brau, the featured brewer in the video, are becoming more energy and recycling conscious. Brewers are now condensing steam, reusing cooling water, using graywater for cleanup, collecting rainwater, and turning to solar thermal to heat their kettles.

One of the best examples of green brewing is Brewery Vivant, the assumed first ever LEED-Certified brewery. Vivant is located in Grand Rapids, MI and not only purchased Renewable Energy Credits to replace energy it consumes, but also follows a number of smart and sustainable business practices in running it’s operation. Utilizing low-travel local materials and packaging beer in cans are just two of the ways that Vivant is reducing it’s carbon footprint.

Here in Seattle, Big Al Brewing and Hales Ales have each invested in solar thermal to heat their breweries. Each of the installs were performed by Seattle’s Net Zero Impact and feature similar environmental benefits. Energy incentives subsidized the initial investment in the system, which will pay itself off in roughly 2.5 years.

Going green is not hard. From small breweries like Vivant to large craft brewers like New Belgium and Abita (each have industry-leading green brewing elements), we are seeing more devotion to saving water and finding affordable energy.

Brewers in planning? Consider some of these devices in your business plan and talk to your attorney about whether incentives might be available to you.