Experienced And Knowledgeable With Both The Alcohol beverage Industry And The Law
Lawmakers are responding to the increased demand to lower beer excise taxes, according to Law 360 (http://www.law360.com/articles/498828/lawmakers-push-to-slash-beer-excise-taxes). “The Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act, or BEER Act, as proposed by senators from Missouri, Utah and other states, would cut the beer excise tax in half, from $18 per barrel to $9 per barrel, saving $1.68 billion in taxes per year,…
According to Guest Metrics, craft spirits continue to outpace mainstream brands. Year-to-date, craft spirit brands (which by Guest Metrics’ definition includes Tito’s) grew volumes by 26%, while mainstream brands are down about 3.5%. Even excluding Tito’s from craft, craft grew 12-13% during 2013 versus 2012. Of overall spirits, craft volume has grown from 2.5% in 2012 to about 3.7% during…
December 5th marks the 80th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. The current alcohol beverage regulatory environment and many of the laws are in place to avoid the “evils” of pre-prohibition days. The Distilled Spirits Counsel of the United States has a great infographic explaining the rise and fall of prohibition ). Below is a news release, in substance, discussing…
New York Senator Charles Schumer announced that he is introducing legislation that will cut the excise tax on small breweries in half. Currently, brewers pay a $7 excise tax for the first 60,000 barrels they brew per year. Under the Small BREW (Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce) Act of 2013 , that rate is reduced to $3.50 per barrel, resulting…
The following is from the New York State Liquor Authority Homepage: “On October 10, 2013, the SLA charged Southern Wine and Spirits with three violations for offering limited availability products, without price posting the products as required by statute. While the SLA’s investigation found the wholesaler was not discriminating among retailers, the wholesaler admitted to failing to price post limited…
Two recent studies discuss alcohol advertising. The first, in Reuters, notes that “advertising for alcoholic beverages in magazines is largely in line with rules set by the U.S. government and industry, though in some cases just barely, according to a new study.” Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determined that about 98 percent of alcohol ads in…
Beginning January 1, 2014, distilleries in California may charge customers for tastings rather than just give away their samples for free. This new law provides distilleries the opportunity to do what California wineries and breweries had previously been able to do. Unfortunately, this new law does not also permit distilleries to sell their bottled product at their distillery though this…
If you have spent any time in a cocktail bar, you likely noticed various rye whiskeys on the backbar and menu. This was not the case several years ago. The rise in popularity of rye in bars has helped rye whiskey grow 41% to 275,000 cases in 2012, up from 195,000 cases in 2011, according to Impact Databank. Rye whiskey…
The largest alcohol brands that accounted for approximately 25% of category volumes at the beginning of 2012 have all lost share since then, according to GuestMetrics. Here are excerpts of a press release released November 3rd. The full release can be viewed at: http://www.guestmetrics.com/2013/11/04/largest-brands-losing-share-three-alcohol-categories-though-holding-better-wine-spirits/ Beer: is the most concentrated category, with just three brands (Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light)…
A new announcement was just posted on the TTB website ) regarding submissions prior to the shutdown. The announcement states as follows: The government shutdown may have affected your Formulas Online submissions and COLAs Online applications. Read on to learn how the rules for automatic date-based status changes in both online systems may have affected recent submissions to these TTB…
