Rogue Creates ‘F*#K Putin’ Charitable Beer as Conflict Hits Close to Home
Newport, Oregon-based Rogue Ales and Spirits has created a charitable beer to raise money for the crisis in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24.
Available on tap at Rogue’s three locations, 100% of the proceeds from “F*#k Putin,” a 6.5% ABV Northwest IPA, will be donated to Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund to help nonprofits provide access to education, food, medical services and more in Ukraine.
So far, the fund has raised nearly $5 million from more than 36,000 donors, nearly halfway to its fundraising goal of $10 million.
The effort hits close to home for Rogue president Dharma Tamm, whose family was displaced in 1944 when Russia invaded Estonia, the brewery announced in an e-blast and on social media channels Friday. Tamm took over as Rogue’s president from owner Brett Joyce in January 2019.
“It’s not in our DNA to sit back and watch injustices unfold without raising a little bit of hell, so we’ve released this Northwest IPA in support of the Ukrainian people,” the company wrote in an Instagram post. “So let’s raise a glass because we can all agree that Putin really, really sucks.”
BA General Counsel: TTB Final Rule Eliminates ‘Brand Label’ Language and Adds Allowance of Non-Adhesive Keg Collars
The Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published a final rule last month, addressing issues “related to the labeling of distilled spirits and malt beverages.”
Effective March 11, the rule updates regulations to “improve the clarity and usability of the regulations, liberize certain requirements and assist industry members in submitting compliant label and formula applications, which will help in improving turnaround times,” according to the TTB.
These changes will not require industry members to alter current labels or advertisements, but instead “provide additional flexibility,” the ruling states.
“In general, the changes are relatively modest,” Marc Sorini, general counsel for the Brewers Association (BA), said in a BA Legal Insights post last week. “It is worth mentioning significant issues are not addressed in this phase of the rulemaking: Serving Facts statements, current policy requiring statements of average analysis on labels that include nutrient content claims, TTB’s policy on gluten content statements, and allergen labeling issues.”
Sorini called out the following provisions as most relevant to brewers:
- Mandatory information may now appear on any label on a malt beverage container. The TTB previously required certain mandatory information to appear on a “brand label.”
- “It may take some time to make conforming changes to the COLAs Online system to remove references to a ‘brand label,’” the ruling states. “COLA applicants may, in the interim, simply designate in COLAs Online any label bearing the brand name as the ‘brand label.’”
- Labels must be firmly affixed to containers, but an exception has been made for kegs to “incorporate certain types of non-adhesive keg collars or tap covers” to “reduce the burden on breweries of removing and replacing keg labels and recognizes the use of third party keg providers.” A collar or cover is considered firmly affixed “if removed would break or destroy” the affixation so that it can’t be reused.
- Text has been incorporated from current regulations, which “prohibit malt beverage labels from containing statements or representations that tend to create a false or misleading impression that a malt beverage contains distilled spirits or is a distilled spirits product.” The TTB clarified that accurate statements such as “aged in whisky barrels” do not violate these regulations.
- Descriptive terms such as “amber,” “red,” “dry” and “cream” on malt beverage labels are permitted, “to reflect existing policy.”
- Designations rather than “statements of composition” can be used in labeling malt beverages “that are flavored or fermented with ingredients that TTB has determined are generally recognized as traditional ingredients,” in the production of fermented beverage designated as a beer, ale, porter, stout, lager or malt liquor.
- Additionally, “ice beer,” “wheat beer,” “rye beer,” and “barley wine ale,” will be formally recognized as designations for malt beverages.
The TTB will also allow “the addition of information to labels of malt beverages identifying the wholesaler, retailer, or consumer,” and will remove “outdated restrictions” on the use of “disparaging statements or depictions of the American flag” if representations are “truthful and non-misleading.” Additionally, the TTB “will not impose minimum standards for the quantity of malted barley or hops used in the production of malt beverages.”
Steam Whistle Brewery Acquires Beau’s Brewing Company
Toronto, Ontario-based Steam Whistle Brewery has acquired Vankleek Hill, Ontario-based Beau’s Brewing Company.
The merger comes four months after the two breweries had entered an agreement to allow Steam Whistle to sell and distribute Beau’s portfolio in Ontario.
Beau’s co-founder Steve Beauchesne and his sister Jennifer Beauschesne will stay on as members of the new subsidiary’s board of directors, along with three directors named by Steam Whistle. Their father and Beau’s co-founder Tim Beauschesne will retire, according to a press release.
“Succession planning for the brewery has been on the horizon for Beau’s, starting with the [Employee Share Ownership Plan] we launched in 2016,” Steve Beauchesne said in the release. “It has taken some time, as it was incredibly important to us to find new ownership that was value-aligned with Beau’s. Merging with Steam Whistle means that Beau’s continues to operate as an independent, Canadian craft brewery, which values quality, community and sustainability.”
“In many cases we are seeing North American craft breweries being acquired by international conglomerates,” Steam Whistle co-founder and CEO added. “The merger of Beau’s with Steam Whistle, two like-minded brewery compatriots, ensures all-Canadian ownership and keeps the spirit of craft alive. We see a bright future for our leading brands across Canada, and in the longer term, outside our borders.”
Mississippi Lawmakers Disagree on Ending State Control of Wholesale Distribution of Wine and Spirits
Mississippi legislators will determine this month whether to end the control state’s monopoly on wholesale distribution of wine and spirits, the Enterprise-Journal reported.
House Bill 512 would transition distribution of wine and spirits to outside wholesalers by January 1, 2023. However, the Senate Finance Committee approved a rewrite of the bill last week, which would instead authorize construction of a new warehouse for the state’s wholesale operations.
The rewrite mimics Senate Bill 2844, which the Senate passed earlier this year. That bill has been assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by H.B. 512 author, state Rep. Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia). With the rewrite, both bills would issue $55 million in bonds to build the new warehouse, replacing the Department of Revenue’s (DOR’s) warehouse in Gluckstadt, which was built in 1983.
The state previously approved money to improve the original warehouse in 2019, 2013 and 2014, but the last expansion was in 2003, when the state installed a climate-controlled wine room, according to Enterprise-Journal. When shipments surged in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shut down of on-premise establishments, the warehouse was overwhelmed, and the DOR attempted to stop shipments for two weeks but was stopped by retailers.
As originally written, House Bill 512 would also lower the state excise tax rate on wine and spirits from 27.5% to 18%. Additionally, tax would be assessed based on wholesalers’ gross proceeds from purchases by retailers, rather than per bottle sold from the state’s warehouse.
The rewritten bill will go to the Senate floor and, should the House reject the bill, a conference committee will be set up. The deadline for a floor vote for both bills is March 15.