(Philadelphia, PA) – The beerosphere is buzzing with the news that beer was confiscated late last week from three craft beer bars in Philadelphia.

At least a dozen police officers were part of a simultaneous raid on three Philadelphia watering holes, all owned by the same couple: Memphis Taproom, Local 44 and Resurrection Ale House. The reason? An individual made a complaint about each bar selling unregistered brands. According to Philly.com, brand registration is “a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.”

So if Vinnie from Russian River Brewing wants to send over a small keg of something special to Pennsylvania, he has to pay the same amount as AB-InBev pays to sell Bud Light there.

It’s a long process and rarely enforced so some breweries skip it altogether, especially if their beer will only be available for a limited time. Some simply forget to do it as well as Russian River Brewing did in this case.

Registrations also need to be kept up-to-date meaning that vintage beers at bars all over Pennsylvania are at risk right now if the PLCB decides to continue its raids.

Much more detail and what I consider to be “essential reading” regarding this case:

Jack Curtin
Philly.com story
Abolish the PLCB