Benefits of the Jester King Lawsuit

Last year, Jester King Brewing Company, beer distributor Authentic Beverages and Zax, an Austin restaurant and bar successfully sued the TABC and got the restriction on beer labels changed.  No longer to beer companies have to write a description of their products without using the word "beer".

TABC recently announced that beer label applications are up. In 2011 there were 1,738 beer label applications. They are estimating 2,685 applications will be filed this year. That's a 54% increase. And the changes in the law went into effect halfway through the fiscal year.  I expect that 2013 will see an even bigger increase in applications.

Texas is a big beer market, and one a lot of breweries would love to get into, but they often didn't have the money to make labels just for Texas.

AND it's good for the state.  More money for application fees!

Ranger Creek Brewing on TABC Suit

Mark McDavid of Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling spoke with KSAT.com about the impact of the Authentic Beverage suit against the TABC.  McDavid is looking forward to telling people where to buy his products. He also foresees more out of state competition, as more out of state breweries won't have to have labels designed exclusively for Texas. While he believes that more competition is good for consumers, it may not be so good for small breweries in Texas. "There's a finite amount of shelf space out there, so some breweries are a little nervous," he said.

CraftBeer.com Jester King Brewery Interview

CarftBeer.com has just published an interview with Ron Extract of Jester King Brewery about their TABC lawsuit. Check it out here.