Bitter beer battle brews
Bitter beer battle brews in state

By John Estus

Published: February 25, 2008

State alcohol distributors are fussing about who's responsible for preventing real-life cases of bitter beer face.

The question is whether some beer distributors should have to refrigerate beer before sending it to retailers, check liquor store shelves for expired bottles and clean beer keg tap lines in bars and restaurants.

The taste is at stake if quality control isn't done right.

"It'll taste real skunky,” said Brett Robinson, president of the Oklahoma Malt Beverage Association and a lobbyist for alcohol distributors.

That was the ruse behind past popular Keystone Light television commercials — the ones that made "bitter beer face” a household term.

But it's no joke for state beer distributors who await a ruling from the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission regarding who's responsible for quality control of strong beer.

Strong beer is sold in liquor stores and has a higher alcohol content than beer sold in grocery stores.

Three strong-beer distributors have asked the ABLE Commission to toss out a rule that allows strong beer manufacturers to tell them what quality control measures they should practice when dealing with their beers.

Many strong-beer distributors say quality control is important in Oklahoma because liquor stores here can't refrigerate strong beer.

But other strong-beer distributors claim state law forbids beer manufacturers from requiring distributors to follow quality control guidelines that aren't required by the state.

"We don't feel like it is a quality-control issue,” said Tad Shadid, manager of Oklahoma City-based Eagle Brand Beers, one of the strong-beer distributors that petitioned ABLE. The issue is who is responsible for doing what work under our state laws and statutes, he said.

In most other states, distributors are responsible for quality control. National beer industry observers said Oklahoma is unique because it is among only five states selling low point beer, or beer containing 3.2 percent alcohol by mass.

"Beer is a perishable product. It is a product that over time does lose some of its taste and some of its characteristics and some of its flavor if it's not controlled in an appropriate way,” said Craig Purser, president of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Robinson's association represents 18 state beer distributors, some who sell strong beer and some who don't. It doesn't represent the ones who petitioned ABLE.

"My guys have invested the money in refrigerated warehouses and refrigerated trucks and are used to cleaning tap lines,” and others haven't, he said.

On any given day, about half a million cases of strong and low-point beer sit stacked to the ceiling in the 100,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouse space at Premium Beers of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

It was about 46 degrees in the warehouse Wednesday morning while employees put together the next day's orders. Low-point beer and strong beer kegs in the warehouse's keg cooler are kept a little colder.

Shadid said while the Eagle Brands warehouse isn't refrigerated, the beers kept in the air-conditioned, 153,000 square foot room aren't exposed to too much heat because the room never gets above 75 degrees. Eagle Brands does not distribute low-point beer.

The part of the state's alcohol law that the petitioners want stricken says strong beer manufacturers can establish quality control guidelines if it is "necessary for the preservation of the product, health, or public safety and welfare.” Those guidelines include refrigeration.

ABLE commissioners heard arguments from both sides in a hearing this month. Commissioners could vote on the petition at their next meeting March 21. ABLE Director Keith Burt declined comment.

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