E-Malt.com News article: USA: Court throws out case against Miller Coors and its labelling of Blue Moon as craft beer

A California court threw out a case filed earlier this year in which a self-described beer aficionado and home brewer sued MillerCoors for allegedly deceptive labeling of Blue Moon as a craft beer, The Milwaukee Business Journal reported on October 27.

In the original complaint, Evan Parent alleged that MillerCoors and Blue Moon Brewing Co. deceived customers into paying more for Blue Moon by implying the brand is a craft beer by calling it 'Artfully Crafted.'

Parent also said that he was under the impression that the famous Belgian White Ale was brewed in a small brewery inside Coors Field in Denver, when the beer is actually made in large breweries in Golden, Colo., and Eden, N.C.

The California judge dismissed the case saying “no reasonable consumer could have been misled by MillerCoors’ use of ‘craft beer’ and ‘Artfully Crafted,’ because there is no standard definition of ‘craft beer.’”

In his suit, Parent cites the Brewers Association definition of a craft brewer: one that produces fewer than 6 million barrels of beer annually, is less than 25 percent owned or controlled by a non-craft brewer and makes beer using only traditional or innovative brewing ingredients.

Chicago-based MillerCoors produces 62 million barrels of beer annually, and has eight major breweries, including one in Milwaukee. They are also in-part owned by SABMiller, which is currently in the process of a massive global merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev.

MillerCoors also argued that the Blue Moon Brewing trade name falls within compliance of California’s consumer protection laws.

The court has given Parent 30 days to amend his complaint, saying that it is not "impossible that the Plaintiff could allege other facts ... that would support their claim that MillerCoors deceptively or misleadingly represents Blue Moon as a craft beer.”


28 October, 2015