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State begins investigating bars for possibly demanding bribes to put beers on tap
By adamg on Fri, 11/14/2014 - 8:07am
The Globe reports on an investigation launched after Pretty Things Beer alleged it was being kept out of at least one bar for refusing to pay for the privilege.
State law prohibits beer-tap bribery.
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Comments
Lowering the bar
Any bar that declines putting Pretty Things on tap is doing themselves a disservice.
To each, their own.
I thought it tasted bitter and unpleasant.
Weird
I thought it was spot-on.
Gee, different people like different beers
Who woulda thunk
As much as I root for the little guy, especially when it comes to beer, good luck proving a pay-to-play scenario.
My snark-dar is off
I thought the poster was commenting on PT's Twitter comments.
I like all the PT beers that I've had, but they are kind of pricey so I don't get them too often. Baby Tree is my favorite from them.
Which beer did you try?
They have more than one, you know!
Jack D'or
Sorry, but I decided not to spend more money on another of their beers when I didn't like the first.
Cool story, bro
Your personal opinion about one particular beer from that brewer is like totally pertinent to the story.
(just ftr - Jack D'Or is not particularly bitter for a saison style ale. Most beer drinkers would probably categorize it as 'citrusy' and 'spicy').
Relax, guy
FredQuimby was asked a question and he simply answered. No need to be all snooty about it.
Beer snobs are some of the worst kind of people, just ftr...
Peppery
The peppery flavor they extract from Jack D'Or is amazing. I've found very few saisons that get that same taste and it goes extremely well with the rest of the flavors.
Best saison: Stillwater
Best saison: Stillwater Cellar Door. On tap at Lord Hobo!
Allagash Interlude
IMO
Best saison IMO
DuPont, the OG.
One of the few that I like
Then again, I'm an Imperial IPA drinker, quite literally weaned (teethed, actually) on hops.
You might look into Trillium in Fort Point - they have a number of Saisons. Also, there's Mystic - their stuff is a little wild, though, due to their being into culturing what yeasts are in the air locally to make beer with.
Ballantine still make an IPA
Ballantine still make an IPA ?
Take another swing at it
My parents always made me try things twice.
Go for their second standard, Baby Tree. But only if you like Belgian quads. I'd hate to hear how it was awful and Pretty Things is shit all because you never knew what a good Saison or Quad tasted like.
I would love to see Dan of Pretty Things vindicated on this.
because it is a real David v. Goliath fight.
Corruption and Bribery
This should be where the licensing board spends at least some of its time, no?
Or are they just likely to bust some of their own favorite "informants"?
Who has time for this when
Who has time for this when there might be unlicensed dancing?!
To use one of your phrases
But how is the public truly harmed by this practice? After all, we're dealing with private businesses here.
Ever been into a restaurant and asked for a Coke, only to have the waitstaff say "Is Pepsi OK?" (or visa versa). Ever wonder how Coke (or Pepsi) gets such deals? By giving freezers, signs, and other promotional items to the restaurant, not to mention special discounts on the product.
Ever notice in supermarkets where displays in the aisles promote a particular manufacturer's product? How does that happen? Simple - because the manufacturer pays the supermarket for the right to use that space.
Yet, just because we're talking about beer instead of soda or crackers, it's suddenly bribery and corruption.
Time for this state to focus on real issues instead of singling out bars for engaging in practices that are accepted as commonplace in other parts of the retail industry.
How the public is harmed
Bar taps are already an artifically constrained resource. If bars are selling them, it creates monopolistic conditions.
If all you can get is Yuengswill and Bud Blight because they buy all the lines, that not only kills what little competition there is in the system, it also actively shuts out new players.
If you are happy to drink what you are told, then fine. If you want your neighbors to have a chance at having a decent business creating local jobs ...
Now if beer wasn't so heavily regulated already, you may have a point about "how the game is played". But, since this is explicitly illegal for many reasons (going back to before prohibition), your comparison to supermarkets doesn't hold.
Swirls , there is more to
Swirls , there is more to draft beer than sticking a barrel in the cellar and drawing the stick. These johnny come lately wing of bat eye of newt creations might not have a critical mass following, especially as they are priced higher tan your run of the mill beers. The proprietor needs to make money, churning over the barrels to keep the beer fresh and the lines flowing. Beer has a skunk date. The draft stick must be earned. If the proprietor takes in a new beer in bottles, and it doesn't catch on , why should he take a chance on deadheading a draft line.
Skunking
If it's in a keg, it won't skunk, that only happens when exposed to light. It could get stale, but if it's refrigerated it would take a while.And some beers actually improve with a little age on them. The lines could get funky if they're not cleaned often enough, I suppose.
You didn't prove anything
You didn't prove anything here except that you know nothing about beer.
Incorrect analogy
Bars are not retail, they're common victuallers or point-of-sales businesses.
https://www.restaurants.com/blog/are-restaurants-considered-retail-store...
Different laws apply. You can open another supermarket if you think you can sell someone else's products because he's being blackballed by the current supermarket due to exclusive product rights. You can't just go open a bar wherever you want to sell the other guy's beer because he's being blackballed due to exclusive product rights. The state regulates where and how many bars can exist. So, it also then regulates how bars act towards their supply chain because there's no free market regulation available to them in the current system.
If we did away with liquor licenses, then you might have a point.
Actually, we're talking about bribery and corruption because
pay-for-play is explicitly illegal in MA bars, whereas endcap promotions and other pay-for-play programs in retail stores are not.
You can say you think that's a stupid law, but it is the law.
Who are you going to give your beer line to?
The guy who is trying to sell you his expensive beer?
Or
The guy who is trying to sell you his expensive beer but is offering free lifetime glassware, free beer coasters, free t-shirts and free nick knacks.
Choice C
The guy who is willing to pay me money under the table to sell his expensive beer and not sell someone else's.
Thats like saying which way
Thats like saying which way will the politician vote, for the group that made a good case for passing the law, or the group that made a good case for not passing the law and gave the politician a $10,000 personal gift. It depends on if the person who has the beer line is a criminal or not. A criminal might break the law and take the bribe, while the law abiding business owner (or politician) would not.
Depends on how lawful you're feeling
While pay to play is common and lawful in supermarkets and other industries, there is a state law written that specifically prohibits that kind of behavior for beer lines.
I don't think so
Product support is not illegal.
You think Anheuser-Busch is going to offer unlimited Stella Artois glasses if its illegal? Or Miller/Coors with their Patriots emblazoned pint glasses?
This is where the fight will fail.
Yes there are bars that get their beer line equipment paid for, but I am not talking about that.
Larger breweries simply offer better support because they can. A bar owner can call up a rep and say I need a couple of Pats tickets to give away at a fund raiser and they will most likely get them, but you don't need to have a beer line guaranteed to a distributor to get that. Good luck trying that with a small outfit.
As a small operator, am I going to purchase a case of glasses or have the beer company pick up the tab?
Product support isn't what Pretty Things is alleging
>Yes there are bars that get their beer line equipment paid for, but I am not talking about that.
OK, I was confused, because the allegations Pretty Things made weren't about free glasses, they were about beer lines. I'm still not sure where the free glasses come in - I don't think anyone's complaining about those.
And why should anyone be complaining
about beer lines. As I noted above, the bar is a private business. And I don't see anything in state or Federal law that gives a beer maker the right to require their product be served in any establishment.
Because we regulate
We regulate private businesses all the time. Want a casino in your neighborhood? Good luck! Until last year you couldn't even have one at all in the entire state. They're just private businesses though.
We regulate how many bars can exist. And each bar has to control and account for the amount of alcohol it is selling. This means bars are going to make choices on how many different beers they want to try and sell. So, we've put in a law that says you can't choose which beers you sell on the matter of which one pays you a bribe not to sell the others among your limited ways of selling beer. It prevents monopolization and reservation of an artificially finite resource: beer taps in the state.
If a supermarket takes a bribe not to sell Brand B from Brand A, well, there's always a billion other supermarkets and opening a new one that would buy from Brand B instead of Brand A is easy to do. Not so with beer.
Finally, your last phrase is a red herring. The laws here don't force anyone to sell a particular brewery's beer. Don't say stupid things. The law says the decision to sell someone's beer or not must be unentangled from corruption and bribery.
My point is that
My point is that is the real reason why Pretty Things cannot get their beer into bars. Sales support.
Of the few places I know that have beer lines paid for, there is no contract that you use their beer exclusively.
Also not the point
Nobody has claimed that bars are agreeing to using a particular brewery's beer exclusively. The brewery is paying a bribe to the bar to never switch out their beer for another company's beer on a particular line. You can sell any other beer you want along side it (although they know you're not going to sell 5 taps of the same kind of beer if you have 5 taps total).
So, Brand A buys a tap at Bar X with a bribe. Brand B is the same kind of beer as Brand A but better (better sales, cheaper, doesn't matter how it's better). Brand B can't get Bar X to buy it because Bar X is only going to buy EITHER Brand A or Brand B and Brand A is paying Bar X to not even consider selling Brand B instead of Brand A. Brand C isn't like Brand A and goes in Bar X's second tap. Brand A doesn't care, they're just paying for their tap to never run anything but Brand A.
Exactly
Exactly
Slotting Fees.......
Standard practice at supermarkets across the commonwealth
Nothing prevents another supermarket from opening
The same is not true for bars.
Pay-for-play is legal in MA retail stores, but
it is explicitly illegal in bars.
How Deep
Will the investigation actually go? Will they look at the beer deals at Gillette and Fenway? Do they think for a second the big companies aren't paying for placement there? How about the national chains (i.e. Applebees, Chilis, etc)? Those are all HUGE deals with more money than a smaller beer company paying to install a draft line in a mom & pop bar. Either regulate or don't but this feels like they'll find a sacrificial lamb will be found to make an example of so everyone can pat themselves on the back for stamping out "corruption" when nothing will really change. The whole thing feel disingenuous.
Do you drink beer in more than one city?
This doesn't seem to be a problem in Somerville or much of Cambridge from my experience. Boston has some pretty crappy tap lists in places where one would expect more variety.
I think I know why.
Actually....
Actually, I drink beer in Cambridge more than any other city. My point is if the State was *truly* concerned about this they'd find it quickly in sports arenas and huge chains instead of the individually/small group owned bars. Also, a beer company would be willing to pay more money for a line IN the actual city center then they are to a bar in Somerville. The money is marketing dollars, are they more than likely to get more eyeballs on their tap handle at a bar by the Garden or in Davis Square?
The sporting events have a
The sporting events have a quid quo pro involving advertising , lots of it ! The price is also affected by volume , the breweries list say a price for 100 bbls delivery, any establishment can get this price , just buy 100 barrels of beer. These big outfits have lawyers that know how to operate. Plus they have beer chemists that could blow the doors off the local talent , if that was the direction they wanted to go in. I am surprised that one of the giants hasn't bought out Sam Adams yet.
Price is not affected by
Price is not affected by volume. There are periodic price sheets that must be used. And Boston Brewing has had multiple offers but hasn't sold because he knows that things will be just dandy at first but then, slowly but surely, his R&D budget evaporates, he'll have to ask permission to create new beers that won't have a huge market, etc.
Sure it is
Sure it is. The discount has to be posted on the price sheet and you'll definitely see wholesalers offering quantity discounts.
The important thing is that all the prices - discount or otherwise - are posted beforehand.