ABOLISH THE PA LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD.
So much for my blogcation: yesterday, the Pennsylvania Liquor control Board raided three Philadelphia bars, all owned by Brendan Harntranft, for thorughly spurious reasons:
More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.
The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board – a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania…
[M]ore than half the beer removed by the State Police was properly registered – but the cops couldn’t find it on their lists because of “clerical errors” or “blatant ineptitude” between the police and the Liquor Control Board, with whom the officers were conferring by telephone…
For instance, the cops grabbed Monk’s Cafe Sour Flemish Red Ale.
The beer has been sold throughout the state at dozens of restaurants and distributors for the last seven years. The brand appears on the state’s online list as “Monk’s Café Ale.” It’s on tap seven days a week at the Center City bar after which it was named: Monk’s Cafe, at 16th and Spruce streets…
[T]he State Police also confiscated bottles of Duvel, a popular ale imported from Belgium that is widely advertised and available in at least 200 bars throughout the city and suburbs. The beer appears on the PLCB list as “Duvel Beer,” while its label reads “Duvel Belgian Golden Ale.”
Note to the PLCB: PROHIBITION ENDED 76 YEARS AGO.
The PLCB is a costly anachronism that denies Pennsylvania consumers a real variety when it comes to wines and liquors. As i’ve written before, I get ALL of my wine at a store far enough in the interior of New Jersey that the PLCB won’t stake out the joint with PA state cops as they do in Camden (talk about wasting money and resources, you’d think PA was a paradise on earth and the cops have nothing better to do) because the selection at PA state stores is so lame, only a wino would shop there. I also buy six-packs in Jersey when i want to try new beers, because the price is so much better than PA’s “by-the-bottle” pricing for anything less than a case. That’s right, I break the law every single week, and I am damn proud of it because it’s a shitty stupid law.
But now the LCB has added insult to injury and raided a distributor as well, again carting away legally registered bottle of Duvel
As in armed raids conducted last week against three Philadelphia taprooms, the State Police alleged that the targeted beers were not properly registered with the state Liquor Control Board for sale in Pennsylvania – a process involving limited paperwork and a $75 fee.
The sketchy evidence available suggests that several of the beers in fact had been properly registered, and related liquor taxes had been paid.
But apparent miscommunication between the Liquor Control Board and the State Police has left the state’s investigators with only a foggy notion of what’s registered and what isn’t. The State Police proceeded with the latest raid in spite of the confusion.
A costly, and INCOMPETENT, anachronism.
This is what i say: abolish the PLCB and rewrite the liquor code. the agency is a vestigial hangover from the dying days of Prohibition, it’s run by people who have NO BACKGROUND AT ALL in marketing or selling wine, liquor or beer, and it seems pretty damn clear to me the Board has no idea which products are legal to sell and which aren’t. They are out of touch with PA consumers, a costly and obsolete white elephant, an obstacle to the free market, and an embarassment to the state.
Fucking PLCB, ruining my goddamn blogcation.
