As patrons ate lunch on March 4, armed, plainclothes agents simultaneously entered the three Philadelphia bars and began going through the stocks of beer. The agents, acting on an anonymous tip, compared the beers on hand to those that had been registered for sale in Pennsylvania, a process that includes paying an annual registration fee by the brewer.
“If they found a beer that wasn’t included on the database list, it was confiscated as contraband,” Bryson said. “The trouble was that the owners had legally purchased the beer from a number of wholesalers, so the BLCE raided one of those a few days later.”
All told, the agents seized four kegs and 317 bottles, a stash worth about $7,200, from the three bars, according to media reports.
Many of the bottles were properly registered, but not properly listed in the state’s database, and the police began returning stock to the bars a few days later.
“The most common example is Duvel,” Bryson said, referring to a Belgian ale. “It was listed as Duvel Beer, but the label said Duvel Belgian Golden Ale. And that difference made it contraband to the agents.”
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“If they found a beer that wasn’t included on the database list, it was confiscated as contraband,” Bryson said. “The trouble was that the owners had legally purchased the beer from a number of wholesalers, so the BLCE raided one of those a few days later.”
All told, the agents seized four kegs and 317 bottles, a stash worth about $7,200, from the three bars, according to media reports.
Many of the bottles were properly registered, but not properly listed in the state’s database, and the police began returning stock to the bars a few days later.
“The most common example is Duvel,” Bryson said, referring to a Belgian ale. “It was listed as Duvel Beer, but the label said Duvel Belgian Golden Ale. And that difference made it contraband to the agents.”
- bill 4-15-2010 1:45 pm