NEW ORLEANS - On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a ruling allowing two Texas breweries to sell their beer to-go.
In the court’s opinion, Circuit Judge Cory T. Wilson writes that the case, CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective v. the Texas Alcoholic Commission, is “about beer” and the meaning of the word “owned,” which he calls “a pint-sized word with stout implications for craft brewers in Texas.”
In 2019, the Texas Legislature amended the Alcoholic Beverage Code to allow brewers and manufacturers to sell malt beverages to consumers for off-premises consumption — “a previously untapped market for craft beer-togo,” writes Wilson in the court’s opinion.
“But in a bit of a buzzkill, the Legislature also limited beer-to-go sales to brewers and manufacturers that produced no more than 225,000 barrels annually ‘at all premises [they] wholly or partly owned,’” the opinion states. “Frothy at the prospects, CANarchy … began selling beer-to-go from its two Texas-based breweries.”
The TABC ordered CANarchy to cease and desist after determining that its facilities collectively exceeded the 225,000-barrel limit.
“Party over,” the opinion states. “CANarchy complied with the order but then filed suit, seeking a declaratory judgment that the 225,000- barrel threshold did not apply to barrels produced at leased premises. The district court agreed with CANarchy that ‘premises wholly or partly owned’ do not include leased premises and granted it summary judgment.
“Party on. We agree with the district court’s reading of the statutes and affirm.”
Case No. 21-50195