Cuvee Coffee Bar Fighting for the Right to Sell 'Crowlers'

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- Cuvee Coffee Bar might be heading to court because of a dispute with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission over a confiscated “crowler” machine.

TABC investigators seized a crowler machine that Cuvee Cofee used to seal aluminum cans filled with tap beer for off-site consumption, the American-Statesman reported. A crowler is similar to a growler, but looks like a giant aluminum can.

The TABC said Cuvee’s use of the crowler machine violated a Texas manufacturing law that states cans of beer may only be produced by the beer manufacturer, and not the retailer selling the product, Austin 360 reported.

“Only someone who manufactures that product can can that product,” TABC spokesperson Chris Porter told Austin 360. “Canning is looked at as a manufacturing process, and a growler is looked at a little more leniently under the law.”

• Want to see more stories like this? Like our Facebook page HERE.

Cuvee founder Mike McKim said the TABC inspector could not give him a straight answer about the difference between a growler and a crowler. According to the American-Statesman, the TABC has always defined a “growler” as being made of “glass, stainless steel or ceramic,” but has never officially defined the term “growler.”

In a lawsuit filed in Travis County’s 345th District Court, Cuvee said the TABC’s search of the business and confiscation of the crowler machine was “warrantless” and “unlawful.” Cuvee wants their equipment back, and also asked the judge to invalidate TABC’s rules about crowler packaging and to reimburse their court costs.

“The advent of the crowler machine allows for the use of an aluminum growler,” the suit said, according to the American-Statesman. “In fact, the inventors of the crowler coined the term ‘crowler’ as a portmanteau of the words ‘can’ and ‘growler.’ ”

The TABC said they issued a written warning to Cuvee on June 25 after they witnessed employees “canning beer without the proper permit” on several occasions, and gave the business 30 days to cease the activity.

After the 30 days had run out, the TABC said Cuvee made it clear both in the press and on social media that they would continue to produce crowlers. This prompted the TABC to launch an undercover investigation in which they witnessed employees canning and selling crowlers long after the 30-day leniency period was up. In response, the TABC seized the canning equipment and issued a notice of administrative violation charging Cuvee with possession of equipment or material for manufacture of unauthorized beverages.

“We know this issue is important to craft beer retailers and their customers, and we support all citizens’ right to petition the Commission, the Legislature or the courts if they feel a provision in the Alcoholic Beverage Code is unfair,” said Dexter K. Jones, TABC Assistant Chief for Audit and Investigations. “However, we do not support the continued violation of the law just because a retailer disagrees with it. Cuvee Coffee ignored our repeated warnings and discussions, and that conduct resulted in TABC seizing the illegal equipment and subjecting its permit to a civil penalty. Other retailers who engage in illegal canning risk similar consequences.”

The TABC said that if Cuvee starts making its own beer on-site with a proper permit they may use a crowler machine, but McKim does not agree with this reasoning.

“In my opinion, there is nothing different from me selling beer out of an aluminum vessel, a glass vessel or a stainless steel vessel. It is manually filled from the tap and sealed,” McKim told Austin 360. “That’s what my sticking point is.”

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.