Authentic Beverages vs. the Texas ABC - ruling announced!

Earlier this year Authentic Beverages (not sure exactly who they consist of but I think Freetail Brewing, Jester King, and a few others were part of the lawsuit) put forth a lawsuit against the Texas ABC declaring portions of their Alcoholic Beverages Code to be unconstitutional.  Earlier today the judge in the case sided with Authentic Beverages regarding half of the lawsuit, and with the Texas ABC on the other half.

So, what does this mean to consumers like me who might be in Texas looking to buy/drink some beer?  Honestly, not much yet.  It does allow the breweries to properly name their beers with regards to style, as well as display the alcohol content.  They are also allowed to direct customers to locations that carry their beer which was previously illegal.  

The lawsuit was hoping to also do away with restrictions preventing the breweries from selling directly to the consumers but this part was unfortunately the part that was not ruled unconstitutional.  It's a step in the right direction though, and look for more legislation in the future regarding this part of the issue.  All in all, although it might not affect us over here too much, it's still a good step and proof that the small breweries CAN indeed get things done legally to help the world of craft beer.

For more reading on the subject:  

Scott Metzger's blog, the founder and owner of Freetail Brewing.

Beernews.org's post about the case.

Jester King's blog post/press release.