The Fun Police Strike Again!

The raids continue!

What is going on in Pennsylvania?  It there a need to fill a major budget gap?  Are the police planning a major beer bash?  Has “Fast Eddie” Rendell decided to resurrect the Temperance Movement?

“Pennsylvania State Police have staged another beer raid, confiscating about a dozen cases from a leading distributor in Northeast Philadelphia and ordering it to stop selling several well-known imports, including Duvel, a popular Belgian beer sold throughout the Philadelphia region.

Agents from the State Police Department’s Bureau of Liquor Code Enforcement (BLCE) descended Monday night on Origlio’s Beverage, a wholesale distributor in the Far Northeast whose primary brands include Coors and Yuengling.

The police seized about a dozen cases from a small California beermaker, Russian River Brewing Co., and ordered Origlio’s to stop selling Duvel and other beers, including Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner and Monk’s Cafe Ale, developed in Belgium for the Philadelphia bar at 16th and Spruce streets.

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.

“This is really an outrage,” said a local bar owner who missed his Duvel delivery yesterday. “The state doesn’t understand that Duvel actually is registered and has been sold here for years and years. It’s almost unbelievable.”

Now, there is the natural response on the part of those in power, when questioned and presented with possible evidence of their incompetence (at least I hope it its incompetence…) to double down, nothing to see here, move along…

“For the second day, State Police officials in Philadelphia and Harrisburg failed to return telephone calls or respond to written questions from the Daily News.

The Liquor Control Board also failed to respond to questions about its communications with the State Police and apparent problems with its list of more than 2,800 registered beers.

The State Police banned further sales of the Monk’s brew, for instance, in spite of “Monk’s Cafe Ale” being listed on the LCB’s Web site as a registered beer. And it told Origlio’s to stop selling Duvel in spite of the fact that “Duvel Beer” is listed by the LCB.

So far, it appears Origlio is the only distributor raided in the recent State Police crackdown.”

So, there you go — nothing to see here, move along — you don’t complain, we won’t explain… and have a nice day.