Class Action: Blue Moon Beer Is Not a Craft Beer

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MillerCoors LLC was hit with a false advertising class action lawsuit by a California man, who alleges that it deceives customers into thinking that its Blue Moon beer is a craft beer.

Plaintiff Evan Parent filed his Blue Moon class action lawsuit on April 24 in California state court, in which he says he frequently purchased Blue Moon beer with the understanding that it “was a microbrew or ‘craft’ beer” based on “its advertising, its placement among other craft beers, and the premium price” that he paid for it.

According to Parent, the craft beer industry has been growing over the last 25 years. In 1989, there were 250 craft breweries in the United States, by 2014, there were more than 3,400. In California alone, there are 400 craft breweries, which is expected to make $4.5 billion this year.

Most craft beer consumers are willing to pay more money for craft beer, which will typically cost $2.00 to $3.00 more per six pack than mass produced beer, according to the craft beer class action lawsuit.

A craft brewery is defined as a “small, independent and traditional” brewery that produces “less than 6 million barrels of beer annually,” is “less than 25 percent owned or controlled by a non-craft brewer,” and makes “beer using only traditional or innovative brewing ingredients,” according to the Brewers Association, a trade group that promotes independent craft brewers.

MillerCoors began making Blue Moon beer in 1995 “to compete in the burgeoning craft beer market” when it was still the Coors Brewing Company and Blue Moon was sold “under the name, Blue Moon Brewing Company,” the Blue Moon class action lawsuit says.

“With eight major breweries located in California, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin, Defendant produces more than 76 million barrels, or 2.4 billion gallons, of beer on an annual basis. Based on the volume of beer it produces, as well as the ownership interests of its parent companies, Defendant clearly does not qualify as a craft brewer,” Parent alleges in his false advertising class action lawsuit.

Parent explains that “Blue Moon Brewing Company is a small, limited capacity brewery located inside Coors Field, home to the Colorado Rockies baseball team. The Blue Moon beer that is sold in stores is not brewed at or by the Blue Moon Brewing Company. Rather, it is brewed by MillerCoors at the company’s Golden, Colorado and Eden, North Carolina breweries,” where MillerCoors other beers such as “Coors, Milwaukee’s Best, Miller High Life, Hamm’s, Icehouse and Olde English.”

The California man claims that MillerCoors “goes to great lengths to disassociate Blue Moon beer from the MillerCoors name. MillerCoors does not appear anywhere on the Blue Moon bottle” or in any of its advertising for the beer.

Parent alleges that MillerCoors would “undoubtedly” not sell as much Blue Moon as it does if was “branded as a macrobrew and/or a MillerCoors brew.”

“In addition to fraudulently claiming that Blue Moon is brewed by Blue Moon Brewing Company and intentionally omitting the MillerCoors name from Blue Moon products and advertising, Defendant also uses the registered trademark ‘Artfully Crafted’ to falsely portray Blue Moon as a craft beer,” the Blue Moon class action lawsuit claims.

“This phrase, which appears on Defendant’s web site and in print advertising, further serves to further mislead consumers by implying that Blue Moon is a true craft beer brewed by an almost entirely fictitious brewery,” it adds.

Parent is looking to represent a class of California residents “who purchased Blue Moon beer from a retailer within the state of California” anytime four years prior to when this class action lawsuit was filed.

He alleges that MillerCoors has violated California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, deceptive and misleading advertising laws and unfair business practices laws.

The plaintiff is represented by R. Craig Clark and James M. Treglio of Clark & Treglio.

There is no attorney information available for MillerCoors at this time.

The Blue Moon Class Action Lawsuit is Evan Parent v. MillerCoors LLC, Case No. 37-2015-00013913-CU-BT-CTL, in the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of San Diego.

UPDATE: On June 16, 2016, for the second and presumably last time, a federal court has dismissed a consumer class action lawsuit over whether Blue Moon beer can truly be described as “craft beer.”