Judge Rules Olympia Beer Class Action Lawsuit Can Move Forward

Pabst must face false advertising claims surrounding its Olympia Beer products, a California federal judge recently ruled.

U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley entirely rejected arguments from Pabst Brewing Co.’s motion to dismiss, finding that the beer manufacturer cannot escape the claims against them.

Pabst had argued that its marketing doesn’t mislead consumers into thinking Olympia Beer is made in Olympia, Washington, but instead evokes the “spirit” of the region.

Judge Nunley rejected this argument, pointing to Olympia Beer packaging that refers to the original brewery location and features both a waterfall and the beer’s slogan — “It’s the Water.”

The judge found that consumers could be misled by these advertisements considering the fact that the original Olympia Beer brewery closed in 2003. The beer is now brewed at several locations around the country, the judge’s ruling notes.

“As plaintiff alleges, the slogan ‘It’s the Water’ denotes the quality of the naturally filtered, artesian water from the Olympia area of Washington,” Judge Nunley wrote.

Pabst had also argued for dismissal based on a 9th Circuit decision from 2012 that affirmed dismissal of claims that challenged Dreyer’s ice cream packaging.

Plaintiffs in that case argued that the ice cream’s packaging deceptively referenced the original 1928 Dreyer’s recipe. As a result, consumers were allegedly misled about the product’s nutrition values by the ice cream packaging statements.

However, Judge Nunley says, this case is not applicable to the Olympia Beer class action lawsuit for many reasons — including the fact that the Dryer’s ice cream case challenged nutritional value while the case against Pabst challenges the “geographical source” of ingredients.

Judge Nunley wrote that, “unlike here, the claim at issue in Carrea was not a close call. […] The court cannot dismiss plaintiff’s claim so easily.”

As a result of Judge Nunley’s ruling, plaintiff Brendan Peacock will be allowed to continue with his claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Peacock filed his Olympia Beer class action lawsuit in 2018 challenging Pabst’s marketing of its beer. According to the plaintiff, the beer’s manufacturing “falsely create[es] the impression” that Olympia Beer is made with quality water from the region.

Instead, Olympia Beer is allegedly made across the country with local water supplies. In his Olympia Beer class action lawsuit, Peacock notes that some Olympia Beer is manufactured in a “mega-brewery” in the San Gabriel Valley of California.

If Olympia Beer is made from that local water supply as Peacock suspects, he says the source is far from clean and untouched.

“The San Gabriel Valley’s water supply has been contaminated by industrial solvents in the past; in 1985, several wells were shut down after state health officials declared the contamination a health risk,” Peacock contends in his class action lawsuit.

According to Peacock, he and other consumers relied on representations that Olympia Beer was manufactured using “artesian waters” and were therefore of a higher quality. If Peacock had known the beer wasn’t made with spring water, he says he would not have been willing to purchase the products.

In August 2019, Peacock’s first amended complaint was dismissed by the court with leave to amend the claims.

After coming back with a second amended complaint, Peacock has survived a motion to dismiss and will move forward with his claims.

Have you purchased Olympia Beer? Did the beer’s advertisements make you think the products were made in Olympia, Washington? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

Peacock and the proposed Class are represented by Jared H. Beck, Elizabeth Lee Beck and Victor Arca of Beck & Lee Trial Lawyers, and Cullin O’Brien.

The Pabst Olympia Beer Class Action Lawsuit is Brendan Peacock, et al. v. Pabst Brewing Co. LLC, Case No. 2:18-cv-00568, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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