Walmart Class Action Says Its Craft Beer Isn’t Really Craft Brewed

An Ohio man is taking on mega-retailer Walmart, alleging its craft beer can’t truthfully be labeled “craft.”

Plaintiff Matthew Adam takes issue with four brands of beer sold by defendant Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Adam alleges these beers are falsely labeled as craft beers when in fact they are mass-produced at industrial-scale breweries that don’t even resemble what a reasonable consumer would consider a craft brewer.

“Defendant’s Craft Beer has never been a ‘craft beer,’ nor has it been produced by a craft brewery,” Adam says. “Rather, it is a wholesale fiction created by the Defendant that was designed to deceive consumers into purchasing the Craft Beer at a higher, inflated price.”

According to this Walmart craft beer class action lawsuit, Walmart has been marketing this line of beer since 2016. Brands of beer within the line include Cat’s Away IPA, After Party Pale Ale, ‘Round Midnight Belgian White, and Red Flag Amber. Walmart now stocks these beers at 3,000 retail locations in 45 states, Adam says.

Walmart says its craft beers are brewed by a company called Trouble Brewing. But according to Adam, Trouble Brewing doesn’t exist.

Instead, paperwork on file with the Treasury Department lists a company called WX Brands, with the same brewery address as the offices of Genesee Brewing in Rochester, N.Y.

Adam alleges Genesee brews far too much beer to be reasonably considered a “small” brewery. Genesee does not meet the definition of a “craft brewer” put out by the Brewers Association, a trade organization that promotes and protects American craft brewers, Adam says.

Consumers are generally willing to pay more for beer marketed as craft beer, on the assumption that craft beer is of a higher quality than other beers, Adam says. He says a six-pack of craft beer typically costs $2 to $3 more than a six-pack of mass-produced beer.

He claims Walmart craft beer is purposely marketed to exploit that higher dollar value associated with craft beer.

Adam says he purchased a 12-pack of Trouble Brewing beer for himself from a Walmart in Sharonville, Ohio. He says he relied on Walmart’s representations that what he was buying was a genuine craft beer.

But the beer he got was not what he was led to expect, he claims. And at $14 for the 12-pack, Walmart charged him a premium that he would not have paid had he known the beer he was buying was not actually craft beer.

Adam’s proposed plaintiff Class would include all persons in the state of Ohio who purchased Walmart craft beer.

He is asking for a court order that would bar Walmart from continuing the allegedly “false, misleading, and deceptive misconduct” regarding its marketing of Walmart craft beer. He also seeks an award of damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with interest.

Adam is represented by attorneys Brian T. Giles and Bryce Lenox of Giles Lenox.

The Walmart Craft Beer Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Adam v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. A1700827, in the Court of Common Pleas for Hamilton County, Ohio.