The PLCB's False Dawn Initiative

I was on WHYY's Radio Times show this morning, talking privatization with PLCB chairman PJ Stapleton. He was laying out what I'm calling the PLCB False Dawn Initiative, their alternative to privatization (wow, what great ideas! wow, what coincidental timing! Wow, where was this stuff 20 years ago?!); then Marty and her crew brought me on to lay it waste.

Okay, maybe "lay it waste" is exaggerating a bit, but I did give him a run for it. Details are here; enjoy.

Action on the PLCB blog

I know, I know: I don't have Part II on the PLCB hearings up yet. But I do have several new posts up on the PLCB blog, including this one on Stapletonstein's Monster (or, The Wine Kiosk That Refused To Die!) and this one on how the upcoming PA Supreme Court decision on the incredibly controversial (!!!!) 'beer in supermarkets' issue is really a no-win for beer distributors because of bad strategy. There's also a new poll...that's just slightly tongue-in-cheek.

Good news from Pittsburgh about the PLCB problem

I was just at the Church Brew Works this afternoon (I'm out here with my daughter's school robotics team at the FIRST regional competition), sampling a Burly Friar Barleywine (seen at right, talked about here, and it was good: not bourbony, but drier wood spice and a little vanilla, and certainly not a flabby beer at all; I had Brant's Czech Pils, too, and it was very nice, body was about perfect). I'm talking with Brant (ran into him on the steps out front, it was a gorgeous day here), when Church owner Sean Casey walks up. We chat, he says he can't talk long, there's a state senator coming for a tour. We talked a little beer raid smack, and in walks the Senator.

And Sean introduces me. Next thing I know, I'm talking about the beer raids with Senator John Pippy (R-37), who is the chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, the folks who oversee the PLCB in the Senate. Good guy to know! That's when he told me that his committee and the House Liquor Control Committee will be holding joint hearings on the beer raids on April 13. There will be representatives from the PLCB, the State Police BLCE, Monk's Cafe (I assume as the owner of one of the seized brands), and Origlio Beverage. Not mentioned, you'll notice, is Brendan Hartranft and Leigh Maida, the owners of the bars that were raided first. There's more on this at Don Russell's Joe Sixpack site, and Don also has an excellent piece on just how worthless the brand registration list is; go read that now, because it will really piss you off.

A couple titbits to add. First, I asked him just what purpose brand registration serves. He told me that it was for consumer protection, to tell you where the beer came from. But all that's right on the label, I said. Well, there's not that much on a beer label, he began...and I decided to let it go. More on that at the other blog later. Second, and of more interest to Philadelphians, we talked about the source of the original complaint. It seemed odd that an anonymous complaint would be taken so seriously, I said. Did the BLCE really do that on the basis of an anonymous tip, or are they just keeping the identity confidential? They know, he said; they said they had a "complaint." That means they know who made the complaint. Interesting.

Philadelphia Weekly gets on the PLCB Abolishment bus

The cover feature of the new issue of Philadelphia Weekly is "PA's Disgraceful Liquor Laws," a nicely-done exposition on what's wrong with the Almighty Liquor Code and the Board That Time Forgot. My PLCB blog gets some exposure, and I get my usual turn with the loonies in the comments (Ted Winters? Who the hell is Ted Winters?), but the important thing is that more people get a full dose of just what's wrong about the PLCB: everything.

New Poll at the PLCB Blog

The PLCB is kind of like the Bermuda Triangle of Harrisburg: things tend to ... disappear around it. Go take the poll on my other blog (Why the PLCB Should be Abolished) on which of those things you miss the most.

Hurray for the PLCB!

Well, for the State Police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, actually. Check it out: the BLCE nailed Oscar's in Center City Philly for serving cheap whiskey from a Maker's Mark bottle (after a tip-off from a PhillyMag reporter). That's what I want from my state booze bureaucracy: protection from rip-off bad booze!

Why they call it the Pennsylvania Liquor CONTROL Board

I got a response from the PLCB today to a question I asked two weeks ago: what's the proper protocol for a private citizen to bring a bottle of wine into the Commonwealth from another state?

The answer? "...there is no proper protocol for crossing the border to purchase wine in another state and then bring it back to Pennsylvania."

See it all, and my reaction, here.

Finally, some action at my PLCB blog, too

Yes, I have a new poll up at Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished, the blog that tries, single-handedly --wait, actually, I used both hands to type it -- to drag Pennsylvania's alcohol policy into the 20th Century (and no, that's not a typo). I took what I thought were the PLCB's five worst gaffes of the past two years -- the "courtesy training," the awarding of the contract for the courtesy training (which triggered an audit by the State AG), the "wine kiosks" (which should have triggered an audit by the State AG), the "re-branding" of the State Store System (supposedly the new name is "Table Leaf"), and the appointment of Joe "CEO" Conti to fill a brand-new $150,000 position that no one in the 75 year history of the PLCB ever saw a need for (okay, that's a little more than two years, but what the hell) -- and asked you which one pissed you off the most.

Which one of these ridiculous gaffes pissed you off the most? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being that this is the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the second-largest buyer of booze in the world, and would tax your head clean off, you've to ask yourself one question: do I feel screwed? Well, do ya, citizen?

Don't worry. To paraphrase yet another movie quote, when you put your hand in the pile of goo that used to be your state's dignity and honor...you'll know what to do. Vote!

New poll at the PLCB blog: how about that new name?

The PLCB is reportedly going to change the names of the "Wine & Spirits Shoppes" to something more...well, what? More descriptive? Gonna be tough, although we could certainly lose the "Shoppe" part; something wrong with "Store"? The proposed name was "Table Leaf." No, really, although no one seems to know why (David Snyder at PhilaFoodie opined that the "more logical "China Cabinet" and "Napkin Ring" were already taken." Indeed.

His Governorship Rendell thinks that's a pretty dumb name (Duh!) and has voiced his opposition, but we know what that's worth. I have some anonymous sources in (and recently out) of the PLCB who tell me "Table Leaf" still has the inside track. So I ginned up a poll at the PLCB blog to see what folks think of the idea. Have a look, voice your opinions.

Slap the PLCB today

I just posted in my PLCB blog about a poll running in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I'd like to encourage you to go vote NO on the poll, saying you oppose the PLCB's automated wine kiosk and "boutique" wine store schemes. The reasons are here. This agency is out of its mind, and must be stopped. FREE THE BOOZE!

Update: YES! Results came in at 73% NO, 22% yes. I don't know -- or care -- how many "No" votes came from anti-alcohol types; we won this one. Wine kiosks and mini-wine boutiques...as if.

PLCB contract "legal," but showed "poor judgment"

Remember that training contract that the PLCB issued, to the company owned by the husband of the agency's Western Regional Director? The contract people said was to teach LCB clerks "manners?" (I didn't say that, by the way; I used the word the PLCB did: it was to teach them "courtesy." You see the major difference?) The state Auditor General has completed his audit, and found that while the contract "was awarded according to the letter of the law, there are several incidents that occurred that raise serious concerns and put the PLCB's procurement procedures in question."

More here. When will it end?

One Year of Rage Against the PLCB

I started my other blog, "Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished" a year ago today. I took a look back over that year (three-month hiatus and all...), and found that we actually accomplished quite a bit. Have a look at that, and on what I hope to do in the second year. The struggle continues...

Lipstick on the Pig

Things have blown up on the PLCB's "charm campaign," and I've been blogging a lot on it. If you're from Pennsylvania -- or if you just like watching bureaucratic train wrecks -- take a look. This could become the leverage needed for serious discussion of booze sale privatization in the Commonwealth.

The Case Law is Stupid

Pennsylvanians: you've been waiting for this one. Here's my take on why we have "the case law," the uniquely stupid law that forces us to buy beer by the case -- nothing smaller! -- at off-premise retail.

Wouldn't it be nice to buy in any amount you wanted? Mixing sixes, picking sixes? Isn't it ridiculous that we can only dream about it, in 2009 AD?

Go. Read. Get incensed (and then write your legislator!).

New poll on the case law at the PLCB blog

I've got a new poll up at my blog Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished. It's about one of Pennsylvania beer drinkers' favorite topics: the case law.

Specifically: Polls show that over 80% of Pennsylvanians are opposed to the case law -- even MADD doesn't support it -- yet a six-pack sales bill still languishes in the Legislature after over a year. Why do your elected representatives continue to thwart your wishes?

I hope you find the answer choices, as always, entertaining and enlightening.

Abolish that PLCB, I Said!

Two new posts up over at Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished.

First one is a new Reason, #14. It's simple: we put up with all this crap in the name of controlling the horrible damage of alcohol...and it doesn't work!

The second is a great local issue: the PLCB is closing the State Store in downtown Phoenixville -- without any regard to how that's going to affect the revitalization attempt, and without the consultation they effectively promised the borough government. PLCB to Phoenixville: Drop Dead.

Rise up, Pennsylvanians: throw off the -- no, just tell your state reps that the PLCB is an ineffective dinosaur that should be taken out back of the State Capitol and beaten to death with an empty whiskey bottle, at which point they could sell off everything it owns, and auction off shiny new liquor store licenses for lots and lots of cash -- er, I mean, state revenues, and put a serious plug in their budget hole.

Iron Hill Triple Bock, and Two Years of STAG at a Post a Day

This post means that once again I've made my average of a post a day. This is 731 published posts (there are about seven more in there that are not seeing the light of day for various reasons; don't bother asking) since I started STAG on January 31 in 2007. That's one a day, including the extra day for leap year. Once again, I did way too much blogging in January. Hope you all appreciate it (more than my editors did, at least).

Still, it was a good year for my blogging. I started two new blogs -- Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished and the brand-new Session Beer Project -- even though I dropped the ball on the PLCB blog for three months. I have high hopes for the Session Beer Project blog; I think we've really got things rolling there, and this might be a little extra push. My whole theory on session vs. extreme beers is that the extreme beers get all the press, mostly from folks like me. The Session Beer Project is my way of trying to change that balance; on my side, and encouraging others to do the same. It's already working: there have been more articles on session beers in the past year than I ever remember seeing before. So we'll see where that goes.

Anyway... I made my average (or will, if I get this done by midnight!), so I'm celebrating with a bottle of Iron Hill Triple Bock, a small, strong, special bottle. It's very dark, it's very fruity, and rich. It's got a lot happening: overripe cherry, prune, some brighter notes of peach and nectarine, and chocolate and just the barest hint of anise. And of course, it's quite sweet, but they manage to keep it fairly clean at the end. Really, it's just a damned luscious dessert beer.

Here's to my third year.

The PLCB blog lives!

It's true: I finally posted another Reason Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished. Reason #13 points out that we don't really need the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for the state to make a dizzying amount of money off booze. If we privatized, it's quite likely that we'd actually make more.

All that, and a new poll, too. What more can you ask for?

Don't ask!

The PLCB Should Still Be Abolished

After over a month, my other blog has lurched back into relevancy: there's a new Reason Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished. This time it's about how the PLCB and The Almighty Liquor Code don't really care about you; they just want your money. You're shocked, I'm sure. Read, enjoy, get pissed off.

Another New Poll at the PLCB Blog

I just posted another poll at Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished. This one assumes that the PA legislature finally gets up its courage and does away with the Case Law entirely, and then asks, "What would be the most likely unintended consequences?"

Because you know there will be unforeseen changes when we get normal about buying beer...