I don't really care that much about a lime beer law suit here in Ontario between a large macro and a large micro. After all, these things settle out and, as Mr. Beaumont says, these sorts of beers are not exactly worth hunting out. And it's not like they are using the same name someone else thought up first. Heck, there are also lime beers from the Canadian Prairies and from the Maritimes out east. It's everywhere.
What is a little interesting to me is that these all, as I understand it, come from Miller Chill introduced in 2007 which was followed by Bud Lite Lime introduced in 2008. [Canada, you see, snaps to attention only after a modest delay of a couple of years when it comes to this sort of thing. Saves on whiplash claims.] As Lew pointed out, the whole lime beer fad was based on a Latin American trend which was to not only have a lime flavoured beer but a salty lime flavoured beer. Michael Jackson in my 1977 copy of his World Guide To Beer says that the "thirsty Mexican adds a flourish by dressing his can of beer with a slice of lemon and a little salt." But that is not what is really interesting.
What is interesting is when I was a pup in the pubs of Halifax in the '80s I would have lager and lime once in a while. Yes, I knew not what I did... I bet your youth was dandy, too. Anyway, the bartender would pour a 22 oz brimming pint glass which had a slug of Rose's Lime Cordial chucked in it. Nothing Central American about the stuff. It was a taste of Britain - or, I suppose, as certain slice of it - in a colonial port town on the North Atlantic. As Rose's has been around since 1867, a Scots' invention, and as it is tied to naval and merchant marine history... I wonder how old lager and lime really is?
The article shown above is from the May 15, 1888 issue of the West Coast Times out of Hokitika, New Zealand - a paper still in existence. Notice in the ad from 121 years ago how the lime juice is being sold as a premium drinks product along with other beers as well as spirits and wines. It sits in the list along with lager beer, separated only by one item. Who was the first to put them in the same glass?
Comments
RS - September 4, 2009 12:14 AM
Please forward this to Ron Pattinson...
Alan - September 4, 2009 8:32 AM
One can only presume that the Pattinson network of spies web bots has sent the word.
Stephen Beaumont - September 4, 2009 9:58 AM
Right you are, Mr. McLeod. In fact, if you would care to taste the Bud Light Lime, you would be reminded of the lager and limes of your youth. It took me a few minutes to make the connection -- I first tried squeezing lime into an ordinary lager -- but once I realized that the beer's sweetness was more sugary than it was fresh fruity, I concluded that, intentionally or not, Rose's was more the inspiration for that beer than was the chelada.
dave - September 4, 2009 10:45 AM
I don't believe this is a law suit about lime in beer, it is about the use of limes and the color green (I assume a certain variation/hue of green and not just green in general) on a beer's label. From the first sentence of the linked bloomberg article: "...infringing their trademarks with the use of limes and the color green on its labels." I have not seen both beer labels together (I do not get Brick Brewing around me) so I have no idea how valid a claim it is, but the claim of "label confusion by a consumer" is a normal complaint lodged by companies.
I did get a chuckle out of this line though: “Bud Light Lime is a high-quality beer, brewed in small batches in England...”
Alan - September 4, 2009 12:01 PM
Implicit in my post is the idea that if limes and lager have been associated for at least 121 years, how the hell can someone now claim exclusivity. If it is, however, a registered trademark how the hell did Brick miss it? I don't see it among the Canadian trademarks for Bud.
Mr. B.: I think I did my service to humanity with the PBR v. PBR taste experiment in 2006. Must I really now taste Bud Lime Lite?
Stephen Beaumont - September 4, 2009 12:16 PM
No, you need not, Alan. I was merely noting that if you did, you would be reminded of lager and lime. I was paid for my, erm, experience, and I do not wish to insist it upon anyone else.
Dave, that "small batches in England" is interesting, since on the can of Bud Light Lime in front of me, there is no mention of it hailing from anywhere other than the good ol' U.S. of A.
Alan - September 4, 2009 12:29 PM
Whew.
Isn't there a big Bud plant in CNY that would make this? Or would they make it under license in Canada? You would think there would be a whack of extra paperwork for importing something that could be made at any facility.
Alan - September 4, 2009 12:40 PM
Now I am getting interested in the lawsuit. It is a trademark matter. And it is Labatt as well as AB that is suing. So if Labatt does not brew it, why are they in the suit? And where is the trademark registered?
Alan - September 4, 2009 12:42 PM
But this story calls it a "copyright" case.
Wuzzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup?
Stephen Beaumont - September 4, 2009 2:12 PM
It is brewed in the US and imported. The can identifies A-B St. Louis, Baldwinsville, NY, Ft. Collins, CO, LA and Cartersville, GA. And I suspect Labatt is involved because they are the importer of record for the beer.
Stephen Beaumont - September 4, 2009 2:14 PM
Sorry, that should have been L.A. as in Los Angeles, not LA as in Louisiana.
Alan - September 4, 2009 4:24 PM
So likely this supply is Baldwinsville, NY beer - just outside Syracuse.
Alan - September 4, 2009 5:07 PM
Nope - not if they are telling us the truth about all their brewing locations on line.
dave - September 8, 2009 1:30 PM
I can not seem to find the actual filing (though I did check out the link to the Federal Canadian Court) to read but I did read the "copyright" bit in the press release by Brick Brewing however (and probably where the article on nationalpost.com came up with that info). Not sure how valid a statement that is, without having read the filing. It seems Brick Brewing had a similar run in with Labatt dealing with their Brick's "Red Baron" packaging (http://www.nationalpost.com/m/story.html?id=1689261), which seems very similar to this lawsuit with AB.