Brewery suing PA over law restricting out-of-state beer orders to 8 cans a year

Urban Artifact has filed a lawsuit against agencies in Pennsylvania over "discriminatory laws" that severely restrict the amount of beer the brewer can sell to Pennsylvania residents.

According to the lawsuit, there are no restrictions in place on in-state brewers operating withing Pennsylvania; however, out of state brewers are subject to several extra, costly, licensing steps while facing limitations on how much beer a resident in the state can order from them.

Under current Pennsylvania law, online, in-person or phone orders that require beer to be shipped into the state are capped. Breweries like Urban Artifact can only ship 90 ounces per month to a single person. That's 7.5 cans, if the cans are the 12-ounce cans like Urban Artifact typically sells.

"Due to its successful products, Urban Artifact beers are sold through its website to happy customers across the country," reads the lawsuit. "But not, unfortunately, in Pennsylvania.

Additionally, out-of-state breweries cannot ship more than 96 total ounces of a specific brand of beer to a Pennsylvania consumer in an entire year. That totals out to 8 cans of beer, if each can is 12 ounces.

The current law means Pennsylvania residents can't order as much as two six-packs of beer from a single out-of-state brewer in a year.

"Out-of-state breweries may avoid these restrictions if they sell through a Pennsylvania-approved 'importing distributor,'" reads the lawsuit. "These distributors charge significant fees for their services."

In-state brewers are not required to use a state-approved importing distributor, the lawsuit says.

On top of that, the lawsuit says Pennsylvania requires brewers outside the state carry additional licenses, like a "direct malt or brewed beverage shipper license" issued by the Liquor Board; that license isn't required for in-state breweries, because they can obtain a Pennsylvania-issued manufacturing license that allows them to ship directly to consumers in unlimited quantities.

Out-of-state breweries also have to obtain a "wholesaler or retailer" license from their own state.

Urban Artifact claims these restrictions violate the dormant Commerce Clause, which grants Congress power to regulate commerce between states.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause as having a 'dormant' or 'negative' aspect that prohibits states from enacting laws that excessively burden interstate commerce in relation to their putative local benefits and allows courts to strike down state laws that discriminate against out-of-state economic interests," reads the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed on July 17.

Urban Artifact has been brewing beer in Cincinnati since 2015; the business moved into a former church in Northside and have since become a local staple. The brewery's annual Pickle Beer is a fan favorite and has won awards over the years — most recently, it won the gold medal in the Fruit and Field category at the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards.

You can read the full lawsuit below:

Urban Artifact lawsuit by webeditors on Scribd

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