Dec 24th Side Lot Brewery in Wauconda, Illinois; a one barrel brewery which prides itself on the unusual and creative, has landed in a rather unusual situation. Owner Phil Castello loves providing his customers with a wide variety of beers made with an even wider selection of ingredients and it was two of those ingredients that drew the attention of Hershey’s.
The brewery’s website and social media regularly features customer favorites which included a Pale Ale made with Jolly Ranchers and a Porter fashioned from Milk Duds. Hershey took exception with both claiming trademark infringement. In a correspondence Castello received on December 2nd the giant candy maker issued a cease and desist order while demanding a settlement of over $ 8,500 representing profits the brewery made at Hershey’s expense. Castello thinks it an unreasonable demand on a little brewery during a pandemic. What would Willy Wonka say?
Beer Fest General Admission tickets make a great Christmas gift – available now at MBBF.org or follow this link
https://northamericanbrewers.org/ticket-store/
Copyright Gregg Smith – his latest book “American Beer History” is available on Amazon
